Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole – the ULTIMATE Mexican casserole! Everyone cleaned their plate and went back for seconds!! Spanish Rice-A-Roni, diced tomatoes, ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and shredded cheese. Great flavor and so easy to make! Top with your favorite taco toppings. Can make ahead and refrigerate or freeze for a quick meal later!
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Pin This RecipeMexican Beef & Rice Casserole
Stop what you are doing and add this Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole to your menu. I made this for dinner last week and we could not stop eating it. OMG! SO good!! Taco meat, black beans, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and rice-a-roni. This is comfort food at its best. Top the casserole with your favorite taco toppings and enjoy!
How to Make Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole
This casserole is very easy to make. Start with preparing a box of Spanish Rice-A-Roni according to the package directions. While the rice is cooking, brown ground beef in a skillet. Add taco seasoning, water, and salsa. Simmer until liquid has been absorbed. Combine cooked Rice-A-Roni, taco meat, sour cream, black beans, and cream of chicken soup. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake.
- You can substitute ground turkey for ground beef.
- I used a box of Spanish Rice-A-Roni in this recipe. I tried the casserole with Mexican Rice-A-Roni and we did not like it. It has too much orzo in the mix and not enough rice to hold up in the casserole.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Salsa: https://www.plainchicken.com/superior-grill-salsa/
- For a spicier dish, substitute Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles for the plain diced tomatoes.
- Feel free to add fresh onions, bell peppers, and olives to the casserole.
- My favorite store-bought salsas are Mateo’s, Kyliot’s, Chi-Chi’s, and Trader Joe’s.
- Can Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole and refrigerate it overnight before baking.
- Can Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and let it cool completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. When ready to bake, thaw completely and bake as directed.
What to Serve with Taco Rice Casserole
We like to serve the casserole with our favorite taco toppings. Lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, and salsa are our favorites. It is also great with guacamole! This is a hearty dish. You don’t need a lot of side dishes to go with it. We usually just load up with toppings and some chips and salsa. This is also great with a salad.
Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this easy Mexican casserole:
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Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole
Ingredients:
Rice
- 1 (6.8-oz) box Spanish rice Rice-A-Roni
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 cups water
- 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes
Taco Meat
- 1¼ lb ground beef
- 1 (1-oz) package taco seasoning
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup salsa
Casserole
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 (8-oz) container sour cream
- 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- To prepare rice, melt butter in a skillet. Add rice mixture. Sauté over medium-high heat until golden brown.
- Slowly stir in water, seasoning packet, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until the rice is tender.
- While the rice is cooking, brown ground beef in another skillet. Drain. Add taco seasoning, water, and salsa. Simmer for 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked rice, taco meat, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and black beans.
- Spread mixture into prepared pan. Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Notes:
- You can substitute ground turkey for ground beef.
- I used a box of Spanish Rice-A-Roni in this recipe. I tried the casserole with Mexican Rice-A-Roni and we did not like it. It has too much orzo in the mix and not enough rice to hold up in the casserole.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning made with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Salsa: https://www.plainchicken.com/superior-grill-salsa/
- For a spicier dish, substitute Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles for the plain diced tomatoes.
- Feel free to add fresh onions, bell peppers, and olives to the casserole.
- My favorite store-bought salsas are Mateo’s, Kyliot’s, Chi-Chi’s, and Trader Joe’s.
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup in this dish to control the sodium.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon: https://amzn.to/49n4uZE
- Need Gluten-free Cream of Chicken Soup? You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/3MtqQ1s
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- Can Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole and refrigerate it overnight before baking.
- Can Taco Rice-A-Roni Casserole be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and let it cool completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. When ready to bake, thaw completely and bake as directed.
Steph
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This was amazing! I added a bag of cooked cauliflower rice to the Rice a Roni cooking instructions (shhhh don’t tell my family!). And added minced peppers and onions to the meat, per one of the recipe notes. Topped with Velveeta shreds because that’s what I had. Always looking for New Mexican inspired recipes. It was a huge hit!! Thanks!!
This is sooooo good!!! Thank you
Could I use salsa vs chopped tomatoes in this recipe????
Sounds awesome
Thanks Janet
This looks really good. I love casseroles and Mexican flavors. Will be giving this one a try.
Hi, This looks so good. I do want to try it, but I have a couple of questions. I don’t cook with rice (it intimidates me LOL). These may be dumb questions to some But Oh Well, If I’m going to try it I want to do it right. 1) In #2 It says to Prepare the rice, (so I’m guessing you fix it per instructions on box)? But then it say’s to put rice in skillet with butter and sauté until brown. HELP. 2) Then in #3 It say’s slowly add water, seasoning packet & tomatoes. What seasoning packet? (again, I’m guessing with the rice). Thanks for any help you can give me and clearing some things up for ME. Have a wonderful and blessed day.
Those instructions are how to make the Spanish rice per the package directions.
Got this in yesterday mornings e-mail – had it for dinner last night. GOOD Stuff!!!!! It’s been added to the list of “please cook this again”!
YAY!! SO glad it was a hit!
New update: Lost power for most of the day. I put the leftovers into an iron skillet on our charcoal grill – YUM!