Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole

This Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole is a delicious, cheesy casserole that’s full of flavor and makes the perfect easy weeknight dinner.

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This Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole is a delicious, cheesy casserole that’s full of flavor and makes the perfect easy weeknight dinner. 

While casserole dishes are often served alone, spice things up by serving jalapeno poppers with this dish. If you really want to make an impressive dinner, you could even make a delicious strawberry delight as dessert. 

Corn is a staple food in Mexico, and if you’re serving this casserole for a crowd, you can grill up some mexican street corn. Serve it as an appetizer or even a side dish to this beef casserole. If you want to make a special refreshing beverage as well, try making a strawberry or raspberry tea.

Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• White Onion
• Garlic Cloves
• Lean Ground Beef
• Canned Corn
• Canned Black Beans
• Taco Seasoning
• Chunky Salsa
• Minute Rice
• Chicken Broth
• Shredded Mexican Cheese

If you’re tired of having the same plain dinner every night of the week, then consider this cheesy casserole recipe as the perfect solution! You could turn this into a cheesy chicken casserole by substituting chicken for the ground beef, or even adding sausage to give it a bit of a different flavor! In addition to the meat, customize this dish and make it perfect for your family by adding different vegetables or your favorite fresh salsa!

Weeknight dinners can sometimes be hard to cook, but this cheesy casserole only takes 15 minutes of prep and the oven does the rest! With ingredients like ground beef, canned corn and beans, and minute rice, you should have most if not all these ingredients in your kitchen already! This is one of those perfect weeknight dinners when you don’t want to go out to eat and need to use up what you have in the pantry.

How to Make Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole

FIRST STEP: Preheat oven to 375F.

SECOND STEP: Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

THIRD STEP: In a large frying pan, cook white onion and garlic with olive oil over high heat until onions have softened and garlic is just starting to brown. Pour onion mixture into the prepared baking dish.

FOURTH STEP: Using the same frying pan, cook ground beef over high heat. Break up beef into crumbles while baking. Be careful not to overcook (it shouldn’t be crispy). Once thoroughly cooked, drain off a bit of the grease and then pour it into the baking dish.

FIFTH STEP: Add corn, black beans, taco seasoning, salsa, uncooked Minute Rice, chicken broth, and 1 cup of shredded cheese to the baking dish and stir well to mix.

SIXTH STEP: Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

SEVENTH STEP: Remove from the oven and check that rice has softened. If not, place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes and check again. If the rice has softened, remove all foil and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over top of casserole. Bake (uncovered) for an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Cooking Tips 

Add Jalapenos to this recipe to give it a bit of extra spice, or use your favorite type of salsa with your preferred heat level.

Make this recipe vegetarian/vegan by substituting the ground beef with tofu or a vegetable like zucchini. Also, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. 

Make sure to use uncooked rice in this dish. While it seems like cooking the rice before heating up the casserole would be faster, you would end up with mush instead of rice and it wouldn’t hold up very well. 

This recipe could easily be used as a dip recipe too if you are cooking this for a potluck. Grab some scooping chips and dig in!

Storing this Recipe 

IN THE FRIDGE: Place in sealed food storage container for up to 4 days.

IN THE FREEZER: Place in sealed food container and freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to cook, thaw in the fridge before re-heating.

Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole

5 from 43 votes

Author: Shauna

This Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole is a delicious, cheesy casserole that’s full of flavor and makes the perfect easy weeknight dinner.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 7

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 lb lean or extra lean ground beef
• 15 oz canned corn kernels rinsed and drained
• 15 oz canned black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 envelope taco seasoning 2 tablespoons
• 14 oz jar chunky salsa mild or medium
• 1 cup minute rice uncooked
• 1 ½ cup chicken broth low sodium
• 2 cup shredded mexican cheese divided

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
• Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.
• In a large frying pan, cook white onion and garlic with olive oil over high heat until onions have softened and garlic is just starting to brown. Pour onion mixture into the prepared baking dish.
• Using the same frying pan, cook ground beef over high heat. Break up beef into crumbles while baking. Be careful not to overcook, it shouldn’t be crispy.
• Once the meat has thoroughly cooked, drain off a bit of the grease and then pour it into the baking dish.
• Add corn, black beans, taco seasoning, salsa, uncooked Minute Rice, and 1 cup of shredded cheese to the baking dish and stir well to mix. Leave the remaining cheese for the top.
• Pour chicken broth over ingredients and mix well.
• Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and check that rice has softened. If not, place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes and check again. If the rice has softened, remove all foil and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over top of casserole and bake (uncovered) for an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
• Serve hot.

Notes

Add Jalapenos to this recipe to give it a bit of extra spice, or use your favorite type of salsa with your preferred heat level.

Make this recipe vegetarian/vegan by substituting the ground beef with tofu or a vegetable like zucchini. Also, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Make sure to use uncooked rice in this dish. While it seems like cooking the rice before heating up the casserole would be faster, you would end up with mush instead of rice and it wouldn’t hold up very well.

This recipe could easily be used as a dip recipe too if you are cooking this for a potluck. Grab some scooping chips and dig in!

Nutrition

Calories: 443kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 1026mg | Potassium: 786mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 587IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 265mg | Iron: 5mg

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More Recipes:

• Mexican Dinner Recipes
• Chicken and Rice Casserole
• Mexican Street Corn Dip

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