Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole [+Video]

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Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole [+Video]

a photo of a round ceramic baking dish filled with a ground beef and rice casserole topped with melted cheese and a large serving spoon removing a scoop.

Picky eaters are going to love this Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole. Mom called it busy day casserole because it’s a quick and easy dinner.

Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole

Alright, this Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole recipe is definitely not my norm, but it is who I am and it happens to be a recipe that I get a crazy amount of emails about. I get loads of emails about our fabulous buttermilk pancakes too…have you tried those?! Total comfort food just like this casserole.

A long time ago (and seriously, check out the picture and you’ll laugh your heart out at how little I knew about food photography), I posted a recipe called Busy Day Casserole and it has been one of my top recipes for years now. It never disappears from the most viewed recipes. In fact, a lot of our hamburger recipe ideas are our top recipes. You can find them all here.

People love this cheesy ground beef and rice casserole, and while it’s totally simple I know why. This quick and easy dinner idea with ground beef and melted cheese is in fact the cure for all picky eaters. It’s very dependent on you for the seasoning so for picky eaters it’s perfect, but if you want more flavor season it well or add in more vegetables. If you wanted to try something similar, but with chicken, try this cheesy ranch chicken casserole!

read more: Looking for easy casserole recipes? Try our Pork Chop Casserole with Rice next!

What’s in This Ground Beef Casserole Recipe?

The ingredients you’ll need for this ground beef and rice recipe will vary depending on whether you want to make this casserole completely from scratch, semi-homemade, or if you’d rather throw together something really quickly (i.e. use a few shortcuts). 

If you have the time and energy, I highly recommend making this casserole recipe with ground beef from scratch. Don’t let the longer ingredients list fool you, I bet you already have most of them on hand already!

To make this cheesy beef and rice casserole completely from scratch, you’ll need some butter, onion, garlic, flour, cream, chicken broth, veggies, cheese, white rice, ground beef, and water. Oh, and salt and pepper, of course! 

If you’re look

Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts

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Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts

a photo of a stuffed chicken breast that has been baked to golden perfection with gooey cheese spilling out of the chicken

Cheesy chorizo stuffed chicken breasts is the chicken dinner recipe you never knew you were missing! Bold flavor in every bite!

Last winter we busted out our queso fundido and as we were shoveling all of that deliciousness loaded onto crisp and salty chips the thought occurred to me: this should be stuffed in chicken.

And so it is. And it’s delicious. The best part is when a little cheese and chorizo spills out into the pan and gets a little crisp around the edges. You’re going to love it!

Ingredients for Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts

You don’t need many ingredients to make this tasty stuffed chicken recipe! When chorizo is involved, you know you’re headed to flavor town! Here is what you will need…

  • Chorizo
  • Chicken Breasts
  • Chihuahua Cheese, or Oaxaca cheese, mozzarella cheese would also work
  • Olive Oil
  • Taco Seasoning

The measurements for each ingredient are listed in the recipe card found at the end of this post.

How to Make Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Stuffed chicken breasts seem so fancy, but it really couldn’t be easier! Here are the basic steps…

  1. Cook: Brown the chorizo in a skillet on the stove top, drain excess grease and set aside.
  2. Butterfly: Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise creating a pocket in the side of the chicken breast.
  3. Stuff: Fill each pocket with chorizo and cheese.
  4. Sear: Oil and season the outside of the stuff chicken breasts and then sear both sides on the stovetop.
  5. Bake: Place the chicken in a baking dish and finish cooking the chicken in the oven.

The complete instructions can be found in the recipe card down below so keep scrolling for all the details.

What is Chorizo?

What is chorizo anyway? Good question!!

Chorizo is just pork sausage that has been heavily seasoned and tastes sooo delicious! It’s most common in Spanish and Mexican cuisine, so chances are you’ve already had it. Ok, there are two different methods to make chorizo, so let me break it down:

The Mexican style of chorizo is made from raw pork and what you’ll see in the stores the most. Spanish chorizo is often smoked and a little more tricky to find.

That means that the Spanish version Is more like a sliceable sausage whereas Mexican is like a ground meat. For this recipe, we will use Mexican chorizo.

Where to Buy Chorizo

When you head to the store, where do you find Mexican chorizo? I buy chorizo in the butcher or meat department. In our local grocery stores they are in two places.

  1. The first being the regular meat department usually at one end or the other.
  2. The second, a specialty Mexican cooler that has salsas, Mexican cheeses, tortillas and chorizo.

If you can

Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 26 to Mar. 3

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Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 26 to Mar. 3

a graphic showing a weekly menu plan

We are taking your tastebuds on a tour around the world this week starting in Asia, then making stops in India, Italy, Japan and ending up in the South! You’re going to love every dish!


Monday: Asian Steak Marinade


Tuesday: Vegetarian Tikka Masala


Wednesday: Homemade Spaghetti


Thursday: Peanut Butter Chicken


Friday: Japanese Cloud Pancakes


Saturday: Instant Pot Italian Chicken Soup


Sunday: World’s Best Pulled Pork

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 26 to Mar. 3

Berry Smoothie Ice Cream

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Smoothie Ice Cream is what happens when strawberries, blueberries, and bananas are blended into a frozen concoction so thick you can eat it with a spoon. 

Close-up horizontal shot of pink ice cream in white bowls with silver spoons

Ice Cream Smoothie

This ice cream smoothie was an accidental result of my not paying a lot of attention as I threw some of our favorite smoothie ingredients into the blender. Banana berry smoothies are always a win with my kids, so I expected thumbs up when they tasted this.

Their response was off the charts though. The kids LOVED this and declared it the following: “awesome,” “favorite breakfast food ever,” “better than regular ice cream,” and “just make this for our next dessert.” I was laughing so hard by the time the kids polished off their “ice cream breakfast.”

While I did not share their extreme level of enthusiasm or the inclination to call this mixed berry smoothie, “more delicious than ice cream,” it really is a delicious frozen treat. And I was especially happy to see the kids so excited over a healthy treat.

Pink soft serve in white bowl

I made these smoothies twice more that month before sharing the recipe with you, just to make sure that the “ice cream” wasn’t a fluke and could be recreated easily. Side note here: I have a very powerful blender. If you do not have a very powerful blender, I recommend using a food processor to make this ice cream.

I have

Fajita Quesadilla

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The sizzle of perfectly seasoned fajita vegetables is snugly under wraps with oodles of gooey cheese in this golden, crispy Fajita Quesadilla.

Stacked wedges of fajita quesadilla on a wooden board with a blue and white checkered tea towel in the background.

Fajita Quesadilla

Each bite of these quesadillas is a burst of bold flavors. The smoky char of sautéed peppers and onions is balanced with the creamy flavor of melted, freshly shredded cheese.

And for toppings, you can finish your fajita quesadilla with a fiery tomato salsa, a dollop of sour cream, or guacamole. Or, if you’re like my niece… more cheese.

I typically have bell peppers of every color on hand, so using a mixture of colors makes this vegetable quesadilla a little bit more fun for me. But, feel free to use whichever color pepper you have on hand.

If you’d like to make these a little bit spicier, throw in some fresh chopped jalapeno. At my table, you can’t go wrong adding in a bit of that lingering heat.

My boys would never let me live it down if I didn’t note that you can easily add the meat of your choice to this recipe. Grilled chicken, pulled pork, and tender steak bites keep my meat lovers quite happy.

A vertically aligned photo of a sliced tortilla quesadilla in quarters on a wooden background.

Fajita Quesadilla Recipe

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