This Sausage with Rice Casserole (St. Paul’s Rice) recipe is great for a chilly night. The savory sausage, delicious veggies and fluffy rice come together to make one of my favorite casserole. Plus it is so versatile you can add your favorite ingredients.
Casseroles make dinner so much easier, try these two favorites: cheesy corn casserole and my cheesy hamburger and potato casserole.
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Why this Sausage and Rice Casserole Recipe is a Keeper
This sausage with rice casserole recipe is great because it offers a delicious, satisfying, and convenient meal that is easy to prepare. It’s a reliable recipe to have in your repertoire for busy days, family gatherings, or simply when you crave a comforting and flavorful dish.
- Ease of Preparation: Many sausage and rice casserole recipes are relatively simple and don’t require advanced cooking skills. They often involve browning the sausage, combining it with rice and other ingredients, and baking. This makes them perfect for busy weeknights. This is a huge advantage for busy individuals or families.
- Versatility: St pauls rice is a very versatile recipe. You can easily change the type of sausage, add different vegetables, experiment with cheeses, and adjust seasonings to suit your preferences and what you have on hand.
- Freezes Well: They also often freeze well, providing future easy meals.
- Budget-Friendly: Rice and sausage can be economical ingredients, especially when combined with vegetables and pantry staples like cream soups or broths.
- Hearty and Filling: The combination of sausage, rice, and often vegetables and cheese creates a satisfying and substantial meal that appeals to a wide range of appetites.
- Comfort Food: Sausage rice casserole often evokes a sense of warmth and nostalgia, making it a classic comfort food dish.
- Crowd-Pleaser: This casseroles are generally favorites of both adults and children, making them a safe bet for family dinners or potlucks.
What is St. Paul’s Rice?
Given that “hotdish,” a type of casserole, is strongly associated with Minnesota, particularly the Upper Midwest, it’s plausible that the name has a regional connection to St. Paul, the state’s capital. Perhaps the recipe originated in St. Paul, became popular there, or was a staple in church or community cookbooks from the area.
Pro Tip for the Easy Sausage and Rice Casserole
For a nuttier flavor, you can lightly toast the uncooked rice in the pan after sautéing the aromatics and before adding the liquid. Stir constantly until it’s lightly golden.
Ingredient Notes and Variation Suggestions to Make Sausage Rice Dressing
All of the required ingredients are easy to find at the store, but some of the ingredients may be around the kitchen already. If I don’t have them, I use different ingredients to substitute. I have made this recipe with dirty rice, jasmine rice and different ground sausage.
Get the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions in the recipe card below.
- Rice: Try different types of rice, such as brown rice, long grain rice, basmati rice, or wild rice blend.
- Sausage: Explore different types of sausage, such as hot Italian sausage, mild Italian sausage, pork sausage, breakfast sausage, chorizo, or chicken sausage.
- Vegetables: Add or substitute vegetables, such as mushrooms, broccoli, bell pepper, spinach, kale, carrots, or zucchini.
- Cheese: Experiment with different types of cheese, such as cheddar, mozzarella, or Gruyère.
- Spices and Herbs: Customize the flavor profile with different spices and herbs, such as Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, Italian Seasoning, smoked paprika, or fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, or oregano.
- Liquid: Use vegetable broth, chicken broth or chicken stock, or even tomato sauce as the cooking liquid for the rice.
How to Make Sausage and Rice Casserole
This recipe comes together in just 5 quick and easy steps. This — is so good, I make this every time I want a filling, hearty meal.
Get the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions in the recipe card below.
- Preheat Oven and Prep Pan: Preheat the oven to 400℉ and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with some of the oil.
- Cook the Rice: Place rice and Lipton Chicken Noodle soup in a soup pan with 5 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook until water is absorbed.
- Cook the Sausage: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook minced sausage until browned. Remove and transfer to prepared casserole dish.
