Ground Beef Zucchini Rice Casserole

Name: Ground Beef Zucchini Rice Casserole
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 5 cups sliced squash (Calabaza, calabacitas, or Mexican squash** see note 1); 2 cups chopped onions; 8 garlic cloves; 1 lb minced ground beef or ground lamb; 1 cup long-grain rice; 14.5 ounces can of diced tomatoes; 6 ounces can tomato paste; 1 tbsp 7 spice (or ½ tbsp cinnamon); 5 cups of water; salt and pepper to taste

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This ground beef zucchini rice casserole is a delicious stovetop one-pot recipe made with ground beef, sliced squash, garlicky onion tomato base, and rice. This recipe is a time-saving recipe that mimics the famous Middle Eastern stuffed squash recipe called mahshi kousa.

Mahshi kousa is a famous delicious dish that uses cored squash (aka kousa in Arabic). This ground beef and zucchini casserole, however, is made without having to core squash (Yay!). It's a one-pot, quick, and easy meal with all the great flavors of this traditional dish.

Flavorful minced ground beef (or lamb) is browned to perfection with onions and garlic then slow-cooked with sliced squash, tomatoes, and rice.

What You Will Love

This minced meat and zucchini rice casserole is such an easy one-pot weeknight meal that reheats incredibly well. It's a perfectly balanced meal that has minced meat, tons of squash, onions, garlic, tomatoes, rice, and spices. The best part about this dish is the number of vegetables jam-packed inside. Hello picky eaters!

Ingredient Notes

Minced ground beef: I prefer semi lean ground beef for this recipe (85% to 90% lean). Ground lamb is a suitable alternative.
Rice: Any type of rice will do for this recipe, however, I prefer to use medium-grain rice like Jasmine rice.
Lebanese seven spices or allspice: Lebanese seven spices is a mixture of seven spices mixed together (black pepper, white pepper, allspice, ground clove, nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon). It's commonly used in Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking (chicken shawarma, kibbeh, etc). You can find it on Amazon, in a Middle Eastern grocery store, or make Lebanese seven spice at home yourself. If you don't have any on hand, substitute ground allspice or ground cinnamon.

different types of squash suitable to make mahshi sliced kousa

Calabaza Squash (Kousa): Kousa means squash in Arabic, but it means a particular type of squash. Kousa squash is the same as calabacitas squash (I've also seen it called calabaza squash or Mexican squash). It's little in size with yellow and green coloring. If you can't find this particular type of squash at your grocery store, you can use two substitutes: large green zucchini or baby green zucchini.
Fresh garlic: This squash rice casserole recipe uses a lot of garlic. I recommend using fresh garlic cloves.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: My favorite olive oil right now is Whole Foods 365 Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

How To Make Ground Beef Zucchini Rice Casserole

sliced kousa and chopped onions in a bowl

Chop the onions and garlic. Slice the ends off of the squash. Chop the squash into circles.

In a nonstick pot, add the olive oil on high heat.

Add the chopped onions and garlic to the olive oil.

sautee the onions and garlic until browned

Caramelize the onions and garlic on medium-high heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.

add the ground beef to the caramelized onions

Add the minced meat (ground beef or ground lamb).

Brown the beef and break up the clumps. Add the salt, pepper, and Lebanese 7 spice to the ground meat. Mix well.

Add the sliced squash.

add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot

Then, add the canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and water.

Mix everything together well.

simmer the mahshi sliced kousa on high covered

Cook on medium-high heat covered with a lid for about 25 minutes or until the squash starts to tear apart.

add long grain rice to the mahshi sliced kousa pot

Add the rice.

add another cup of water to the mashshi kousa

Add an additional cup of water and mix. Turn the stovetop down to low heat.

Cover the pot and cook for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender.

Check halfway through and stir. Serve with some lemon and cucumber mint yogurt.

Tips and Tricks

The two main tips for this squash and rice casserole are the stovetop setting and the amount of liquid in the pot. Every stove and pot is different, elevations play a factor, and even the type of rice used can affect things. Therefore, make sure throughout this recipe that there is enough liquid in the pot and that the bottom isn't burning.

I generally stir the squash and rice casserole every 10 to 15 minutes, especially the first two times I made it myself. It can be more hands-off after you have made it a few times.

squash and rice casserole with minced meat in a pot

Variations and Substitutions

Substitute green zucchini for calabaza squash. If you can't find calabaza squash, green zucchini comes in a close second.
Use an extra can of diced tomatoes in lieu of tomato paste.
Substitute ground lamb for ground beef.

Equipment

A nonstick stovetop pot or Le Creuset enameled cast iron pot are the best pots to use for this recipe. Make sure the pots have a lid, so the rice can steam slowly.

You will also need:

Chefs knife
Cutting board
Wooden spatula or High temp spatula (to brown the meat and onions)

Storage

Store this squash and rice casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 to 5 days. This recipe is also freezer-friendly, just store the rice casserole in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months.

FAQs

What is kousa?

Kousa is small yellow and green squash known as calabaza squash (sometimes called calabacitas or Mexican squash) used in many Middle Eastern recipes.

What meat goes best with squash?

Ground red meat, like ground lamb or ground beef, goes best with squash.

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