Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole is an easy and delicious comfort food! A colorful dish loaded with beef, rice, fire-roasted tomatoes, and so much more! It’s the perfect weeknight meal that will satisfy even the pickiest eaters.
I love Mexican food – and I also love a good casserole! A cheesy casserole you say? Even better! It’s comfort food season around here and I couldn’t pass up the idea of putting together a good ‘ole homemade casserole full of some of my favorite flavors. Does anyone else love warming up their kitchen this time of year with cooking or baking when it starts to get cold out? I certainly do!
This casserole is loaded full of spinach, corn, and one of my favorites – fire-roasted tomatoes! It’s super simple to put together and essentially all you’re going to need is a skillet to assemble it and a casserole dish to cook it! Trust me when I tell you this is real comfort food, juicy ground beef with rice and a cheesy finish and a whole lot of yumminess!
Ingredients
- Ground beef – I like to use a lean ground beef – you can also use other options of protein if you like such as ground chicken, turkey or pork!
- Spinach – End trimmed, and roughly chopped.
- Corn – Any brand of frozen corn kernels will do the trick!
- Tomatoes – I used one can of fire roasted tomatoes – you can use a different kind if you like and also roast your own tomatoes if you’d prefer!
- Rice – I used long grain rice for this recipe but you can use any rice of your choice!
- Chicken broth – You can also use beef and vegetable broth too – I like the low sodium or no salt added options.
- Taco seasoning – Any brand work fine!
- Salsa – You can use a mild or more spicy version or make your own!
- Cheese – I used a Mexican 4 cheese blend today.
- Cilantro – Chopped, for garnish – this is optional if you’re not a cilantro-person!
Can I Make My Own Roasted Tomatoes?
Yes please! I love all things homemade. If you’re looking to roast your own tomatoes for this dish, it’s actually quite simple. Here’s how:
Add the tomatoes of choice, to a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about 30 minutes or until they begin to char. Once done, chop the up a bit and add the tomatoes to the casserole as suggested! Finito!
How To Make Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole
- Preheat oven: To 375 degrees and spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- Cook the beef: In a large skillet, cook the ground beef for about 5 minutes, breaking it into crumbles, over medium-high heat. Stir in taco seasoning and continue to cook until the beef starts to brown and is no longer pink.
- Add vegetables: Add the spinach, corn, roasted tomatoes, salsa, and 1/2 of the shredded cheese to the skillet and stir. Finally, add the rice and broth, and stir until ingredients are well incorporated.
- Assemble casserole: Spoon the contents of the skillet into the prepared casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil.
- Cook casserole: Place the casserole dish into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. When finished, remove the foil and top with remaining cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
- Garnish and serve: Once removed from the oven, garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
What Else Can I Add
The options are endless here people! From different kinds of protein to the vast variety of vegetables that exists out there in the world! Making this dish vegetarian is a no-brainer, there are so many options for filling and satisfying flavors as well as substituting chicken broth for a vegetable broth. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
| Meat | Vegetables |
| Ground Turkey | Bell Peppers |
| Chicken | Zucchini |
| Ground Veal | Broccoli |
| Sausage | Cauliflower |
| Beans | |
| Chickpeas | |
| Black olives | |
| Onions | |
| Mushrooms | |
| Eggplant | |
| Jalapeños |
How To Serve
You can serve this casserole a number of different ways. When I think of authentic Mexican cuisine, I can’t help but think of serving it with fresh tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, or perhaps even some tortilla chips or homemade naan bread. The world is your oyster – don’t let me stop you there!
Want To Make This Dish Ahead Of Time?
This Mexican beef and rice casserole is great to put together a head of time. In the fridge it will last about 3 – 4 days wrapped or sealed well with a lid or plastic wrap.
Can I Freeze This Casserole?
The answer is yes – this whole casserole can be frozen, as long as it’s tightly sealed. It can be stored for up to 6 months this way and when you’re ready to eat just pop it into the fridge to thaw overnight. Stick it in the oven the next day at 350 degrees, cook for 45 minutes, and you’re good to go!
