Meatball and Rice Casserole is a dump-and-bake dinner: a jar of marinara, a can of seasoned diced tomatoes, a little water and uncooked long-grain rice stirred together in a 9×13 dish, topped with frozen fully cooked meatballs and baked under foil until the rice is tender. Mozzarella and Parmesan melt on top for the last 5 minutes. It takes 5 minutes to put together and serves 8.
How to make it: Stir the marinara, undrained tomatoes, water and uncooked rice in the baking dish, add the frozen meatballs, cover tightly and bake at 375°F for 60 to 75 minutes. Uncover for the last 5 minutes, add the cheese, and bake until it melts and the center reaches 165°F.
Why You’ll Love It
- Ready for the oven in about 5 minutes: no browning, no boiling, no thawing.
- The rice cooks in the sauce: it soaks up the marinara and turns thick and creamy.
- One dish: everything bakes in the same 9×13 pan.
- Feeds a crowd: 8 servings from one pan.
Ingredient Notes
Marinara sauce: one 24-ounce jar, about 3 cups.
Diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano: one 14.5-ounce can, undrained. The juice is part of the liquid the rice needs.
Water: 3/4 cup.
Long-grain white rice: 1 cup, uncooked. Basmati or jasmine work too. Don’t swap in instant or brown rice with these amounts.
Frozen fully cooked Italian-style meatballs: one 26-ounce package, straight from the freezer.
Cheese and parsley: 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Pre-shredded mozzarella adds less moisture.
Ingredients
- 1 jar marinara sauce (24 ounces)
- 1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (14.5 ounces, undrained)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
- 1 package frozen fully cooked Italian-style meatballs (26 ounces; no need to thaw)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
How to Make Meatball and Rice Casserole
1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix the base. In a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish, stir together the marinara sauce, the undrained diced tomatoes, the water and the uncooked rice.
3. Add the meatballs. Add the frozen meatballs (no need to thaw them) and stir to combine.
4. Cover tightly. Cover the baking dish tightly with a lid or foil.
5. Bake until the rice is tender. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until the rice is tender. The cheese goes on for the last 5 of those minutes.
6. Add the cheese. During the final 5 minutes, take the dish out of the oven, uncover it and sprinkle on the mozzarella and Parmesan. Put it back in the oven, uncovered, for the final 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. The casserole is done when the center reads 165°F on a food thermometer.
7. Garnish and serve. Sprinkle with the parsley just before serving.
Should You Cook the Rice First?
No. The rice goes in raw and cooks right in the dish, soaking up the water and the extra liquid from the marinara and tomatoes. A few things make that work:
- Use long-grain white rice. The liquid and bake time are set for it. Instant rice turns mushy with this much liquid, and brown rice needs longer.
- Don’t drain the tomatoes. Their juice is part of the cooking liquid.
- Cover it tightly. Foil should seal the whole dish so the rice steams. Gaps let the steam out and leave hard grains.
- Judge by the rice, then the thermometer. Bake times range from 60 to 75 minutes depending on your oven and dish. Check that the rice is tender, then that the center reads 165°F.
- Cheese goes on last. Adding it for only the final 5 minutes keeps it melted, not tough.
Baked slowly in the sauce, the rice turns thick and creamy, a little like risotto, with no stirring at the stove.
Tips
- Keep the meatballs frozen. Fully cooked frozen meatballs go straight in; no thawing needed.
- Homemade meatballs? Keep them about 1 1/2 inches across. Raw meatballs must reach 160°F, and the casserole 165°F.
- Let it sit. Give it 5 to 10 minutes out of the oven before serving so it’s easier to scoop.
- Add herbs or heat: red pepper flakes or fresh basil on top.
Variations
- Spinach: use a 10-ounce container of thawed frozen chopped spinach, with its juices, in place of the diced tomatoes.
- Broiled cheese top: uncover at the end, add more mozzarella and Parmesan, and broil 2 to 4 minutes until browned in spots.
- Skillet: bake it in a 12-inch oiled ovenproof skillet instead of the 9×13 dish.
- Other cheese: any good melting cheese works; Swiss or Gruyère give a nutty taste.
- More seasoning: stir Italian seasoning, garlic powder or onion powder into the sauce.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour if it’s above 90°F) in shallow covered containers. They keep 3 to 4 days.
Freezer: Freeze for 3 to 4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, or reheat from frozen in the oven or microwave, which takes about 1 1/2 times as long.
Reheating: Reheat covered until it reaches 165°F. In the microwave, cover, rotate and add a splash of water if the rice looks dry. Don’t reheat leftovers in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
Serve it with garlic bread, a Caesar salad, or roasted broccoli, green beans or zucchini.
For the pasta version of this dump-and-bake idea, make the dump and bake meatball casserole. More rice bakes: cozy beef and rice casserole, easy hamburger rice casserole and stuffed pepper casserole. For more meatball dinners, try slow cooker Mississippi meatballs or sweet and sour meatballs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you cook rice before you put it in a casserole?
Not here. Uncooked long-grain white rice bakes in the sauce under tight foil until tender.
What sauce is good with meatballs and rice?
Marinara with diced tomatoes, as in this recipe.
Do I need to thaw the meatballs?
No. Fully cooked frozen meatballs go straight into the dish.
Can I use instant rice?
Not in these amounts; it turns mushy. Instant rice needs less liquid and a shorter bake.
How do I know it’s done?
The rice is tender and the center reads 165°F on a food thermometer.
Final Notes
Stir, top, cover tight and let the oven cook the rice. If you try the spinach version, tell me in the comments how it turned out.
Meatball and Rice Casserole
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Ingredients
- 1 jar marinara sauce 24 ounces
- 1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano 14.5 ounces, undrained
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup long-grain white rice uncooked
- 1 package frozen fully cooked Italian-style meatballs 26 ounces; no need to thaw
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F.
- In a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish, stir together the marinara sauce, the undrained diced tomatoes, the water and the uncooked rice.
- Add the frozen meatballs (no need to thaw them) and stir to combine.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with a lid or foil.
- Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until the rice is tender. The cheese goes on for the last 5 of those minutes.
- During the final 5 minutes, take the dish out of the oven, uncover it and sprinkle on the mozzarella and Parmesan. Put it back in the oven, uncovered, for the final 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. The casserole is done when the center reads 165°F on a food thermometer.
- Sprinkle with the parsley just before serving.
