Zucchini ground beef casserole is a one-dish, kid-friendly meal that uses up some of that fresh garden produce. It is beefy, cheesy, and delicious! A great dish to make ahead, and keep in the fridge for a day or so.
I keep it mild for my kiddos, but you can sure use some spice in there, if you like. A good dash of cayenne or hot sauce would take it up a notch!
Zucchini Ground Beef Casserole
I like this casserole because I can sneak a bunch of vegetables into my kids without them noticing too much, haha! Especially if you dice them up small.
I also like to make it with leftover rice. If there's a bit less than 2 cups of rice, it's ok. If there is more than 2 cups, just add a bit of sour cream or a splash of milk. You could use leftover taco meat, too.
First, brown the ground beef. When it is almost done cooking, stir in the vegetables. Continue frying until the veggies are tender, but not mushy.
Next, place the rice, sour cream, cheese and spices into a large mixing bowl, and add the meat and veggies. Stir together well.
Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, and spread the zucchini rice mixture into the dish. Cover with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until hot, and the cheese is melted.
Can I use other meat?
Yes, I use any ground meat for this recipe. Deer meat, antelope, elk -- they all work great. I suppose you could use ground turkey, but I haven't tried that yet.
Zucchini Beef Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups white rice, prepared
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 medium zucchini sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 16 oz sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Fry the meat in a skillet. When meat is nearly finished, add the zucchini and mushrooms, and continue frying till vegetables are tender.
- In large mixing bowl, place cooked rice, sour cream, 1 cup cheese, chili powder and salt.
- When meat mixture is finished, add to the rice mixture. Stir well.
- Place casserole into a greased, 2 quart baking dish. A 9x13 pan works fine. Top with remaining cup of cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, uncovered.
Notes
Nutrition
You mention cream of chicken soup, is this part of the recipe? Looks delicious, thanks!
Hey! No it isn't!! Thanks for catching that. HAHA! I don't know why I put that in the instructions, I never use cream of chicken soup in this recipe. I will edit the post!
I added a can of cream a mushroom soup and 1/2 the sour cream. Also substituted the white rice for 1/2 califlower and 1/2 brown rice. yum!!
My family loved this recipe. It’s a good way to use up some of those extra zucchini!! I left out mushrooms cause my kids won’t eat them and also added a bit of diced onion(because I didn’t pay attention and thought it called for it). They gobbled it down. Definitely will save and make again.
Great! I love getting some veggies into my family!
Can you omit the rice?
I haven't tried it that way - rice is the 'filler', but I think it would be good without rice, too.
What kind of rice did you use?
I used long grain white rice.