Mediterranean Ground Beef Zucchini Rice Casserole

This rice recipe is the lazy version of a very popular Lebanese dish called kousa mahshi. Instead of stuffing the squash with spiced meat and rice, the squash is sliced and simmered with everything.

This stovetop beef zucchini rice recipe is made with ground beef, zucchini, garlic, onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, rice, olive oil, and spices.

Use any squash you can get your hands on. I prefer Mexican squash (also known as Calabaza squash or kousa in Arabic).

The Mediterranean spices you can use for this recipe are Lebanese 7 spice, all spice, OR ground cinnamon. If you've never tried cinnamon with savory dishes, it's delicious!

Dice the onion. Mince the fresh garlic. Slice the zucchini.

Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil on medium-high heat.

Add the ground meat. You can use ground beef or ground lamb.

Add the spices, salt, and black pepper.

Add the sliced zucchini, tomato paste, water, and canned diced tomatoes.

Cook on medium-high heat covered until the zucchini starts to break apart (about 25 to 30 minutes).

Add rice. Turn the stove down to low. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes until the rice is tender.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon. In Lebanon, plain yogurt goes well with these flavors.