Mild Red Beans & Rice Casserole – Prepare, Bake, Freeze & Enjoy!
Now I know that when most people think of red beans and rice, they’re thinking of the dish made famous in New Orleans. While this dish shares the basic ingredients, it is so mild even your kids will like it! I make enough to serve it for dinner as well and freeze portions for later meals.
or my one meat-eater, this one recipe fed him four times! Plus, by cooking extra rice and meat, I had additional ingredients for meals later on that week and saved money since the ground beef was cheaper per pound in the larger package. In all, I cooked 6 cups of rice and 4 lbs of ground beef. Just as easy to do that as the amounts needed for the recipe.
This has become one of my husband’s favorite take-to-work meals. It reheats beautifully and if he has to leave it in the oven to go on an aid or fire call, it’s still in great shape when he gets back. Of course, this is made to my husband’s taste. You can jazz it up with green peppers.
Enjoy!
Quick and easy mild dish that freezes and reheats beautifully. Make a double batch tonight - eat one and freeze the other for another day!
Ingredients
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- 3 c. cooked rice (NOT Minute Rice)
- 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
- 2 cans dark kidney beans (do not drain)
- 1 can kernel corn (drain)
- 2 tsp ground Chili Pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Grated Cheddar cheese (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Drain off fat. Set aside.
Cook rice while meat is cooking - follow directions, but generally 1 cup uncooked = 3 cups cooked. Set aside.
Combine kidney beans (do not drain), tomato sauces & ground chili – mix well. Add cooked rice and ground beef mixture as well as corn (drained).
Stir well.
Place in large casserole dish, Sprinkle with grated cheese if desired, and bake in 350 degree oven, covered, for 1 hour.
Notes
FOR FREEZER METHOD:
Prepare normally, set aside portion for tonight’s dinner – bake it as noted above.
Package the remaining amount in serving sizes appropriate for your family and in your favorite freezer storage method. I use 7” round aluminum pans with lids (available on eBay). As we have only meat-eater in the family, this recipe made 3 single servings for the freezer and 1 in the oven for tonight.