4. Cook Veggies: Mince the onion, green pepper and celery. Add to the hot skillet and season with salt, seasoning salt, oregano and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and transfer to casserole dish.
5. Mix and Bake: When rice and soup mixture is done, transfer to casserole dish. Stir everything together and bake casserole dish uncovered until browned on top.
Prep Ahead Suggestions for Italian Sausage and White Rice
I like to prepare ingredients ahead of time so that I don’t have to do all of the steps at once when I’m making dinner.
- Cook Sausage and Onions: Sauté the sausage and vegetables in advance (1-2 days) and store them in the refrigerator.
- Measure Ingredients: Measure out the rice and spices ahead of time for sausage casserole.
- Assemble the Casserole: If using a casserole, you can assemble it (without baking) a day in advance and store it in the refrigerator. Add a little extra broth before baking, as the rice will absorb moisture.
How to Store, Reheat and Use Leftover of this Rice Side Dish
- Storing: Store cooked rice and cheesy sausage in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
- Reheating: Reheat in the oven or in the microwave until warm all the way through.
- Using Leftovers: There are many ways to use the leftovers, try: Soup or Stew: Add the leftover casserole to create a hearty soup or stew. You might need to break up the casserole a bit. Stuffed Peppers: If your casserole has a good amount of sausage and rice, you could use it to stuff bell peppers.
Common Questions About This Dinner Recipe
As long as the Sausage and rice are done all the way through, you can combine all the ingredients and skip baking. This will result in a more moist rice bowl.
Absolutely, feel free to use your favorite vegetarian meat substitute.
Rice will appear fluffy when cooked. As long as the liquid boils and then simmers with a cover, the rice will be cooked.
Yes, it freezes for up to 3 months. Make sure it is wrapped wedll or store in an airtight container.
Expert Tips for Making This One Pot Recipe
- Brown Meat: For a richer flavor, brown the sausage before adding the other ingredients.
- Sauté Veggies: Sauté the vegetables to soften them and enhance their flavor. Top the casserole with almonds for extra crunch.
- High Quality Ingredients: Use high-quality broth for the best flavor.
- Fluff Rice: Fluff the rice with a fork to prevent it from sticking together. Do not use minute rice as it can get soggy.
- Let Rest: Let the casserole rest for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
- Serve with:Greek Chickpea Salad, Mexican Corn Cake or Pineapple Fluff.
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Sausage with Rice Casserole (St. Paul’s Rice)
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Oil, divided
- ½ cup Rice
- 8.4 ounces Lipton Chicken Noodle, 2 packages
- 5 cups Water
- 1 pound Sausage, minced
- 1 Onion
- 1 Green pepper
- 1 stalk Celery
- 1 teaspoon Salt, omit if using seasoned pork sausage
- 1 teaspoon Seasoning salt, omit if using seasoned pork sausage
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and grease a 9" x 13" baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil. Set aside.
- Place ½ cup rice and 2 packages of Lipton Chicken Noodle soup in a soup pan along with 5 cups water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook until water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook minced sausage until browned, about 6-8 minutes. Remove to prepared casserole dish.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to skillet, if needed.
- Mince the onion, green pepper and celery. Add to the hot skillet and season with salt, seasoning salt, oregano and pepper.
- Cook until onions are lightly golden and translucent.
- Remove veggies from heat and transfer to casserole dish.
- Once rice and soup mixture is cooked, transfer to casserole dish.
- Stir pork, veggies and rice mixture together in casserole dish.
- Bake casserole dish uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour until browned on top.
Christina’s Notes
- Brown Meat: For a richer flavor, brown the sausage before adding the other ingredients.
- Sauté Veggies: Sauté the vegetables to soften them and enhance their flavor. Top the casserole with almonds for extra crunch.
- High Quality Ingredients: Use high-quality broth for the best flavor.
- Fluff Rice: Fluff the rice with a fork after it’s cooked to prevent it from sticking together. DO not use minute rice as it can get soggy.
- Let Rest: Let the casserole rest for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.