Cheesy Baked Rice | Bakereeve

This cheesy baked rice is so easy to prepare and so delicious! I don’t normally crave/search for baked rice options, but my husband proposed to prepare a baked rice meal together for Valentine’s day. It was a shocking suggestion because (1) he does not cook so his suggestion to cook together was abnormal and (2) how did this idea of making cheesy baked rice even come about?

We made this baked rice and it was so good that I had to pen down the recipe!

This cheesy baked rice is great because:

You can make additional portions, freeze it, reheat it on a lazy day and have a home cooked meal ready in a matter of minutes.
You can prepare it in advance if you are having a party, and bake it right before you’re about to serve guests.
This baked rice recipe is so versatile! You can easily swap out the minced beef with other types of protein and it will still go well!

Recipe

Servings: 2 extremely hungry pax or 3-4 pax

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
4 white button mushrooms, diced
300g minced beef
400g of chopped tomatoes (1 tin)
1 cup of long grain white rice (pre-washed)
50g (or as much as you desire) of grated cheese (I used mozzarella, but feel free to use other types of cheese eg. cheddar)
Salt and pepper (approx 2 tsp each)
Olive oil

Steps

Preheat your oven to 180°C and pre rinse 1 cup of white rice.
- Tip: To rinse rice, gently swirl the rice around in a bowl of water. The initial rinses will result in cloudy water. Pour away the water, and repeat rinsing with fresh water until the water from the rice is clear.
In a pan on medium low heat, add olive oil, diced onions and carrots. Cook for about 5 mins until the vegetables are soft.
Add minced beef to the pan and break the beef up into smaller chunks to allow for a larger surface area of the beef to caramelize. Let the beef cook for 5 mins until it starts to turn dark brown and caramelized.
- Tip: If you are using seasoned beef patties, there is no need for additional seasoning. If you are using regular minced beef, season with additional salt & pepper.
- Additional: Feel free to substitute the minced beef with other types of protein such as seafood, minced chicken, sausages, or omitted if going for a vegetarian option.

Toss in the mushrooms, pre-washed rice to the pan, chopped tomatoes and mix well.
- Tip: The white button mushrooms can be substituted with other types of mushrooms eg. shiitake
- Tip: A quick stir is sufficient! We are not looking to cook the rice on the stove as the rice will continue cooking in the oven
Transfer the rice mixture into a baking dish, add the grated cheese on top of the rice and cover the baking dish with aluminium foil.
Here I am using 2 sets of 20cm x 10cm glass baking tray, or you may use 1 big tray.
Bake the rice at 180°C for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the foil and transfer the baking dish back to the oven (uncovered) for another 15 minutes until the cheese is golden and crispy. And voila, your cheesy baked rice is ready!