Beef and Tomato Bake: A Cook Once Eat Twice Recipe

This beef and tomato bake makes a delicious one pot meal. It's from a traditional family recipe and is a real favourite with kids and adults. It's perfect to reheat the next day too!

I'm trying really hard at the moment to plan meals that are suitable for the two children as well as for me and my husband to eat later. This beef and tomato bake is one of the successes, which is  largely thanks to a generous amount of streaky bacon which just gives it so much flavour.

It's a real comfort food meal. The type of meal that warms you up and you just can't help going back for seconds. Luckily, it lasted a couple of days and was just as tasty reheated in the microwave as it was when it first came out of the oven.

I admit it's not the prettiest of meals. I took so many pictures but there were only a couple I was happy with. It's hard to make a one-pot dish look attractive sometimes, especially when it's mainly rice and minced beef. Just trust me, it is far tastier than it looks.

What ingredients do you need to make this beef and tomato bake?

To make this tasty one pot minced beef and rice dish you'll need:

• Streaky bacon - I think streaky bacon has a bit more flavour but you can use any bacon. You could even replace it with something like chorizo.
• Red pepper - Feel free to use a different colour of pepper if that's what you have.
• Onion - Red or brown onions are fine
• Garlic - Use a fresh garlic clove or replace it with garlic puree
• Beef mince - I haven't tried making this with a different kind of mince but I'd sure it would work really well with chicken, pork or turkey mince.
• Basmati rice - You can use white or brown basmati rice
• Tomatoes 
• Tomato puree - This adds a bit more tomatoey richness to the flavour.
• Beef stock cube - If you have beef stock then you can of course use that.
• Basil - When I first made this I used dried basil but you can replace it with fresh basil.
• Black pepper - I love to be generous with the black pepper!

How to make beef and tomato bake

This beef and tomato bake could not be easier to make. Take a large oven proof pan. Heat a little oil in it and cook the bacon, pepper, onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Then add the minced beef. Keep breaking it up with a wooden spoon and let it brown. Then stir in the rice and all the other ingredients. If you're using fresh basil, wait and stir it in at the end.

Bring the pan to the boil and then transfer it to a preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Can you adapt the recipe?

I've mentioned a few adaptations in the ingredients notes above and you can be flexible with the recipe. Add a few extra vegetables if you want. Add more garlic if you like.

Replace the minced beef with another kind of minced meat. You can also make it with meat-free mince for a vegan option.

If you like a bit of heat in your meals add a couple of teaspoons of chilli powder or a finely diced chilli pepper.

What can you serve with it?

I love to serve this with steamed or roasted vegetables such as broccoli, carrots or peas. It's also delicious with a salad.

If you want to make it into an even heartier meal then why not make some garlic bread to serve on the side?

A great meal to batch cook!

Why not double the quantities of this when you make it? It's a great meal for batch cooking as you can freeze it for up to three months once it has been cooked and cooled down.

I love this recipe as you can prepare it earlier in the day. The children could eat their dinner early and then my husband and I ate ours later. There was even some left over to eat the next day. Perfect.

Because I'd made dinner earlier in the day I didn't need to do anything in the evening. That meant we had so much more time to relax and even though my husband is not a big fan of minced beef, he really liked this too. It must be the bacon!

If you're into batch cooking and like the sound of this beef and tomato bake then do take a look at my cook once eat twice recipe collection for more batch cooking inspiration.

More recipes you might like

If you like spicy one pot recipes then do check out some of these:

• One pot Puerto Rican chicken recipe
• Chicken and chorizo paella

Recipe

Cook Once Eat Twice: Beef and Tomato Bake

Corina Blum

This beef and tomato bake makes a delicious one pot meal.   It's from a traditional family recipe and is a real favourite with kids and adults.   It's perfect to reheat the next day too!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings 4

Calories 714 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 150 g streaky bacon chopped
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 500 g beef mince
• 200 g basmati rice
• 6 tomatoes chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 beef stock cube dissolved in 300ml water
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch of black pepper

Instructions

 

• Heat a little oil in an ovenproof casserole dish and fry the bacon, pepper, onion and garlic for 5 minutes just until they begin to brown a little.
• Add the mince. Keep breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cook until is is browned (about 5 minutes).
• Stir in the rice and cook for just 30 seconds then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil.
• Put a lid on the casserole dish and put it in the oven at 180c for 20-25 minutes

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

Nutrition

Calories: 714kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 32gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 587mgPotassium: 1026mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2505IUVitamin C: 66mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 3.9mg

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