When I was growing up, my mother prepared these delectable popcorn balls. I stumbled onto her recipe while making my holiday candies and cookies. This year was the first time I had ever made the family recipe. When my girls were adults with their own families, they questioned why I hadn’t produced these earlier. This recipe will now become a holiday family tradition after more than thirty years.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups water
- 2 (16 ounce) cans chili beans, undrained
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ¾ cup water, or more as needed
- 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
- 1 cup crushed corn chips, or to taste
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
Instructions
- Bring rice and 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Stir chili beans, tomato sauce, and 3/4 cup water through the cooked rice; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Pour rice mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Spread sour cream over the rice mixture. Sprinkle crushed corn chips over the sour cream layer; top with Mexican cheese blend.
- Bake in preheated oven until heated through and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 250 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 581 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I replaced the 3/4c water i stead I used 1/2 c water and 1/2 c salsa. My family loved it.
I made the casserole as written but was concerned about the amount of flavor lacking in the ingredients. I was not wrong. If rewritten by me, I would add jalapeños and/or sausage to kick it up a bit. It had cheese and sour cream, but it was bland. Lots of calories and disappointing flavor.
I thought this was really good, but a little taco seasoning would probably help. It was a little soupy so I would recommend adding 1/4 cup water instead of 3/4 cup as instructed. I used brown instead of white rice and plain greek yogurt for the sour cream. No one ever notices, it’s a great healthy substitution. I think adding corn or black beans would enhance the flavor as well and I’m always looking for ways to add veggies. I did add a bag of frozen peppers and onions. They were sliced but diced would have fit in better.
Great recipe,very forgiving!! Modified a bit,because of what I had on hand. Used a can of diced tomatoes, 1 can kidney beans drained, 1 can black bean undrained, browned up some ground beef ( about 1/2lb) with an onion. For seasonings: 1T chile powder, 1t each : oragano& cumin, 1/2t garlic powder, 1/4t chile pepper & a pinch of red pepper flakes. Instead of crushed tortillas I cut some flour tortillas into strips and put them on top of the sour cream lattice style, topped with cheese. Great base recipe,thanks for sparking an idea for a great supper. The whole family loved it.
I took a hint form Mama_C and added 1/2 pound Hamburger with my taco seasoning (chili powder, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder). I used HEB Texas Style Borracho Beans…..Oh My! Yummy. This will be a “what did you bring?” hit at the family parties.
Since I didn’t have chili beans I used kidney beans that I had seasoned with Taco seasoning. I kept everything else the same. Both my husband and I enjoyed this variation to stove top rice and would fix it again.
Decrease water to 1C and cook rice with 1C salsa for added flavor. I also like to add browned ground beef or grilled chicken. Delicious!