Amazing rice casserole packed with the best flavors of beef enchiladas. This flavorful casserole is made with ground beef and bell pepper mixture, spices, homemade enchilada sauce, and topped with lots of cheese. A wonderful weekend family dinner that even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy.
After you fall in love with this beef casserole, make sure to hop over to my Chicken Mushroom and Rice Casserole and give it a try.
BEEF RICE CASSEROLE
If you’re looking for a delicious, comforting dinner for the whole family, you found it! This rice casserole has it all in one – meat, rice, vegetables, sauce, and cheese, all combined into one delicious dish.
Beef Enchiladas is one of my family’s most requested dinners. No surprising, because there is so much flavor coming from ground beef, bell peppers, spices, and enchilada sauce.
This is a great dish for the whole family and you can easily adjust the spice level. I use just one chili in adobo sauce but if you want to kick up the spice, you can use two. Adding a little more chipotle chili powder can also make the casserole more spicy. Overall, the spice is about medium but it is balanced well with rice and cheese topping.
DRAINING GROUND BEEF?
Draining ground beef or not has been a hot topic on many of my recipes here and on my Facebook page. Many people are firm believers in draining beef as it cooks and others are not.
I stand firm on not draining the beef. There is SO much flavor in the juices that you would be literally pouring it down the drain. 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% or leaner. But remember, leaner beef means not as tender and not as juicy.
HOW TO MAKE BEEF ENCHILADA RICE CASSEROLE
Preheat the oven to 350° 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.
Cover the skillet tightly (or the casserole dish) 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 skillet out of the oven and take off the foil. Finally, sprinkle cheese evenly over the top of the casserole and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
SOME MORE RICE RECIPES TO TRY:
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Beef Enchilada Rice Casserole
This flavorful casserole is made with ground beef and bell pepper mixture, spices, homemade enchilada sauce, and topped with lots of cheese.
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%
- 1/2 tbsp chipotle chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 chili in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce from the peppers
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 cups beef stock hot
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese mix
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° 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 skillet tightly (or the casserole dish) 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 skillet 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.
Recipe Notes
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 a slight variation.
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