A complete meal made in one pot – this Beef and Rice recipe will be a terrific addition to your ground beef recipes collection! Beef mince is economical, convenient (no chopping!) and makes a fantastic meal when cooked with seasoned rice and plenty of veggies. And it’s quick to make too!
How close is too close for food photos??? Back when I had a monthly spread in Super Food Ideas magazine, I was briefed specifically to pull back and take photos from further away, showing most of the entire plate / pot of food, rather than super close ups.
It made sense. The magazine is A4 size, so seeing a full page photo like this would almost be scary – like Attack of the Rice. Nightmares of a Rice Avalanche tumbling out of the pages of a magazines.
If you’re reading this on a phone, it might not look scary to you. But imagine that photo on a giant computer screen.
Scary? Or tasty? 🙂
The main reason I shoot close ups is because I want to show detail. For example, so you can see how the rice is beautifully fluffy rather than mushy. Because, as regular readers know, I’m a rice snob. I may be Aussie, but I’ll always be a rice snob owing to my Japanese background. Dry bread and over cooked veggies I can handle. Mushy rice – I can’t stomach it.
Rice. Snob. 🍚
So cooking rice in one pot like I do with this ground beef recipe (along with all sorts of other stuff) means getting the liquid to rice ratios right (and using the right rice) so you end up with perfectly cook fluffy grains of rice that have soaked up all that flavour.
Today’s Beef and Rice recipe is intended to be a quick, no fuss (yet super tasty!) midweek meal. Hence why it’s made in one pot, with ground beef, a combination of fresh and frozen veggies and a mound of baby spinach. Minimal chopping, yet plenty of flavour, a complete meal.
No need for toppings or garnishes. I actually don’t even know what I’d dollop on top. Maybe sour cream or yoghurt. I personally don’t think it needs it because the rice is well seasoned, but it’s optional! – Nagi
PS Foodie translation: Ground beef = beef mince, though I’ve noticed some butchers in Australia nowadays are starting to call it ground beef.
PPS This recipe will work well with any ground / mince meat. Pork, chicken, turkey, even lamb.
PPPS All my ground beef recipes –> Ground Beef (Mince) Recipes
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Beef and Rice with Veggies

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion (or brown, yellow or white) , diced
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper (large) , diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 500 g / 1 lb lean beef mince (ground beef)
- 2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp EACH cumin, black pepper
- 1 tsp each onion powder, dried oregano (or other herb of choice)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 1/4 cups / 225g long grain white rice (uncooked) (Note 1)
- 2 cups / 500 ml beef broth
- 2 cups / 300g diced frozen veggies (I used corn, pea, carrot mix) (Note 2)
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach (~ 90g/3 oz), or other leafy greens (Note 3)
Instructions
- Heat oil in large pot over high heat. Add onion, capsicum and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add beef, cook until brown, breaking it up as you go.
- Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add rice and beef broth, mix well. Add frozen veggies and bay leaf, then stir.
- Place lid on, lower heat to medium low so it's simmering gently. Cook for 12 - 15 minutes (might even take longer) until all liquid is absorbed (tilt pot to check). The rice should be just cooked, but will be wet.
- Remove from heat. Quickly toss spinach on top of the rice and put the lid back on. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Fluff rice and mix through wilted spinach with a fork. Adjust salt if desired. Serve!
Recipe Notes:

Nutrition
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
I drive 100km to the outskirts of Sydney just to take Dozer to this dog wizard, Neil Barnsley of Animal Holistic Therapies. “Enthusiastic” playing + abnormally long legs for a Golden Retriever + being double jointed = regular “active dog” injuries. Whereas conventional vets order costly X-rays (that are only useful if they know where the injury is) or being unable to provide an exact diagnosis, will give a general instruction to keep him quiet (easier said than done!!!), Neil Barnsley has a 100% hit rate in pinpointing exactly where and what Dozer’s ligament/joint/muscle injuries are, through touch alone.
It’s fascinating to watch. Truly a dog genius. And (much) better value than normal vets too – a standard consult is $60, and there’s no expensive medication or Xray costs because he’s a natural therapist!
PS Yes that’s Dozer getting acupuncture. Not even I’VE had acupuncture!!!!🤣
I love this recipe for using up leftover fresh veggies from other meals! I had some pumpkin and some bok choy left in the fridge, so I chucked that in. Anything goes! I also use brown rice – Cook the brown rice in the beef broth & a little extra water for 15 minutes before adding it all into the pot and it turns out perfectly.
Another great recipe Nagi 🙂
Yesssss! Great!
Hi 🙂 Do you usually wash the rice? Thanks
Hi Heather, no I don’t wash the rice for this recipe ☺️
sorry, what does “Asiany” taste like? pls clarify.
Today is the second time that I have made this dish. It’s so good that my husband had thirds! He’s usually not a big eater. I have to leave out some of the spices because of the husband. It will be something we will be eating quite regularly
That’s great to hear Sharon!
Today is a cold snowy day in Missouri, so I needed something quick, easy and filling to fix for lunch after finishing chores. I confess that I was worried that my Hubby (who is a plain meat and potatoes fan) would not like this, but he thought it was very good! I followed the recipe to the letter. My rice wasn’t quite done enough for me, but the flavor was perfect. It makes so much that I froze some to have at a later date when in a hurry. Recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
I’m so glad Hubby loved it! It’s the perfect freezer meal!
Made this dish for dinner tonight and it was awesome! Followed the recipe completely except for the addition of a couple serrano peppers for some spice. Only had corn as a frozen veggie and that was perfectly fine, no need for the addition of multiple frozen veggies. Highly recommend this