Beef Enchilada Rice Casserole
Rave Reviews
I have this recipe in my weekly rotation my family loves it! ~Carol
Quick Overview: Beef Enchilada Rice Casserole
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy/beginner, just make sure to cover the dish tightly so the rice steams and cooks evenly!
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🍳 Cook Time: 55 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 6
- 📊 Calories: 588 kcal per serving
- 🔥 Cook Method: Sauté the beef and vegetables, combine everything in one dish, and bake until the rice is perfectly cooked and the cheese is melted and bubbly!
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Bold and savory with smoky chipotle heat, sweet bell peppers, and a rich, cheesy finish.
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Table of Contents
What Makes This Beef Enchilada Rice Casserole So Good
- Can easily be one pan dinner – If you have a deep large cooking pan that is also oven-safe, you can easily cover it and bake in it as well.
- Rice cooks right in the dish – No pre-cooking needed. The rice soaks up all that bold, spiced sauce as it bakes.
- Big enchilada flavor, no rolling – All the flavors of your favorite ground beef enchiladas, in a fraction of the work.
- Bold flavors – The same spices and chipotle heat that make my enchilada sauce recipe so good are built right into the beef and vegetable mixture here.
- Loaded with melted cheese – A generous layer of Mexican cheese blend goes on top and bakes until golden and bubbly.
- Adjustable heat – Dial the spice up or down easily without changing anything else about the recipe.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Ground beef – for this casserole, use 90/10 meat to fat ratio ground beef. This meat will still be juicy but not greasy.
Long Grain White Rice – long grain rice is important to use because it tends to cook fluffy and as separate grains. Long grain rice includes American long-grain rice, Basmati, and Jasmine rice. (Medium grain rice also cooks as separate grain but more moist and tender. Short grain rice tends to clump together. Medium grain rice includes Arborio rice and short grain rice includes sushi rice.)
Garlic – as aways, using fresh garlic provides the best flavor and aroma.
Chili Pepper in Adobo Sauce – use 1 chili pepper in adobo sauce and about a tablespoon of the sauce from the can. If you want to make the casserole more spicy, don’t add more chili peppers in adobo sauce because that will make the dish more bitter vs spicy. To increase spice, you can add a spicy chili pepper to the dish, like jalapeno or serrano and you can leave the seeds in to increase the heat level.
Tomato sauce – remember to use tomato sauce, not tomato paste.
Beef Stock – you can use beef stock or beef broth. Beef stock tends to be more rich and flavorful than beef broth.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Beef Enchiladas Rice Casserole: Step-by-Step
Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish. (This casserole can actually be cooked right in the 12-inch skillet that you use to cook mixture if it’s deep enough, or in a separate 9×13 casserole dish.)
Slice onions and bell peppers and sauté until softened and the onions are just starting to turn golden at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic and sauté until the garlic is fragrant and the tomatoes start to break down, about 2 minutes.
Take the vegetables out of the pan and set aside. Sauté ground beef in the same pan, breaking up all the clumps until the beef is fully browned with no pink remaining. You should hear a good sizzle when it hits the pan. Mix the cooked vegetables back into the beef.
Add spices, diced chili in adobo sauce, tomato sauce, salt, and sugar. Mix well until the beef and vegetables are evenly coated and the mixture smells deeply spiced and fragrant. Pour in hot beef stock and add rice, stirring until everything is evenly incorporated.
PRO TIP: The beef stock should be hot when it goes in. This will prevent the mixture from cooling down and helps the rice start absorbing liquid right away and ensures even cooking in the oven.
Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. A tight seal is important here so the steam stays trapped and the rice cooks through evenly. Bake for about 40 minutes. (Note: if using different rice, bake time will be affected.)
Take the dish out of the oven and remove the foil. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted, bubbly, and just starting to turn golden in spots. Garnish with minced cilantro before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This casserole is hearty enough to serve on its own, but a simple side takes it over the top. Try it alongside refried beans, a crisp green salad, or warm tortillas. For toppings, set out sour cream, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, pickled jalapeños, and a squeeze of lime.
Storing, Reheating and Freezing
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To reheat, you can microwave in 40-60 second intervals, stirring in between, until heated through. You can also reheat the whole dish covered in a 325°F oven until warmed through. If needed, add a splash of broth, if rice seems dry.
