Gaucho Casserole

Submitted by bmcnichol

"One of my favorite caseroles that is quick and easy to make."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 453.59 g lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 453.59 g can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 411.06 g can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 226.79 g can tomato sauce
• 59.14 ml water
• 35.43 g envelope low-sodium taco seasoning
• 4.92 ml chili powder
• 315.37 ml uncooked instant rice
• 473.18 ml shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend

directions

1. Crumble the beef and mix with onion and pepper in a microwave dish.
2. Cover and microwave on high for 41/2 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, stirring every 2 minutes and drain.
3. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, taco seasoning and chili powder.
4. Cover and microwave on high for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes or until bubbly, stirring every 2 minutes.
5. Stir in rice.
6. Transfer to a shallow dish coated with cooking spray.
7. Cover and let stand for 6-8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
8. Sprinkle with cheese.
9. Cover and microwave on high for another minute or until cheese is melted.

Reviews

[patricksgirl96]

We make this at least twice a month. Its a family fav plus its fast and yummy.

 

[children from A to Z]

Made this last night, everyone cleaned their plates. I did have to microwave it for 5 min. after the rice sat for 8 min. I used brown minute rice and wasn't done. After microwaving for 5 min. It was done. Followed the rest of the recipe and came out delicious!

 

[Lavender Lynn]

We enjoyed this and the kids gobbled it up, but we aren't much accustomed to cooking in the microwave and found it to be a lot of extra work. I didn't transfer this to a shallow pan because such a pan would be too large to fit in the microwave. This would be an easy one-pan stovetop meal, and I'm sure it could be done that way with hardly any changes to the recipe. We, like FloridaNative, used Recipe#76616, and pintos instead of kidney beans, but we used minute rice as suggested. It took several bursts in the microwave to melt the cheese. Once we got through the cooking process, the final result was very satisfying, tasty, and filling.

 

[kitty.rock]

We really enjoyed this tonight for a quick dinner. I strayed by making this on the stove top instead of microwave, using Kittencal's recipe#76616 (#76616) and instead of instant rice I used brown rice ~ just my personal preferences. Very tasty, rib-stickin' meal and I had all the ingredients in the pantry. Thanks bmcnichol :) Made for PRMR, August 2009!