Mexican Ground Beef Skillet

4.93 from 146 votes
Jump to RecipeEmail Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Whether you’re making this for game day or eating it as an easy dinner idea, this Mexican Ground Beef Skillet requires just one pan and only 40 minutes of your time! You can serve it in so many different ways – with chips, in a burrito, as a bowl, etc.

This ground beef recipe is a Fit Foodie reader favorite and also one we make in our own kitchens on repeat. We love how veggie-packed it is and it’s also high in protein (27g/serving) thanks to ground beef and beans. I personally love serving this nacho-style with tortilla chips, but it’s quite tasty eaten out of a bowl, too!

beef skillet in skillet.
email me this recipe
Plus, enjoy weekly doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

This was absolutely delicious. My kids made burritos with it and we also used tortilla chips. – Sharon

Looking for healthy ground beef recipes? We got you!

This one-pot Mexican ground beef skillet has hundreds of 5-star reviews and so many of you have made it time and time again, making it IMO, the internet’s most popular ground beef dinner recipe.

The rundown: Cook garlic, onion, and bell pepper in olive oil. Then, move that to the side and brown your ground beef in the same skillet. Add the seasonings, tomato sauce, beans, quick-cooking rice, and broth and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer on low for around 20 minutes.

What does this Mexican Ground Beef Skillet Taste Like?

Similar to our Mexican casserole, this skillet is made with ground beef, taco seasoning, rice, beans, and tons of veggies. It tastes similar to a burrito bowl, but it’s made in one pan on the stovetop.

ground beef skillet ingredients on cutting board.

What You Need for this Mexican Ground Beef Recipe

  • garlic: every good Mexican dish starts with garlic and that’s just a fact. Feel free to add more if your heart desires.
  • yellow onion
  • bell pepper: we love sneaking veg into our dishes when we can and bell peppers fit quite nicely in this skillet. Choose any color you’d like and even double it if you feel like it.
  • ground beef: the star of this dish really is the ground beef. Now, we like a little fat in our ground beef, which is why we used 85%, but feel free to use a less fatty beef OR even swap it out for ground turkey.
  • taco seasoning: we always have an all-purpose taco seasoning on hand at our house. It’s meant exactly for recipes like this! Basic spices, but a whole lot of flavor.
  • tomato sauce: a little tomato sauce goes a long way. All you need is 1/2 cup and you’re good to go!
  • green chiles: green chiles are mild for a pepper, yet they add really great flavor. If you like it spicy, be my guest and use jalapeños instead!
  • black beans: black beans are another one of those Mexican essential ingredients. I keep a stock-pile of cans in my cupboard because they’re cheap and high protein. Feel free to use pinto instead!
  • Instant rice: instant rice is pure magic. Let me stress the instant because in order for this to coo properly, you need to use instant rice, not regular rice. We tested this with both brown and white and they work swimmingly!
  • shredded cheese: all skillets deserve to be topped with shredded cheese. Add as much or as little as you’d like!
taco seasoning and brown rice

How to Make a Mexican Ground Beef Skillet

As you know, this recipe only requires one pan and one pan only! That means the Instructions are rather simple.

  1. Cook Veggies: Start off by partially sauteeing the bell pepper, garlic, and onion in olive oil. The goal here is to get them partially cooked, but not all the way.
  2. Add Beef: Move the veggies to one side and add ground beef. Saute until the beef is fully cooked and then mix everything together.
  3. Add Rest of Ingredients: Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil. Then, turn the burner down to low and cover it. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the rice has softened.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! And, clean-up is a breeze because you only dirtied one pan.

Do I have to strain the beef before moving on?

It is not required to strain the fat from the beef before moving on, but you are more than welcome to if you want!

Can I use regular white rice instead?

While we haven’t tested this method, we are confident that jasmine rice would work. We recommend adding 1/2 cup more broth and letting it simmer until the rice is fully cooked.

I read in the comments that other people have cooked their regular white rice separately and mixed it all together at the end and that works, too! If that is the case, we recommend reducing the broth by at least 1/2 cup so it’s not soupy.

ground beef skillet in pan.

Storage Directions

Fridge: Let ground beef skillet cool completely. Then, transfer into a glass container. Will last in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

Freeze for Later

This is a great recipe to freeze for later! Hold off on adding the cheese and then let the skillet cool completely. Transfer into a freezer-safe, gallon-size bag and then remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze for up to 3 months.

pan of ground beef skillet.

FAQ

Can I use pinto beans instead of black beans?

Yes! Any kind of beans will work for this recipe.

How do I make this less spicy?

The best way to make this less spicy is to reduce the spice from the taco seasoning you use. Omit the paprika and cayenne pepper.