- To freeze: Let the casserole cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe container, close air-tight, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Make Ahead Recommendation
You can make uncooked rice casserole ahead of time but with one adjustment:
- Assemble the cooked beef and vegetable mixture and refrigerate it covered for up to 24 hours, but wait to add the rice and beef stock until right before baking.
- The uncooked rice will start absorbing the liquid overnight, which throws off the balance and can leave you with unevenly cooked rice.
- When you’re ready to bake, stir in the hot beef stock and rice, then proceed as written. Add about 5 extra minutes to the covered bake time since the mixture is going in cold.
Beef Enchilada Rice Casserole Recipe FAQs
That’s usually quite the debate. I stand firm on not draining the beef but using slightly less fatty ground beef. There is SO much flavor in the juices that you would be literally pouring it down the drain. Fat is flavor! All these juices should be incorporated into the sauce or the dish that it’s cooked in instead of thrown out.
If you want to lower the amount of fat, simply choose leaner beef, like 90/10%. But remember, leaner beef means not as tender and not as juicy.
Sure, you can use long-grain brown rice! You’ll need to adjust the cooking time as brown rice takes longer (and sometimes much longer) to cook. A rice casserole using brown rice could take up to 60 minutes of covered bake time. Check at the 50-minute mark and add a splash of hot beef stock if it looks dry
Of course, you can use ground chicken, shredded chicken, or ground turkey meat instead.
More Rice Recipes To Try
For another hearty rice casserole, my chicken mushroom and rice casserole is a longtime reader favorite. And if you love that chipotle spice profile, the chicken tortilla rice skillet delivers the same bold flavors on the stovetop. My beef enchiladas verde with creamy tomatillo sauce are absolutely worth trying. And if you want a similar flavor profile but with pasta, try my stuffed peppers pasta casserole.
If you’ve made my beef enchilada rice casserole recipe and found a lot of good information here, PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below as well. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter!
Beef Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 bell peppers
- 3 tomatoes on a vine
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 lb ground beef 85/15% meat to fat
- 1 chili in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce from the peppers
- 1/2 tbsp chipotle chili powder
- 8 oz canned tomato sauce
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- 2 cups low sodium beef stock hot
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese mix
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish. (This casserole can actually be cooked right in the 12-inch skillet that you use to cook beef and vegetables or in a separate 9×13 casserole dish.)
- Slice onions and bell peppers and saute until softened. Add tomatoes and garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant.
- Take vegetables out of the pan, and set aside. Saute ground beef in the same pan as the vegetables, breaking up all the clumps until beef is browned.
- Mix cooked vegetables back into the beef.
- Add spices, diced chili in adobo sauce, tomato sauce, salt, and sugar. Mix well, pour in hot beef stock, and add rice. Stir everything until evenly incorporated. You can cook beef and rice mixture right in the skillet or transfer it into a casserole dish at this point.
- Cover the casserole dish tightly (or the skillet) with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake for about 40 minutes. (Note: if using different rice, bake time could be a few minutes more or less.)
- Take the dish out of the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top of the casserole and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Long grain white rice: long grain rice tends to cook fluffy and as separate grains. Long grain rice includes American long-grain rice, Basmati, and Jasmine rice. (Medium grain rice also cooks as separate grain but more moist and tender. Short grain rice tends to clump together. Medium grain rice includes Arborio rice and short grain rice includes sushi rice.)
- Make it more spicy: If you want to make the casserole more spicy, don’t add more chili peppers in adobo sauce because that will make the dish more bitter vs spicy. To increase spice, you can add a spicy chili pepper (or two) to the dish, like jalapeno or serrano and you can leave the seeds in to increase the heat level.
- Want to use brown rice? You can use long-grain brown rice! You’ll need to adjust the cooking time as brown rice takes longer (and sometimes much longer) to cook. A rice casserole using brown rice could take up to 60 minutes of covered bake time.
Nutrition
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Categories:
Beef Recipes, Cinco de Mayo Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Enchilada Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes, Mexican Dinner Recipes, Rice Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
WHAT BEEF BROTH DO YOU USE?
I usually use Kitchen Basics or Pacific whichever one has the low sodium or no sodium added.
I have this recipe in my weekly rotation my family loves it!