Cheesy Hamburger Rice Casserole

Cheesy Hamburger Rice Casserole is easy, satisfying, and pure weeknight magic! This simple one-skillet wonder combines ground beef, creamy mushroom soup, juicy tomatoes, and tender rice all topped with melted cheese that gets gloriously golden under the broiler.

Love More Dinner Ideas? Try My Ground Beef Rice Casserole or this Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• One-skillet simplicity – Less dishes means more time with your family
• Budget-friendly comfort – Uses pantry staples and affordable ground beef
• Kid-approved flavor – Cheesy, mild, and familiar tastes everyone loves
• Ready in 25 minutes – Perfect for busy weeknights when time is tight
• Leftovers reheat beautifully – Makes lunch prep a breeze

Ingredients You’ll Need

Main Dish:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (10.75-oz) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes with juice (don’t drain!)
• ½ cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
• ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or your favorite melting cheese)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

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Why These Ingredients Work

Ground beef browns up fast and doesn’t require any fancy techniques – just mash it around until it’s not pink anymore. The cream of mushroom soup is basically liquid comfort food that does all the heavy lifting for flavor. I tried making my own mushroom sauce once and it was a complete disaster involving flour everywhere and tears.

The tomatoes are sneaky important because they make everything not taste like wallpaper paste. All that juice becomes the cooking liquid for your rice, which is honestly pretty brilliant when you think about it. The rice just sits there absorbing everything while you stand around doing basically nothing. That cheese layer gets all brown and bubbly in the broiler and makes the whole thing look like you actually tried.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• One big skillet that can go in the oven (mine’s this old cast iron thing from my grandmother)
• Backup casserole dish (because sometimes plans change)
• Wooden spoon for stirring (the plastic ones melt if you’re not careful)
• Can opener that doesn’t suck
• Measuring cups
• Cheese grater (or just buy the bag of pre-shredded like a normal person)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Brown the Beef

Drop that hamburger in your skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Start breaking it up with your spoon and let it sizzle. It’s gonna smell amazing and make you feel like you actually know what you’re doing. Once it’s all brown and cooked through, drain the grease off unless you want everything swimming in fat.

Step 2: Create the Base

Open your cans and dump everything in – soup, tomatoes with all the juice, and the raw rice. Stir it up even though it looks completely wrong right now. Trust the process, as my yoga instructor would say.

Step 3: Simmer to Perfection

Put a lid on it and turn the heat way down. Let it bubble quietly for 15 minutes while you clean up or scroll through your phone. Stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick and burn because that smell never comes out of the pan.

Pro Tip: If it looks thick and the rice is still hard, add some water. If it’s soupy when the rice is done, take the lid off and let it cook down. This isn’t rocket science.

Step 4: Prepare for Broiling

Turn your broiler on while the rice finishes up. If your pan can’t go in the oven without melting, transfer everything to a regular baking dish now. I learned this the hard way with my favorite non-stick pan.

Step 5: Add the Cheese

Dump that cheese all over the top like your life depends on it. Don’t be shy about it – this is the moment that transforms boring rice into something your kids will actually eat.

Step 6: Broil to Golden Glory

Stick it under the broiler for 2-3 minutes max. Stay in the kitchen and watch it like a hawk because broilers are evil and will burn your dinner while you’re answering one text message. I’m speaking from experience here.

Step 7: Season and Serve

Taste it and add salt and pepper if it needs it. Then serve it up while it’s still bubbling because that’s when it looks most impressive and everyone thinks you’re a cooking genius.

You Must Know

Do not drain those tomatoes, seriously. I made that mistake exactly once and ended up with crunchy rice and a very hangry family. The juice from the tomatoes is what cooks your rice properly, so if you dump it out you’re basically shooting yourself in the foot. If the rice isn’t soft after 15 minutes, add water and keep cooking. Nobody wants to bite into hard rice at dinnertime.

The broiler thing is not negotiable – you cannot walk away from it. I once burned an entire casserole because I thought I could quickly switch the laundry over. The kitchen filled with smoke and my husband still brings it up during arguments.

