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You don’t even have to boil the rice or brown the meat! Let the oven do the work, and just stir together the raw ingredients for this Dump-and-Bake Ground Beef Casserole with Rice. It’s an easy and healthy dinner recipe with just 10 minutes of prep!
For those days when you just don’t have the time or energy to pull together another meal!
When you need a cozy, hearty and nourishing supper to serve your family, this beef and rice casserole comes to the rescue. It’s loaded with vegetables, lean protein and rice — for a complete dinner that only requires a few minutes of hands-on time. The dump-and-bake method is your weeknight savior!
How to make Ground Beef Casserole:
First, place the raw ground beef in a large baking dish. Use your fingers to break up the meat into small pieces (just like you would use a wooden spoon to break up the meat in a skillet).
Add the remaining ingredients (except for the cheese), cover tightly, and bake at 375 degrees F for 60-75 minutes.
During the final 5 minutes of baking, remove the cover, stir the casserole, sprinkle cheese over top, and return the dish to the oven for about 5-10 more minutes so that the cheese can melt.
The casserole is done when the rice is tender and the cheese has melted on top. Garnish with fresh herbs, if desired, and serve!
What to serve with Ground Beef Casserole:
Since this casserole includes protein, veggies and a starch, you really don’t need anything else on the side. Convenient, right? However, if you’d like to round out the meal with a couple of other options, here are some great sides that go well with the casserole:
- A simple green salad dressed in Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Garlic bread or 3-Ingredient Homemade Breadsticks
- Garlic Roasted Broccoli
- Simple Italian Green Bean Salad
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- I recommend using 96% or 97% extra lean ground beef for this recipe, because you are not browning and draining the meat before it goes into the dish. The extra lean meat will not make your casserole greasy. That said, if you prefer to use ground meat with a higher fat content, that’s fine — just cook the meat in a skillet and drain off the fat before stirring the beef into the casserole.
- Cooking time can vary, depending on the type of dish that you’re using. For instance, rice will cook faster in a dark, metal pan than it will in a ceramic dish. Just keep your eye on it starting at the 55 minute mark (when you may need to add the cheese), because you don’t want your rice to be over-cooked and mushy.
- Substitute ground chicken breast or ground white meat turkey breast for the ground beef.
- Make sure that you break up the raw meat as you place it in the dish. This is similar to using a wooden spoon to break up ground beef as you brown it in a skillet. Since the meat bakes in the oven, you don’t want it to cook in one big lump. By breaking it into smaller pieces, it will evenly distribute throughout the casserole!
- Brown rice or instant rice are not equal swaps for the long grain white rice called for here. Brown rice requires a much longer cooking time (so the casserole would need to bake for at least 90 minutes), while instant rice cooks faster and will not absorb as much liquid. I have only tested the recipe with long grain white rice, so I cannot recommend using other grain substitutes.
- For a creamier casserole, omit the can of condensed tomato soup and replace it with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (or other creamy condensed soup).
More ground beef casserole recipe ideas that you might enjoy:
- 4-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole
- Ground Beef Casserole with Egg Noodles {Amish Hamburger Casserole}
- Ground Beef Casserole with Cornbread Topping {Taco Pie}
- Ground Beef Casserole with Pasta {5-Ingredient Dump-and-Bake Beefaroni}
- Mexican Ground Beef Casserole
Dump-and-Bake Ground Beef Casserole with Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef (at least 96% or 97% lean)*
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup, NOT diluted
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste (about 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper)
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Optional garnish: fresh chopped parsley or basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large baking dish (about 9 x 13 inches) with cooking spray.
- In the prepared dish (or in a large bowl), use your fingers to crumble uncooked ground beef into small pieces. Add tomatoes, tomato soup, beef broth, uncooked rice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 60-75 minutes (or until the rice is tender). During the final 5 minutes of cooking, remove dish from oven, uncover, and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Place back in the oven (uncovered) for the final 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh herbs, if desired.
Notes
- I recommend using 96% or 97% extra lean ground beef for this recipe, because you are not browning and draining the meat before it goes into the dish. The extra lean meat will not make your casserole greasy. That said, if you prefer to use ground meat with a higher fat content, that’s fine — just cook the meat in a skillet and drain off the fat before stirring the beef into the casserole.
- Cooking time can vary, depending on the type of dish that you’re using. For instance, rice will cook faster in a dark, metal pan than it will in a ceramic dish. Just keep your eye on it starting at the 55 minute mark (when you may need to add the cheese), because you don’t want your rice to be over-cooked and mushy.
- Substitute ground chicken breast or ground white meat turkey breast for the ground beef.
- Make sure that you break up the raw meat as you place it in the dish. This is similar to using a wooden spoon to break up ground beef as you brown it in a skillet. Since the meat bakes in the oven, you don’t want it to cook in one big lump. By breaking it into smaller pieces, it will evenly distribute throughout the casserole!
- Brown rice or instant rice are not equal swaps for the long grain white rice called for here. Brown rice requires a much longer cooking time (so the casserole would need to bake for at least 90 minutes), while instant rice cooks faster and will not absorb as much liquid. I have only tested the recipe with long grain white rice, so I cannot recommend using other grain substitutes.
- For a creamier casserole, omit the can of condensed tomato soup and replace it with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (or other creamy condensed soup).
I am trying this recipe this today to take to a friend. I was wondering if you have any thoughts about if this recipe would lend itself to being mixed up earlier in the day and then baked closer to time of serving? Or would it be better to just mix up the wet ingredients and add the “dry” (meat and rice) at the time of baking? Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I think the family will really enjoy this recipe.
