Jailhouse Rice

Jailhouse Rice is the sort of hodgepodge comfort food where the sum of the ingredients is much greater than its parts. It’s a hearty baked rice dish with a ton of flavor, packed with celery and onions and a creamy, fluffy texture. Make it once and it’ll be a frequent request from the family, but no problem there since it’s an entire meal in itself! When I told you this was hearty, I meant it. It includes both ground beef and sausage that you brown up with a generous helping of celery and onions before you even get to thinking about the rice. But that’s because in this instance, your rice doesn’t ever see the stovetop. Instead, it’s mixed with the meats, celery, and onion, and a mixture of broth and cream of celery soup right in the baking dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cups finely diced celery
2 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
1 10.5 oz can cream of celery soup
1 10.5 oz can cream of onion soup
2 cups extra long-grain white rice

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 3-quart 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
Add ground beef, sausage, salt, pepper and garlic to a large skillet then brown and crumble over medium-high heat.
When meat is about half cooked, add onion and celery then continue cooking until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. Do not drain.
In a separate bowl, whisk together broth and soups until smooth. Pour soup mixture into skillet, stir then continue cooking until everything starts to bubble.
Gently stir in rice then pour everything into prepared baking dish dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil then bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. If mixture cools before baking, allow up to 15 additional minutes of cooking time.
Remove casserole from oven and let rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove foil then fluff rice with a fork before serving.

Notes:
– Use uncooked rice.
– Use the condensed soup straight from the can, do not prepare first.
– I don’t know if this can be made with Minute rice or brown rice because I’ve never cooked either type of rice.
– I don’t know how this could be converted to a slow cooker recipe.
– You must cover the dish TIGHTLY with foil to ensure the moisture stays inside to cook the rice through.

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