Green chile rice casserole
Creamy, cheesy rice baked with mild green chiles, sweet corn and zucchini, the Southwestern potluck casserole that reheats beautifully for 4 days.
- 65 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $1.53 a serving
- 430 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 3 stalks green onions, sliced
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cans diced green chiles, not drained
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, divided
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 430 calories, 15 g protein, 47 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $1.53 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, water and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it covered 5 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Meanwhile, the oven to 350°F and rub a 9x13-inch baking dish with the oil. the zucchini and the green onions.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
In a large bowl, stir the sour cream, green chiles with their juice, cumin, garlic powder and the rest of the salt.
the rice, corn, zucchini, most of the green onions and 1½ cups of the cheese.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Spread it in the dish, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and in spots.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 27 min 30 sec
Let it sit 5 minutes, then scatter the rest of the green onions and the cilantro over and serve.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: It keeps 4 days in the fridge, or freeze single portions for up to 3 months.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Cheesy rice and bean casserole
55 min
Cheesy lentil and rice casserole
110 min
Vegetarian stuffed peppers
70 min
Baked tomato rice with mozzarella (riso al forno)
75 min
Vegetarian dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with rice and corn ›What to make with rice and zucchini ›