Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

DesertRose15's Note:

This recipe is from the 2004 cookbook, "Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly". The ideal slow-cooker size for this recipe is 4 or 5 quarts. >>*Please note when using older recipes that crockpots used to cook at much lower temperatures than newer ones. If you bought a crockpot within the last ten years, it will cook hotter and need less cooking time.

• Total Time: 6 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 16 ounces kidney beans, undrained
• 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope reduced sodium taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/3 cups instant rice, uncooked
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef and onion in nonstick skillet.
2. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, except rice and cheese.
3. Cook on low for 4-8 hours.
4. Stir in rice, cover, and cook until tender.
5. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Cover and cook until cheese is melted.

Reviews

[morgainegeiser]

This was easy to throw together and the ingredients matched well. It was a nice spicy quick one pot meal. Only thing is I don't think it really needed to be cooked on low for 8 hours, after a few hours the peppers were done and it was ready to have the rice added.

[vinasgal]

I am fairly new to crockpot cooking (even though I'm 52 years old) but when I saw this recipe a light went off "NOT ENOUGH LIQUID" the light kept telling me. After barely 4 hours in the crockpot on low, I returned home to a foul smell. I went to the crockpot and pulled off the lid - I had a big burned on gooey mess (no, I did not add the cheese or rice). Like other reviwers, I feel that the time specified is way too long and/or the liquid amount is NOT enough. Imagine had I not been home until the meal was suppsoed to be ready......I can't imagine what a mess I would have found. I think someone needs to go back and double-check the amounts specified in this recipe.

[stephaniemesler]

My family liked this recipe. It is much like beans and rice I used to make on stovetop. I was very glad to find a crock pot version. I cooked it for about 3 hours on high without the rice or cheese. Then turned it to low. At the 4 hour mark I added the rice and a little more water because it looked like too much liquid had cooked off to handle the rice. At the 5 hour mark, I turned it off and stirred in the cheese. It came out well this way but would not work for someone who really wanted to leave it cooking all day long while they ignored it.