Ground beef browned with onion, then half a pound of sliced cremini mushrooms cooked until their liquid has gone, and garlic for thirty seconds.
Three cups of cooked rice, condensed mushroom soup, broth, Worcestershire, thyme and a cup of cheddar bind it, with the last half cup of cheese on top for a 25-to-30-minute bake.
Why This Recipe Works
- Fresh mushrooms and condensed mushroom soup are both here, doing different things. The cremini give texture and browned flavour; the soup gives the creamy binder. Neither substitutes for the other.
- The mushrooms get their own five minutes. Sliced cremini hold a surprising volume of water and releasing it in the pan is what keeps the finished casserole from being wet.
- The rice goes in already cooked. This is a leftover-rice recipe — it has half a cup of broth, which is enough to loosen cooked grains and nowhere near enough to hydrate raw ones.
- Only half a cup of broth against a can of condensed soup. The soup is already thick and the point of the broth is to make it spoonable through three cups of rice, not to add liquid to the dish.
- A cup of the cheddar is stirred through and half a cup goes on top. The stirred cheese seasons the whole casserole; the top layer is what browns.
One Skillet, Four Heats
Everything except the bake happens in a single pan, and each addition wants a different length of time in it. Getting the order right is the whole recipe — there is no long cook later to rescue anything.
Brown the beef and onion
A pound of ground beef with the diced onion, cooked until browned, then the fat drained. The onion softens in beef fat rather than oil, which is why it goes in now rather than with the mushrooms.
Cook the mushrooms out5 minutes
Eight ounces of sliced cremini for a full five minutes. Mushrooms release a lot of water and this is the window in which it evaporates — cut it short and that water ends up in the casserole.
Bloom the garlic30 seconds
Thirty seconds only, once the pan is dry again. Garlic added earlier would have spent five minutes in mushroom liquid and tasted of nothing.
Bind and bake25 to 30 minutes
Cooked rice, mushroom soup, broth, Worcestershire, thyme, seasoning and the first cup of cheddar stirred in, transferred to the dish, the rest of the cheese on top, and 25 to 30 minutes at 375°F until bubbling.
Ingredient Notes
- Cremini mushrooms, sliced
- Eight ounces. Cremini hold their shape and their flavour where white button mushrooms mostly disappear into a soup-bound casserole.
- Cooked long-grain rice
- Three cups, measured cooked and preferably cold. Day-old rice from the fridge is drier and gives a far better texture than freshly steamed.
- Condensed cream of mushroom soup
- One 10.5-ounce can, undiluted. The half cup of broth is the only added liquid and it is deliberately small.
- Cheddar, divided
- A cup and a half: one cup stirred in, half a cup on top. The stirred cup is seasoning and the top half cup is the crust.
- Dried thyme
- Half a teaspoon, with beef and mushroom. It is a small amount that carries a long way in a dish this savoury.
How to Make It
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Brown the beef and onion
Cook the ground beef and onion in a large skillet until the beef is browned. Drain excess fat.
Mushrooms, then garlic
Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in garlic for 30 seconds.
Bind everything
Stir in the cooked rice, mushroom soup, broth, Worcestershire, thyme, salt, pepper and 1 cup cheddar.
Transfer and top
Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheddar.
Bake
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling and hot throughout.
Rest
Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Success Tips
- Use cold cooked rice if you have it — texture improves noticeably.
- Give the mushrooms their full five minutes and wait for the pan to go dry again.
- Break up any clumps of cold rice before it goes into the skillet.
- Stir the soup through off the heat so it does not catch on the pan base.
- Rest it five minutes; a rice casserole slices far better once it has settled.
Serving Ideas
Green beans or a sharply dressed salad. It is beef, rice, mushroom and cheese in one dish, so the useful companion is something green and acidic.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It firms considerably when cold, which makes it easy to portion.
Freeze
Freeze cooled portions for up to 3 months. Rice casseroles freeze well; add a splash of broth when reheating.
Reheat
Reheat covered at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes with a splash of broth, until steaming throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use raw rice and more broth?
Not in this recipe. It is built around three cups of already-cooked rice and half a cup of broth — raw rice would need roughly four times that liquid and a covered bake.
It came out wet.
The mushrooms did not get their five minutes, or the beef was not drained. Both put water into a casserole that has no way to lose it in a thirty-minute uncovered bake.
Can I make it without condensed soup?
The soup is the binder here and the recipe is written around it. Leaving it out gives you seasoned beef and rice rather than a casserole.
Can I use white mushrooms?
You can, and they will cook in the same five minutes. Expect a milder, paler result — cremini are what give this version its depth.