Try More Of My Mouth Watering Casseroles:
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Beef Tamale Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Sausage Potato Breakfast Casserole
- Skillet Sloppy Joe Casserole
- Baked Spaghetti Casserole
- No Peek Chicken Rice Casserole
- Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 bunch spinach (ends trimmed and roughly chopped)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 14 ounce fire roasted diced tomatoes ((1 can) can substitute with regular diced tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup salsa (store bought)
- 2 cups Mexican 4 cheese blend (shredded)
- 1 cup long grain rice (uncooked)
- 2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat oven: To 375 degrees and spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- Cook the beef: In a large skillet, cook the ground beef for about 5 minutes, breaking it into crumbles, over medium-high heat. Stir in taco seasoning and continue to cook until the beef starts to brown and is no longer pink.
- Add vegetables: Add the spinach, corn, roasted tomatoes, salsa, and 1/2 of the shredded cheese to the skillet and stir. Finally, add the rice and broth, and stir until ingredients are well incorporated.
- Assemble casserole: Spoon the contents of the skillet into the prepared casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil.
- Cook casserole: Place the casserole dish into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. When finished, remove the foil and top with remaining cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
- Garnish and serve: Once removed from the oven, garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Notes
- To freeze this, cook it completely without cheese and let it cool completely. Transfer it to an airtight container, then just reheat it in the microwave (add the cheese now) when ready to serve.
- Use any type of broth you have on hand
- You can use ground chicken, pork, or turkey for this recipe if you’d like.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Fantastic recipe! Can make it without beef or any meat comes out wonderful. I omit the corn and add green and red pepper.
Easy quick recipe ! Didn’t have frozen corn so used canned –
Great last minute dinner idea with multiple options
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love this recipe! I’ll add in a diced green pepper for extra veggies, if I have it. I’ve substituted chopped frozen spinach for the fresh, I’ve used ground turkey in place of the beef, used water when I don’t have chicken broth. Love the flexibility of this recipe and how tasty and filling it is!
Made this last night delicious! We left the spinach out. We used Tostitos Scoops to basically use this as a dip. Husband used a soft style soft taco to roll up. Served sour cream guacamole salsa shredded lettuce on the side. Will make again!
Is it possible to do without the salsa if I dont have it on hand? And in the event that I dont have taco seasoning on hand, is there a way I could manage with cumin, chilli powder, regular garlic, regular onion, mixed herbs. I fully are understand that salsa and taco seasoning the key ingredients that renderthis dish Mexican, but would it be possible to substitute them in a pinch? Thank you.
You can use my taco seasoning here and make your own, but you’ll still have to substitute the salsa with something else.
Hi! I’m trying this tonight and no doubt it’ll be great. What’s the serving size recommendation? I’m currently counting calories and watching macros (gross I know). So happy to see nutrient info!
Well, the whole recipe makes 8 servings, so just divide it in 8 portions, probably about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups.
Hi there can I use long grain brown rice? Thanks!
You can, but just keep in mind that brown rice takes longer to cook and may require more liquid.
I have made this 3 times now! Always a hit! If I want to omit the beef can I double the rice to 2 cups or just 1.5 cups?
You can definitely double the rice, just make sure to double the broth as well.
Its always a hit. I love that even kiddos eat it without complaints and it’s loaded in veggies. So good.
Really great recipe! I kept everything in the cast iron (I have a 13in one), used it on the stove and then put it directly into the oven – a one pot recipe if you’d like! I love how adaptable it is, a really great way to use up any random, leftover veggies! Thank you!
Jo – I can’t thank you enough for this recipe!! I added diced red and orange peppers along with a jalapeño for a bit of kick…and the whole family raved!! I will definitely come back for more great meal ideas xoxo
Yum that sounds awesome! Enjoy 😊
the family and i enjoyed this recipe so much! and with great macros!
Loved this recipe. Used the leftovers and made soft wrapped tacos adding more cheese, salsa, peppers, lettuce and crispy Tostitos for crunch.
That’s such a great idea! We’re glad you loved it 😊
So delicious and easy! My husband likes “reglar” food and this was right up his alley! He’s a diabetic, so I left the rice and broth out. The juice from the canned tomatoes was enough to keep it from getting dry. Also added a can of green chiles. My favorite part about this dish is that you can easily change it up! I just thought about using quinoa in place of the rice, so I’ll try that next time.
Quinoa would be awesome! We’re glad it was a hit.
I accidentally didn’t read thru the directions and cooked the rice… but! It worked out well because I just didn’t cook it in the oven as long. This dish was a winner with my family. We came up with a few ideas for what to try it with: Stuffed pepper, burritos and on iceberg salad (in the summertime) thanks Jo!