Make Ahead Meals: Cheesy Beef and Rice
ByOn a day when there’s lots of activity (um…that would be every day…), it’s so nice to have a meal prepared in the freezer ready to pull out and bake. Quickly toss a salad and warm up a veggie…and your meal is made!
Over the next several weeks, while I continue to post new breakfast ideas…and great ways to eat lots of fruits and veggies…I’ll also be posting some great recipes that you can make up ahead of time and put into the freezer to have on hand for busy evenings.
To start us off…here’s a super easy recipe to put together. There’s nothing fancy about this dish…but it’s tasty just the same.
Cheesy Beef and Rice
1 cup long grain brown rice
1 lb ground beef
3 T. minced onion, or fresh chopped onion
1/2 t. garlic powder
sea salt, to taste
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Boil two cups of water. Stir in rice. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Brown ground beef with onion and garlic powder. Mix with rice and salt well. Stir in sour cream and milk. Spread into a casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover well and freeze.
To bake: Thaw casserole on counter all day. Place uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
I hope you’ll keep coming back to read more recipes of dishes that you can make ahead of time and put into the freezer!
This post is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap.
Wow! That sounds really good! Our weather is finally warming up and we spend so much time outside that quick meals are a necessity! I usually have hamb. and rice already cooked in portion sizes in the freezer so this sounds like something I could throw together quickly! Thanks, I’ve bookmarked you and will visit again!
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Oh, this looks yummy! I need to get some brown rice, but when I do, I’m totally making some! Thanks!
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I just wanted to provide you with some information on safe thawing of foods (this is what I do for a living, so please excuse the teacher in me!)
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp
Foods should be thawed in the fridge or using the microwave. By thawing on the counter you cannot keep the food at a safe temperature and could expose yourself and your family to unsafe toxins and food poisioning.
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In response to the thawing comment- I often freeze prepared lasagnas (uncooked noodles, not baked, just assembled). Where I would normally cook this recipe for about 45 minutes if fresh, I usually find that about an hour and ten minutes will cook it directly out of the freezer. I will cover it for the first half, so it does not burn outside before cooking inside. This may be a good alternative to worrying about thawing at room temp OR using the microwave if you share concerns about the damaging effects it could have. I would think this method could work on this dish as well! It looks delicious by the way. I think I will add it to my freezer cooking list! My husband loves any combination of cheesy and beef!! I need to get back to preparing more meals for the freezer! Thanks for the inspiration, even 7 months later!
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This sounds great – and something that my family would like to eat. I’m going to try it out next week.
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It is good! We had it for dinner tonight (and there is now one in the freezer! Yay!). Of course, with my husband helping, a few hot pepper flakes got added on at the end, but thankfully it wasn’t too hot and tasted delicious. I’m looking forward to having the next one when our baby gets here!
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We are going to have this tonight for dinner!
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This sounds delish! Have you ever made it w/o the sour cream? Or is it a noticable taste? We have some picky eaters in our home!
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We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious with sweet corn on the side.
To the previous poster – I don’t think you could leave out the sour cream. It forms most of the “glue” that holds the casserole together! You could try substituting with a white sauce, but at that point it would be an entirely different recipe.
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Oh my that looks yummy!
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I made this and added in taco type seasonings(oregano, paprika, cumin). My family loved it served with refried beans. Very tasty. :)
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As I prepared this for dinner tonight (for the first time), I received two, “Mmmmm! That smells good!” comments from my husband! Hearing that always puts a spring in my step during the hectic dinner hour. Of course, if I had made an extra to put in the freezer, then I would have one less hectic dinner hour in my future, wouldn’t I? :- )
Thank you so much for the recipe. Thank you even more for the time you put into your blog. I appreciate the ideas and inspiration so much!
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That sounds sooo easy and delicious. I’m going to try something similar with elk.
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Plain yogurt is a healthy alternative to sour cream and can be used pretty much the same.
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Megan Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Thank you for sharing that. I will definitely try your suggestion. I always have plain yogurt in the house.
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Just thought I’d let you know I tried this with elk burger. It turned out great except it was dry. It needed more milk or sour cream. Probably because the elk has practically no fat. So if you make this with wild game just add a bit of the creamy yummy stuff.
Sharon
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Yummy! I made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it.. Thanks!!
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I’m making my second batch for dinner tonight. I doubled it last time – it is the *perfect* recipe to double-as-you-cook (with no extra effort). My family loved it. I like a previous poster’s idea of serving with beans for Mexican food.
I’m considering experimenting with 1/2 cottage cheese and 1/2 sour cream b/c I have some cottage cheese that needs using. If I like it, I’ll post =)
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This will definitely be on next week’s menu.
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I made a variation of this tonight with 2 cups of black beans and 2 T taco seasoning stirred into the meat/rice mixture. I also omitted the sour cream and milk in the dish and made the whole thing on the stove and melted cheese over the top with a lid on at the last minute. We ate it as a sort of dip with tortilla chips. We called it “burrito dip.” We had salsa, sour cream and guacamole (for the smart folks among us ;)) on the side. So yummy!
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