Baked Beef and Rice Bake

Submitted by Kittencalrecipezazz

"This recipe goes back to the early 80's, I still make it once in a while, it's a really tasty and easy dish to throw together, if you have freezer ready beef all ready cooked and frozen in the freezer, just thaw on defrost in the microwave, and just throw in some cooked bacon with the other ingredients... freezer-ready ground beef makes this recipe even quicker!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 40mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 6 -8 slices bacon
• 1 1⁄2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 3⁄4 cup chopped green bell pepper (optional)
• seasoning salt and pepper (or regular salt)
• 2 -3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄2 - 3⁄4 cup sliced pimento stuffed olive
• 2 cups good quality tomato juice
• 1 1⁄2 cups boiling water
• 3⁄4 - 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

directions

1. Grease a 1-1/2-quart casserole dish.
2. In a large frypan, cook the bacon until crisp; set aside to a plate and crumble.
3. To the bacon drippings add ground beef, with rice, onion, garlic and green pepper (if using) in the bacon drippings until beef is no longer pink; drain the fat/drippings.
4. Add in the cooked bacon, Parmesan cheese (if using) seasoning salt and pepper to taste, paprika, stuffed olives, tomato juice and boiling water (do not add in the grated cheddar cheese); mix to combine well.
5. Set oven to 300 degrees.
6. Transfer the mixture to a prepared dish.
7. Cover tightly, and bake for 1 hour.
8. Uncover, sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese, and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese has melted, and the rice is done to desired tenderness.

Reviews

[FrenchBunny]

We had this tonight. I really thought this was delicious, but my DD could not give her opinion because she has a bad cold and can't taste food. She ate it all up though. Next time I would add a little more garlic and more seasoning salt, but that is a minor tweak. This was great for during the week , I didn't find it took too long to put together, under 20 minutes for me. It took about 45- 50 minutes in the oven maybe because I used a bigger than 1 1/2 quart dish. I used the regular bacon and used red pepper (personal choice) green don't agree with me and I used V8 juice (the only kind I keep in the house) Thanks again Kitten for another one of your great recipes.

 

[Charlotte J]

This turned out really good. The bacon I used was a hickory smoked type. I think a plain bacon would have let the flavors of the other ingredients come out more. But just the same everyone liked this casserole. It took a good half hour to prepare and needed a 2 quart casserole dish. With that I only had less then 1/2 inch to spare! I will be making this again . Thank you for sharing your recipe with us. Made for Zaar Tag 2006