Personal Secret: I taste this every single time before serving because Campbell’s soup is way saltier than the store brand stuff. A few cracks of black pepper at the end makes it taste like restaurant food instead of something you threw together in a panic.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Buy 80/20 ground beef because the fat makes it taste like actual food instead of cardboard. If you’re on a health kick, 90/10 is fine but don’t blame me when it’s boring. Get a big enough skillet because this stuff expands like those foam dinosaurs you put in water – I’ve had it overflow onto my stovetop more than once.

Right before you add the cheese, stir in a small chunk of butter. This is the kind of tip your grandmother would have told you if she wasn’t too busy being modest about her cooking secrets. Let it sit for a few minutes after broiling so the cheese doesn’t slide off when you try to serve it like some kind of dairy landslide.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Cream of chicken soup makes this way blander if your kids freak out about mushrooms like mine do. My sister-in-law uses cream of celery but she also thinks ketchup is spicy, so consider the source. Frozen mixed vegetables work if you want to pretend you care about nutrition – throw them in during the last 5 minutes and they’ll be fine.

The lady next door makes a Mexican version that’s pretty good. She uses pepper jack cheese and throws in some diced green chiles from a can. For Italian style, skip the cream soup completely and use marinara sauce instead, then add Italian seasoning and extra mozzarella with some parmesan. Some people add corn or chopped peppers for crunch. Honestly this recipe is so simple you could probably add leftover Chinese takeout and it would still work out somehow.

Make-Ahead Options

This is perfect for when you actually plan ahead for once in your life. Make the whole thing but don’t put cheese on it, then stick it in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you want dinner, heat it up at 350°F until it’s hot, add cheese on top, and broil. Takes about the same time as ordering pizza but costs way less.

You can put the whole raw mixture together in the morning and leave it in the fridge all day while you’re at work. Just cook it when you get home and add maybe 5-10 extra minutes since it’s cold. For freezing, make it without cheese, let it cool down all the way, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before cooking – works perfectly.

What to Serve With Cheesy Hamburger Rice Casserole

Just keep it simple because this thing is rich enough already. Regular green salad with whatever dressing you have works great – it cuts through all that cheese without making things complicated. Steamed broccoli is good too and makes you feel like a responsible adult who serves vegetables.

Dinner rolls or cornbread turn this into a proper Southern meal. My kids will dunk their bread straight into the casserole which is gross but they’re eating so I don’t care. For drinks, stick with basics: sweet tea, lemonade, or milk. Some garlic bread would be amazing if you really want to go overboard. Keep dessert simple after this – vanilla ice cream or those cookies from the grocery store bakery that nobody needs to know you didn’t make yourself.

Allergy Information

There’s gluten hiding in the cream of mushroom soup and obviously dairy in the cheese. For gluten-free people, you can buy gluten-free cream soup but it costs like three times as much. Dairy-free cheese exists but it melts weird and doesn’t get that nice golden color on top.

No nuts in this recipe which is good because my nephew is allergic and I never remember to check labels until it’s too late. Always read the soup can though because some factories process everything together and put warnings all over the place.

Storage & Reheating

Put leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days in whatever container fits. Reheat single portions in the microwave on half power so it doesn’t get all rubbery. For bigger amounts, stick it in a 350°F oven covered with foil until it’s heated through – takes 15-20 minutes. If it looks dry, add a tiny splash of water before reheating it.

FAQs

Can I use brown rice instead of white rice?

No way. Brown rice takes like 45 minutes to cook and needs way more liquid than this recipe has. You’ll be standing there until 9 PM waiting for dinner. Just use regular white long-grain rice and save yourself the headache.

My rice turned out mushy – what happened?

You probably added too much liquid or cooked it too long. Make sure you’re using long-grain rice, not the short fat kind, and don’t add extra water thinking you’re being helpful. The tomato juice is enough.

Can I make this without the broiler step?

Sure, just stir the cheese into the hot mixture at the end instead. It won’t look as fancy without that bubbly golden top but it’ll taste the same.

What other cheeses work well?

Sharp cheddar is what I usually use but Colby-Jack is good too. Pepper jack if you like a little kick. Don’t use weird cheeses like goat cheese or anything fancy – they don’t melt right and you’ll regret it.

Can I add vegetables to this recipe?

Yeah, frozen corn or chopped bell peppers work fine. Just add them in the last 5 minutes so they don’t turn into baby food texture. My kids will actually eat corn in this which is a minor miracle.

💬 Made this recipe? Tell me everything in the comments! What weird stuff did you add to it?