Mexican Rice Casserole
My friend Asheley used to make this Mexican rice casserole often, which I loved, and I finally decided to recreate it myself. My friend would use a can of spicy Mexican tomato sauce, but since there would be kids eating, I opted to use regular tomato sauce. I also decided to throw in some black beans, cilantro, and extra seasonings. It turned out really delicious–we all loved it. I topped it with sour cream and served it with salsa and guacamole on the side. This Mexican rice casserole was quick and easy to make and paired nicely with my Southwestern salad with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.
Mexican Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups of white rice, prepared per instructions
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried cumin
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 1 (15-oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-oz) can of tomato sauce, or 2 (7-oz) cans of Mexican spicy tomato sauce
- 3-4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (divided)
- 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 tomatoes, sliced thickly
Serving:
How to Make Mexican Rice Casserole
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with olive oil cooking spray
Prepare rice in a large saucepan according to the package instructions.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the ground beef, breaking it up into crumbles, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the diced onion and all of the seasonings. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until the beef is cooked through and the onion is tender.
Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly for an additional 60 seconds.
Add the cooked rice, drained and rinsed black beans, tomato sauce, and half of the cilantro (reserving the other half for garnishing) to the beef and onion mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, taste, and re-season if needed.
Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray and pour the rice mixture into the dish, spreading it evenly.
Place the tomato slices on top of the rice mixture, then top with cheddar cheese.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 7-10 minutes before slicing.
Top with a dollop of sour cream and the remaining chopped cilantro. Enjoy.
Equipment
- Large 9x13-Inch Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 1½ cups of white rice prepared per instructions
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried cumin
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 1 15-oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-oz can of tomato sauce, or 2 (7-oz) cans of Mexican spicy tomato sauce
- 3-4 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped (divided)
- 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 tomatoes sliced thickly
Serving:
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil cooking spray
- Prepare rice in a large saucepan according to the package instructions.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the ground beef, breaking it up into crumbles, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the diced onion and all of the seasonings. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until the beef is cooked through and the onion is tender.
- Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly for an additional 60 seconds.
- Add the cooked rice, drained and rinsed black beans, tomato sauce, and half of the cilantro (reserving the other half for garnishing) to the beef and onion mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, taste, and re-season if needed.
- Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray and pour the rice mixture into the dish, spreading it evenly.
- Place the tomato slices on top of the rice mixture, then top with cheddar cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 7-10 minutes before slicing.
- Top with a dollop of sour cream and the remaining chopped cilantro. Enjoy.
I made this today….I added 1 tsp. salt and about 1/2 tsp. pepper..I thought it was a little bland so I mixed 1-1/2 cups of salsa right to the rice mixture before putting it in the baking dish….I used Mexican shredded cheese for the top….was very good served with homemade hot rolls.
I am making this tonight and want to verify something. It says 1 1/2 cups of rice. Is that measured dry rice, then cook it OR is that already cooked rice that is going into the oven? Thanks
You must cook the rice first… see instructions above.
Cheers,
Pam
The rice amount isn’t really clear to me either! Because I don’t want to mess-up the seasoning ratio, I just thought I would check. I understand the rice should be cooked, but is it 1 1/2 cups rice before it is cooked or 1 1/2 cups after it is prepared? A measure of 1 1/2 cups dry before preparation would obviously yield quite a bit more rice. Thank you so much, sorry to be a bother!
1 1/2 cups of DRIED rice that you then prepare. I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Pam
Yes it does, Pam! Thank you. I’m following from Madrid and dinner was getting close, so I went ahead and prepared one cup of dried rice, since I figured that would be either just under or over the quantity. About to go in the oven and it looks delicious (OK, it tastes delicious too…I checked).
Made this tonight…very tasty. It’s a keeper. I didn’t have fresh tomatoes so I drained a can of diced tomatoes and spread that on top.
This looks delish! One question…have you tried freezing this? Would you bake first, then freeze and just reheat. Or freeze before you bake it?
Thank you!
SJ
Stephanie,
I’ve never tried freezing it before, so I don’t know how it would turn out. If you do freeze it, please let me know how it turns you.
Thanks,
Pam
Do you think you could do this with shredded chicken?
Jen,
I think it would be excellent with shredded chicken. Let me know how it turns out.
Pam
This sounds like a great recipe! Thanks for sharing
I have been making this recipe for my family FOR YEARS! We like to have it in the summer. I plan to teach my children how to make this. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Kristen,
Thank you for taking the time to let me know. You’ve made my day with your sweet comment. ❤️
-Pam