This colourful ground Beef and Rice recipe will be a terrific addition to your ground beef recipes collection! It’s like a pilaf, except loaded with more veggies and packed with more flavour.
I’m a big fan of beef mince – it’s economical and convenient (no chopping!). And this is a great quick way make turn a packet of beef mince into a complete meal!
Ground beef and rice
Flavoured rice. Seasoned beef. AND veggies.
All made in ONE POT.
How handy is that?? This ground beef and rice recipe is a complete meal, with barely any chopping. Full of bright colours, plenty of nutrition, simple and fast to make.
And it tastes SO GOOD!!!
This ground beef and rice is a quick recipe that’s full of flavour and a complete meal in one pot!
I’m a big fan of rice in all forms. Chicken and Rice, rice soup, risotto, flavoured rices (Mexican Red Rice is a firm favourite along with Mushroom Rice!), Arancini balls.
In fact, I’m yet to meet a rice dish that I don’t like!!
But as regular readers know, I’m a rice snob. I may be Aussie, but I’ll always be a rice snob owing to my Japanese background. Dry bread and over cooked veggies I can handle.
Mushy rice – I can’t stomach it.
Rice. Snob. 🍚
So cooking rice in one pot like I do with this ground beef recipe (along with all sorts of other stuff) means getting the liquid to rice ratios right (and using the right rice) so you end up with perfectly cook fluffy grains of rice that have soaked up all that flavour.
See? Fluffy. Not soft and mushy!!!
How to make it
This is made like a pilaf, starting off by sautéing onion and garlic for the flavour base. Then the beef and capsicum/bell peppers are added, then the rice and liquids and seasoning.
Give it a good mix, plonk the lid on and leave it to do its thing.
No peeking! It’s one of the biggest rice cooking mistakes – if you peek, steam escapes which affects the rice cooking process!
We can never have enough ground beef recipes for quick dinners!
Today’s Beef and Rice recipe is intended to be a quick, no fuss (yet super tasty!) midweek meal. Hence why it’s made in one pot, with ground beef, a combination of fresh and frozen veggies and a mound of baby spinach. Minimal chopping, yet plenty of flavour, a complete meal.
No need for toppings or garnishes. I actually don’t even know what I’d dollop on top. Maybe sour cream or yoghurt. I personally don’t think it needs it because the rice is well seasoned, but it’s optional! – Nagi
PS Foodie translation: Ground beef = beef mince, though I’ve noticed some butchers in Australia nowadays are starting to call it ground beef.
PPS This recipe will work well with any ground / mince meat. Pork, chicken, turkey, even lamb.
And more One Pot Ground Beef / Mince recipes
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
Chili Mac – mash up of Mac and Cheese with Chilli Con Carne, so good!
Asian Beef and Ramen Noodles – one skillet, 15 minutes
Taco Soup – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, it’s amazing!
Browse all One Pot recipes and Ground Beef / Mince recipes
Beef and rice recipe
Watch how to make it
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Beef and Rice with Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , diced (any type)
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper , diced (large)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 500g (1 lb) ground beef (mince) , lean
- 2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp EACH cumin, black pepper
- 1 tsp each onion powder, dried oregano (or other herb of choice)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 1/4 cups (225g) long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1)
- 2 cups (500 ml) beef broth , low sodium
- 2 cups (300g) diced frozen veggies , I used corn, pea, carrot mix (Note 2)
- 3 big handfuls baby spinach (~ 90g/3 oz) , or other leafy greens (Note 3)
Instructions
- Heat oil in large pot over high heat. Add onion, capsicum and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add beef, cook until brown, breaking it up as you go.
- Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add rice and beef broth, mix well. Add frozen veggies and bay leaf, then stir.
- Place lid on, lower heat to medium low so it’s simmering gently. Cook for 12 – 15 minutes (might even take longer) until all liquid is absorbed (tilt pot to check). The rice should be just cooked, but will be wet.
- Remove from heat. Quickly toss spinach on top of the rice and put the lid back on. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Fluff rice and mix through wilted spinach with a fork. Adjust salt if desired. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
I drive 100km to the outskirts of Sydney just to take Dozer to this dog wizard, Neil Barnsley of Animal Holistic Therapies. “Enthusiastic” playing + abnormally long legs for a Golden Retriever + being double jointed = regular “active dog” injuries. Whereas conventional vets order costly X-rays (that are only useful if they know where the injury is) or being unable to provide an exact diagnosis, will give a general instruction to keep him quiet (easier said than done!!!), Neil Barnsley has a 100% hit rate in pinpointing exactly where and what Dozer’s ligament/joint/muscle injuries are, through touch alone.
It’s fascinating to watch. Truly a dog genius. And (much) better value than normal vets too – a standard consult is $60, and there’s no expensive medication or Xray costs because he’s a natural therapist!
PS Yes that’s Dozer getting acupuncture. Not even I’VE had acupuncture!!!!🤣
Will this work with finely chopped ham? If so, you may have solved my Wednesday dinner menu dilemma. Otherwise I’ll make a ham & cauliflower hash.
I also have another question. A friend phoned me and kept me on the phone for half an hour raving about his Instant Pot. We have a big kitchen that includes lots of pots and pans, five slow cookers (in all sizes), one proofing box that can double as a slow cooker and yogurt maker (from Brodt and Taylor), but no pressure cooker. (We’ve never needed one.) Is his enthusiasm for the Instant Pot mere hype or, in your opinion, is it well placed?
YES!!! Ham would be terrific, cook chopped ham in place of the beef but DO NOT add tomato paste at this stage. After the ham is golden, add the broth, rice etc AND the tomato paste and spices. Reason is because ham should go more golden than beef so you don’t want to lose that flavour by cooking in tomato paste 🙂 Also reduce the salt – the salt in the ham will flavour the rice too. And your friends’ enthusiasm for the Instant Pot is well placed. Here in Australia we have had something similar for many years, just not called Instant Pot. It’s called a Breville Fast-Slow Cooker. The main thing I love about it is that it has a sauté function so I can sear meat, cook onion etc in it, then it stays in there for the slow cooking / pressure cooking part. Then if sauces need to be reduced at the end of the cook time, just remove the lid and put on sauté function again so the liquid simmers and reduces. I don’t think I’d use the other build in functions as much, simply because they are a bit restrictive. N x
How close is too close for food photos???, you asked. I’d say until the lens get soiled or you burn your nose.
This one dish meal will be perfect for our weekly feed our 20 year-old nephew Thursday TV night.
Oh, I so wish we had a “Neil” over here. Vets are soooo expensive in Sweden. Dog insurance is a must have thing here.
SAME! I insured Dozer the minute I got him, and I’m so glad I did! Honestly, if I had gone to my local vet (who, BTW, I absolutely love for everything else!!) for all these muscle / joint / ligament injuries, my bill would be in the many many thousands. X-rays are expensive! N x
I am going to make this tonight Nagi, looks delicious, and fast. Thanks for another winning recipe. LOVE Dozer. And acupuncture is wonderful, I have had it done, it is so calming and relaxing…
All this positive feedback about acupuncture – I’m convinced! I will give it a go! N x
Great recipe! but how to freeze & then reheat?
Thanks from Montreal
Love the beef and rice recipe..I am also a rice snob was born in India of mixed parents (portugues/Indian).. a nice crisp green salad before the rice dish is nice.
THANKS AGAIN
Love hearing from fellow rice snobs! 😂