Tomato rice with beef meatballs

Tomato rice with beef meatballs: a hearty one-pot recipe with rice, tomatoes, beef mince, garlic, oregano and fresh parsley.

At a glance

• Serves 2
• Prep time: 20 min
• Cooking time: 25 min
• Total time: 45 min
• Calories: 580 kcal per serving
• Protein: 32 g
• Fat: 22 g
• Carbs: 60 g

Ingredients

• 250 g beef mince
• 120 g rice
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 200 ml tomato passata
• 300 ml beef stock
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 handful of parsley

Method

You’ll need: frying pan · saucepan · wooden spoon

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and split them. Knead half of them with the beef mince, cumin, salt and pepper and shape the mixture into small meatballs.
2. Soften the rest of the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a wide saucepan or deep frying pan until translucent. Add the rice and tomato purée and toast briefly.
3. Stir in the passata, beef stock and oregano. Bring everything to the boil once.
4. Carefully sit the raw meatballs in the tomato rice. Reduce the heat, put the lid on and cook gently until the rice is soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
5. Finally, season to taste with salt and pepper. If needed, leave it to stand briefly without the lid so the texture turns nice and fluffy.
6. Serve scattered with chopped parsley.

Good to know

A dish like this takes little effort and tastes like an honest after-work dinner. Juicy, well seasoned, and everything goes into one pot without any stress.

Swaps

Rice → brown rice (also provides fibre) | beef mince → turkey mince (similar protein content) | parsley → fresh spinach (provides folate) | olive oil → ghee (heat-stable for frying; contains milk)

Allergens

The dish is naturally free from egg and nuts; depending on the stock, it can contain celery. For children, season mildly, and in pregnancy cook the meatballs right through.

Dairy-free recipes