The Cozy Cookbook is here! This Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole is easy to make with pantry ingredients like cream of mushroom soup. Your family will LOVE this quick dinner recipe!
Be sure to try my other rice casserole recipes that use chicken and broccoli, sausage and peppers, ham and broccoli, or chicken cordon bleu next!
Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
On occasion, I’ll make a recipe where I know that I need to freeze any leftovers right away to keep myself away from them. This, is one such recipe.
This beefy, cheesy rice casserole is the ultimate way to use up the ground beef you have tucked away in your fridge or freezer. The ingredients are super simple. You’ll likely already have them all on hand, and there are tons of substitution options.
You can make this beef casserole days ahead of time and it makes a great freezer meal. You are going to love having this in your rotation.
How to Make it
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Brown the ground beef in a large pot over medium high heat.
Mix in salt, pepper, & Italian seasonings as the beef cooks. Drain any excess grease if needed. Set the beef aside and cover with foil.
Add butter to the pot along with diced onions, cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add beef broth, butter, and rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover tightly.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and replace cover. Do not stir. Steam for 5-10 more minutes. (Refer to rice package for cooking time.)
Turn off heat, leave the cover on and let the rice stand for 10 minutes, any rice on the bottom of the pot will release.
Add the ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, milk, and cheese.
Use a silicone spatula and gently stir to combine.
Don’t Use Minute Rice
I highly recommend you use regular long grain rice instead of minute rice:
- Long grain rice = creamier consistency. Short grain rice tends to be stickier.
- Regular rice has higher nutritional value and better flavor.
Make-Ahead Beef Method
- This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 days prior to baking.
- You can also freeze the unbaked casserole for another day. To reheat, let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours until thawed.
To Bake:
- Let it sit out for 30 minutes prior to baking, or bake it for an extra 10 minutes. Then cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
Storage
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Frozen leftovers can be microwaved for a quick lunch.
- You can defrost in the fridge overnight, cover and bake in a 350° oven until heated through, the amount of time depends on portion size.
Love This Recipe?
Try my other rice casserole recipes that use chicken or ham! And check out all of my casserole recipes.
And don’t forget to leave a review below this post!
Try These Next!
-
- Spinach Chicken
-
- American Chop Suey
-
- Ground Beef Stir Fry
-
- Caprese Pasta
-
- Beef Noodle Soup
-
- Chicken Parmesan
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Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef, 85% lean
- 1.5 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt/Pepper
- 3 Tablespoons butter, divided
- ¾ cup onions, diced
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 ¼ cups uncooked white long grain rice, (not instant rice)
- 8 oz. sliced button mushrooms, washed
- 10.5 oz. cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup milk, any kind
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Note: This recipe is designed to allow you to prepare all of the casserole ingredients in one pot before transferring to a casserole dish for baking. Before you begin, refer to your rice package for the amount of liquid (beef broth) and cooking time. If preferred, cook the rice separately and skip the beef broth ingredient. You'll need 3 + 3/4 cups of cooked rice to combine with the other casserole ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown the ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat. Mix in salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings as the beef cooks.
- Drain grease, transfer to a plate, and cover with foil.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in the same pot. Add the diced onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add beef broth, butter, and rice. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
- Cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, replace the cover, and cook for 5-10 more minutes. (Refer to rice package for exact cooking time.) Do not stir the rice at any point.
- Turn heat off, leave the cover on, and let it stand for 10 minutes without stirring. Any rice on the bottom of the pot will release.
- Add the cooked ground beef back along with the cream of mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, and HALF of the cheese. Stir to combine.
- Transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Serve!
Notes
• Instead of mushrooms, you may choose to use frozen peas, carrots, and/or corn.
• Leftovers freeze very well!
If you prefer to avoid condensed canned soup, you can make this with my homemade Cream of Chicken Soup!
This recipe & the broccoli chicken rice casserole are my go tos! I double the recipes & freeze in the small disposable aluminum pans from dollar tree. We are empty nesters & I love being able to pull these out of the freezer for a quick meal. My adult kiddos love them too so I always have them on hand when they visit!
Link to the chicken casserole:
https://thecozycook.com/broccoli-cheddar-chicken-and-rice-casserole/
I’m so happy you’re enjoying the two casseroles Christi! Definitely some of my favorites too. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and leave a review!💗
I’ve made this before and it is fantastic! I wanted to bring it to a friend can it be frozen? If so what your instructions be for freezing? Thank you so much!
Hey Stephanie! I’m so happy to hear that you like it! Yes you can freeze it and it would be a great gift for a friend in need Here are the Make Ahead instructions from the blog post:
Make-Ahead Beef Method
-This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 days prior to baking.
-You can also freeze the unbaked casserole for another day. To reheat, let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours until thawed.
To Bake:
-Let it sit out for 30 minutes prior to baking, or bake it for an extra 10 minutes. Then cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
Forgot to rate the recipe, so sorry. My age is the problem, not the recipe it is delicious!!!
You’re the best Kathy!!! Thank you!!!
I am in my 60’s and always look for recipes on line. I read reviews as everyone’s pallets are different. In my house the ages are 63, 21,45, and 14. When all of us go back for seconds, that’s a keeper recipe. The taste,texture and flavor are awesome. The only thing I did different was to add frozen corn as I didn’t have mushrooms. The comments helped with that. I used frozen corn, which I cooked according to pkg directions ( it was microwave variety) and added it at the end when the hamburger, soup,sour cream and cheese is added together and then baked. It turned out perfect. Oh I also read that you could add the French’s fried onions in a can to the top, which I did when it come out of oven to keep crunchy texture.
So delicious!!!! So thank you again this is a keeper.
Hi Kathy! I’m sooo happy that you loved the recipe, I think corn is a fantastic addition as well, nicely done!! (The French’s Fried Onions are a game changer too!) Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Everyone loved this! My 8 year old is the pickiest, but she asked for seconds. This is definitely going to be a regular make-ahead meal for busy weeknights!
I am so happy to hear that it was a hit Lindsay, especially with the picky eater! Amazing that she asked for seconds! EXCELLEN! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! -Stephanie
This is great! Have you ever cooked the hamburger, then added all of the ingredients, cover with foil and baked in the oven until the rice was cooked? I have done that with a chicken and rice recipe and wonder if it would work just as well with this to make this recipe even easier?
Hi Shannon! I personally haven’t done that with this recipe, if you give it a try I’d love to know how it goes!
OMG! This is the only recipe I have ever made in my 73 years that totally disappeared at one sitting. I have VERY fussy eaters and they were good for thirds! Unheard of. Will definitely be making this one often.
I am SO happy to hear that it was a big success with your picky eaters!!! Excellent news, thank you soooo much for taking the time to leave a review!! -Stephanie
Is there anything I can do if I don’t have the soup and don’t have the ability to get to the store?
Hi Christina! You can make my homemade cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup for this recipe 🙂
I substituted the mushrooms.. Replace them with fresh broccoli. Very tasty casserole…
Happy to hear you enjoyed it Barbara, thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Made this dish last night. A few steps but easy to prepare. I did forget to put the ground beef in the mixture and had to pour everything out and mix it in because I split the casserole into two pans. Silly me! Anyway, it was amazing!!! Everybody loved it and I gave the other pan to my mom and she loved it too!!! This one is a hit and a keeper. Keep them coming….
Hiiiii Susan!! I am sooooo happy that you tried it and loved it!! And that your mom did too- how nice of you to split it up and give her one! Thank you so much for the review, you’re the BEST!! -Stephanie 🙂