Hi, Teresa! I’m so glad that you’ll share it with a friend! I prefer to wait to mix the dry and wet ingredients together closer to baking time, since the rice will otherwise start absorbing some of the liquid and may have a bit of a gummier texture in the end. It’s not a huge problem, but that’s always my preference. 🙂
I thought this stuff was really bad. No flavor or taste. I even tried adding hot sauce, didn’t help. Throwing the rest out. I hate wasting food like that
This recipe is very close to a favorite one of mine.
I do it on the stove in a large frying pan.
Few ingredients but delish!!!! And very quick-10-15 minuites
Ground beef
Onion (chopped)
1/2 a large can of tomatoe juice
3 cups of Minuite rice
1 cup of frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste
You cud add some chilli powder or a bit of hot sauce for some kick. My kids liked it without
1- cook ground beef and drain
2-chop onions and add to meat, cook till transparent
3- add all remaining ingredients, stir and put lid on
4- cook on med-low for 10 min
5- optional- you cud add some grated cheese
6- enjoy your quick yummy meal
Wonderful! Your version sounds great, Barb. Thank you so much for sharing!
I think your recipe, even though it has more ingredients sounds like it would be more tasty. Will print it out.
I just made this for the first time, followed the recipe as written, very flavorful and seriously easy to make. My family really enjoyed it. Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks, Jennifer!
I love the ease of this recipe. I was looking for a ground beef casserole that didn’t require pré browning of the beef, like my mom used to make. I never remember my mother or grandmother cooking up ingredients before making ground beef and rice casseroles. Thank you for sharing, this is a very simple and quick to put together recipe. It’s a hit in my home!
Yay! Thanks, Roxanne! I’m so glad that it was a winner with your family. 🙂
I just made 1/2 recipe and it was very good. I did add diced green pepper and onion, otherwise followed recipe to a T. Will make this again.
Awesome! So glad that you enjoyed it, Sonny! 🙂
Forgot to add I baked for 45 minutes as it was 1/2 recipe. Topped with the cheese, turned oven off and let it set cheese melted.
This has quickly become our favorite recipe. I love it, my husband loves it, our 2 year old loves it, my parents love it, etc. THANK YOU for it! I particularly love that it requires zero pre-cooking or slicing anything (I even use store bought minded garlic lol).
I’m wondering if there would be an easy way to modify it to be Mexican tasting instead of Italian tasting. I imagine you would just keep the beef, tomatoes, soup, broth, and rice the same, and use a Mexican cheese blend… But I’m not sure what to do about the Worcestershire sauce and spices. Any ideas? I would love to have TWO awesome recipes instead of one!
Hi, Jill! Thanks so much for your kind note! It makes me happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe. 🙂
I have so many other similar “dump-and-bake” dishes on the site, so you can scroll through and see if any of these sound good as well when you need a new idea: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/?s=dump
For a Mexican twist on this particular recipe, you can do exactly what you say above (but just omit the Worcestershire and use your favorite Mexican seasoning like a taco seasoning or just a combo of chili powder, cumin, paprika, etc.). For more specific Mexican-inspired dump-and-bake recipes, you might want to try one of these:
– Dump-and-Bake Fiesta Chicken and Rice: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/fiesta-chicken-and-rice-bake/
– Dump-and-Bake Taco Casserole: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-taco-casserole/ (you can use ground beef here instead of the meatballs)
So yummy and easy to ‘dump’ together. The entire family requested we have it again soon.
Thanks, Tammie! I appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
I am trying this recipe for first time but don’t have any tomato soup on hand. Will this work without it?
Hi, Janet! The tomato soup adds moisture and flavor to the dish, so you’ll need to replace it with an equal amount of tomato sauce if you have it? Or marinara sauce? Something like that. The tomato soup adds a hint of sweetness, too, so if you’re using tomato sauce, you might want to include some additional seasoning and brown sugar. Hope you enjoy!
I found your recipe while searching for ways to make a mince (ground beef) dish in the oven after my stovetop decided not to work and I had mince that needed to be cooked that day. Thanks for coming to the rescue. A ‘dump’ recipe is my type of recipe! Will definitely be checking out the other ones.
I’m so glad to hear that, Carmel. Thanks for your note! I hope that you find many other dump-and-bake recipes to try here: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/category/dump-bake/
Found this on search for recipe using some already mixed ground beef with uncooked rice I had. What a great find. Worked perfectly and so many possibilities for variations. Thanks!
Thank you, Maggie!
how much time do you let it sit in the oven if using precooked rice?
Hi, Rob! You can definitely use precooked rice, but you’ll also want to reduce the liquid in the dish (since cooked rice will not absorb nearly as much liquid as the raw rice does). I would just use a little bit of broth to thin the soup to desired consistency, and then omit the rest. Bake the casserole at 375 degrees F for maybe 45 minutes, and then check the beef. You’ll obviously need to make sure that the beef is cooked through before pulling it out of the oven. I just don’t know exactly when that will be, so just keep an eye on it.
Super easy and delicious! I used regular 80/20 ground beef and did not cook it prior to mixing everything together. It turned out perfectly.
Thanks, Jessie! I’m so glad that you liked it!
I made this last night using Impossible Burger as my son is vegan. Made the recipe exactly as listed and it was a huge hit. So easy not even having to brown the meat. Quick, easy and my family loved it. What more do you need. Thanks for the recipe!
We’re so happy to hear this, Shameen! Thank you for sharing.