This typically Minnesotan hamburger rice hot dish, and for those who don’t know–“hot dish” in the state of Minnesota is just a fancy name for casserole–is at the top of the list of midwestern comfort foods. Ingredients for this dish are cheap and easily on hand. Even if your celery is a little wilty, this hamburger rice hot dish will surely “hit the spot.” Soy sauce, which most Minnesotans have on hand, is a key ingredient, as is cream of mushroom soup.
Both of my college age children have texted home for this recipe for some reason. In the winter it just tastes like home. It fills you up after a day trudging around a Midwest campus tundra. Ramen may take fewer steps to prepare, but Minnesota hamburger rice hot dish is a dish any college student can make with success. As long as they have access to an oven and CorningWare. As you will see, we love CorningWare at our house
Hamburger Rice Hot Dish
This midwestern comfort food called "hot dish" is great on a cold winter night. Ingredients are simple: hamburger or ground turkey, celery, onion, soy sauce, rice, a can of cream of mushroom soup and some dried parsley for color. My adult children have called home for this recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey (percent fat to your preference)
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 onion ( yellow)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce or more to your taste
- 1 soup can of water
- 1 cup white rice (pretty much any kind will do--I like Jasmati)
- 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- dried parsley to sprinkle in for color
Instructions
- Finely chop onion and celery. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brown ground beef (hamburger) or ground turkey in large skillet. Add in the onion and celery once meat is almost done and cook together for about 3 minutes.
- Add one can of cream of mushroom soup to the meat mixture in the skillet and stir with low heat just enough to mix in the soup. Save the soup can.
- Add the one T of soy sauce and dribble in a little more, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper to the mixture in the skillet. Stir well and heat low for 1 minute or so.
- Add 1 cup of white rice to the mixture in the skillet and stir. Turn off heat to skillet.
- Fill empty soup can with water and pour over the entire mixture in the skillet. Stir well just to combine.
- Sprinkle in some dried parsley and stir in to mix.
- Pour mix into casserole dish (2.5 quart or so).
- Bake covered for one hour at 350 degrees F.
- Remove lid and stir with fork. Replace lid and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy the comfort.
Notes
This hot dish is good piping hot right out of the oven and reheats well in the microwave the next day. It goes great with a Caesar salad and some red wine and pineapple chunks for dessert or on the side.
Watch this short, silly video about hamburger rice hot dish. You will see it steaming and ready to eat at the end. The ultimate comfort food.
We are looking through our cookbooks for more retro recipes to share here. We have a really good recipe for the best old fashioned banana bread here. Watch our Retro Food Alcove for more recipes. Yet to come: retro recipes for things like Cowboy Food, First Communion Punch, Grandma Marion’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, Mom’s meatloaf, Wild Rice Minnesota Style, Acme brownies, Sunshine Coffee Cake, Sour Cream Cookies, Crazy Cake, and 1970’s Taco Salad.
I use Campbell’s chicken with rice soup and cream of mushroom.
So good!!
Minute rice 1 cup makes a very tasty meal.
Whole family loves it
That sounds very tasty, too! So many good combinations with this hot dish.
So I can make this hot dish with Minute Rice?
Yes, I think it works. I’m pretty sure I have used Minute Rice before when I was out of other types of rice.
I think this is the old 1950s church recipe I remember from my youth in Minneapolis! I’ve been looking for it. Gonna try it. The spouse hates mushrooms, so I will try with cream of something else – maybe celery – or chicken.
This is probably that same 1950s church recipe. We have a lot of those in our family. We ventured out and used ground turkey instead of ground beef, but I do prefer the ground beef. Try any cream soup–I’m sure it would work with anything like that.
Try 1/2 & 1/2 ground hamburger and (seasoned) ground pork sausage. The pork sausage mellows the harshness of the hamburger flavor. Try the two together. I like seasoned pork sausage, but you don’t need it if you put in the salt & pepper
Pretty much mock chow mein without the chow mein noodles.
I was just thinking the same thing the other day when I made this. It is a little drier than the chow mein version.
I remember having this every week growing up in Minnesota and at pot lucks and reunions. Loved this dish and still do. Making it today for the 2nd time for my southern family
I love that you are making it and have good memories of it! My family loves it, and I loved it as a kid in Minnesota.
I used wild rice and added some garlic vary tasty
Super yummy! Fill the belly meal! I use ground turkey as it is inexpensive, such an inexpensive dish altogether. Love it!
Is the rice cooked before adding?
Hi Cheryl–the rice is not cooked. I have used different types of rice–Minute Rice, jasmine rise, basmati rice. All seem to work. I just test for doneness and fluff with fork and let sit covered when done. It always seems to come out just fine.
Hi all! I’m out of rice (grrrrr) so I used a box of uncle Ben’s original wild rice… I just cooked it up according to the box instructions added it to the cooked ground beef, and soup mixture… It was a hit!!! Loved it, give it a try!!
Thanks for the tip! I think it would be amazing. I have had many different versions of this dish. Make it your own and use what you have on hand.
Can this be made just on the stove or in the crock-pot? We were planning on making this again but our oven went out and replacement is 2 weeks out 🙁
Hi! I have never made it in a crockpot but I bet you could. I would brown meat and onion and then add in everything else and cook like you would cook a rice dish. Just keep checking for rice done-ness. Good luck!