One-pan cheeseburger rice
45 min · 38 g protein · 408 cals / serving
Everything children love about a cheeseburger, cooked in one pan: browned beef, onion and a tangy tomato, mustard and pickle sauce simmered with rice and a little hidden carrot and zucchini, then covered in melting cheddar. Top it like a burger with crisp lettuce, tomato, pickles and a creamy special sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 lb ground beef (95% lean)
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, finely grated
- 1 medium zucchini, finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2/3 cup long-grain rice white rice, rinsed
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth, low-sodium
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
Special sauce
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 small reduced sodium dill pickles, half finely chopped for the sauce, half sliced
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
To serve
- 1/3 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
Steps
- Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the beef and onion and cook, breaking up the beef, 6–8 minutes, until browned with no pink left, 160°F.
- Add the carrot, zucchini and garlic and cook 3 minutes, until the zucchini has given up its water. Stir in the tomato paste and paprika for 1 minute.
- Stir in the rice, tomatoes with their juice, broth, 1 tbsp mustard, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer 18–20 minutes without lifting the lid, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
- Take off the heat, fluff with a fork, scatter the cheddar over the top, cover and leave 3 minutes to melt.
- Stir the yogurt with the chopped pickles, 1 tsp mustard and a spoon of the pickle brine for the special sauce.
- Spoon into bowls and top with lettuce, tomato, the sliced pickles and a drizzle of special sauce.
Good to know
How do I get the kids involved?
Let them grate the carrot (with a grown-up nearby), stir the special sauce and build their own bowl from a burger-style topping board: lettuce, tomato, pickles and sauce.
My picky eater spots the vegetables
Grated on the fine side, the carrot and zucchini melt into the sauce and only make the rice juicier and slightly sweet. Most children read it as part of the cheeseburger sauce.
Can I use brown rice?
Yes. Add 1/2 cup more broth and simmer 40 minutes, covered, until tender. It's about the same score.
Does it keep?
3 days in the fridge in sealed containers. Reheat covered with a splash of water until steaming hot all the way through, and add the cold toppings after.
Per
- Calories
- 79
- Protein
- (39%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (26%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (35%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 216 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2041 kcal goes into the pot and 2913 g of ingredients comes out as about 2600 g of food: 79 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.