Quick Cheesy Beef & Rice
Decided to make my own version with things I had on hand. It's a bit on the boring side, but with 3 kids under 5 that's how dinner goes sometimes.
Decided to make my own version with things I had on hand. It's a bit on the boring side, but with 3 kids under 5 that's how dinner goes sometimes.
- Carbohydrate 25.2752678721954 g
- Cholesterol 111.637702155 mg
- Fat 30.4646066180166 g
- Fiber 1.78394995170066 g
- Protein 32.0457084415788 g
- Saturated Fat 13.8584646266082 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (317g)
- Sodium 610.285394315975 mg
- Sugar 23.4913179204947 g
- Trans Fat 3.35689797615937 g
- Calories 508 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
- Brown the ground beef in a medium sized skillet with the garlic powder. Drain.
- Prepare a casserole dish by spraying it with non-stick spray, or buttering it.
- Mix together the beef, rice, can of soup, and half of the cheese together (I just do in the casserole dish because I don't like to get a bunch of dishes dirty, but you can do it separately in a big bowl if you wish). At this time you would want to add the tomato (stewed tomatoes or Rotel) if you're going to add it to the mix.
- Put it in the oven for 25 minutes. Pull it out and add the rest of the cheese and the bacon to the top and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Serve it with the vegetable and fruit of your choice on the side.
Baked casseroles rely on moisture management to prevent dense, sticky grains of rice.
- Brown the ground beef completely at medium-high heat to render out excess surface fat before combining it with the rice, preventing a greasy final texture.
- Add the tomatoes or canned soup directly into the meat and rice mixture to supply necessary liquid for the starches to hydrate evenly without burning during the 25-minute bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Reserve half of the cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese until the final five minutes of baking to ensure a stretchy, molten topping rather than a dried-out protein skin.
- Double the quantities proportionally when scaling for larger groups, but use a wider 9x13-inch baking dish instead of a deeper vessel to maintain an even thermal penetration depth of two inches.
Proper thermal distribution keeps the exterior crisp while the interior retains moisture. Stored in an airtight container within the refrigerator, leftovers remain structurally sound for up to three days.