Can I make this vegetarian?

We have tested this with a plant-based ground and it came out great. Feel free to use your favorite kind.

Can I sub quinoa instead?

While we haven’t personally tried this, many of you have and said that quinoa works just great.

Can I use a different kind of ground meat?

Yes! Many of you have made this recipe with ground turkey, ground chicken, and ground venison.

Serving Suggestions:

Nachos: Our personal favorite way to serve this skillet is with tortilla chips. That means you can either eat it as nachos for a main meal or an appetizer! Cough cough, game day! Try our ground beef nachos.

Tacos: Grab a few street taco shells and plop some of this in there as the filling. You get it all –> meat, veggies, and rice! Top it with a scoop of guac and you’re good to go! Here’s our fav ground beef tacos recipe.

Bowls: Eat this skillet as-is with #allthetoppings. Think avocado, hummus, fresh cilantro, and lime juice! Here’s a recipe for our fav Beef Taco Bowls.

Burritos: Got leftover skillet? Use it as filling for freezer burritos. Simply follow the directions in our Freezer Beef Burrito post on how to freeze for later!

4.93 from 146 votes

Mexican Ground Beef Skillet

Looking for healthy ground beef recipes? Whether you make this on game day or eat it as a main meal, this Mexican Beef Skillet requires one pan only and only 40 minutes of your time!
By: Lee Funke
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
email me this recipe
Plus, enjoy weekly doses of recipe inspiration!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ingredients 

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
  • 2 large bell peppers, diced
  • 1 lb. 85% ground beef
  • 3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons green chiles
  • 15 oz. canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup quick-cooking brown rice, quick-cooking white rice works too!
  • 1.5 cups beef broth, any kind
  • 1/2 cup Mexican shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions 

  • Heat olive oil over medium/high heat in a large nonstick skillet*.
  • When olive oil is fragrant, add garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
  • Then, move veggies to the side and add in ground beef. Saute ground beef for 7-9 minutes, or until fully cooked. Mix everything together in the pan.
  • Once the beef is fully cooked, add taco seasoning, tomato sauce, green chiles, and black beans and cook for a few minutes. Then, add in quick-cooking rice and broth. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat.
  • Once boiling, turn down to low and cover. Let simmer for around 20 minutes or until the rice has softened and absorbed the majority of the liquid.
  • Sprinkle cheese on top of skillet and either let melt naturally or pop it in the oven at 400ºF for a few minutes to fully melt cheese.
  • Serve beef skillet with chips!

Tips & Notes

  • Skillet size: we used a 16-inch skillet, but if you use something smaller, just make sure it is deep enough. A dutch oven would work perfectly!
  • Nutrition information includes our homemade taco seasoning recipe.

Watch It

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”FTga3YeF” upload-date=”2020-08-22T09:00:00.000Z” name=”Mexican Beef Skillet” description=”Whether you make this on game day or eat it as a main meal, this Mexican Beef Skillet requires one pan only and only 40 minutes of your time!”]

Nutrition

Calories: 379 kcal, Carbohydrates: 28 g, Protein: 27 g, Fat: 16 g, Fiber: 6 g, Sugar: 4 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

love this? leave a comment below!

Don’t forget to tag your posts on social media with the hashtag #fitfoodiefinds, we’d love to see what you’re up to!

Similar Recipes:

About Lee Funke

Lee is the founder of Fit Foodie Finds and based in Minneapolis, MN. She started this website in 2010 as a way to share her love for real food and wellness. The internet has changed so much since then and so has Fit Foodie Finds. Today we're a female-run recipe website publishing hundreds of tried and true recipes developed and tested by our team.

4.9 131 votes
Recipe Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
Recipe Rating




Recipe Rating

210 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Michelle
Michelle
September 13, 2022 4:45 pm

Awesome. Will have again! I used Knorr cheese and broccoli rice cause that is all I had on hand and it worked perfectly in this recipe.

16631054181885245911169400330491.jpg
Emily Richter
September 15, 2022 11:18 am
Reply to  Michelle

So glad you enjoyed this, Michelle!

Katherine
Katherine
September 12, 2022 6:37 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

4 stars
This meal was cheap, easy and quick! The only issue I had was that mine turned out a little bland.

Marisa
Marisa
September 11, 2022 1:44 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
OMG! Definitely going to be a staple dinner for my boyfriend and I! So moist and flavorful- and most importantly, easy & healthy!

Erin
August 30, 2022 4:32 am

Such a great recipe, for having guests over. Bookmarking this for my next friends reunion

sharolyn Schroeder
sharolyn Schroeder
August 21, 2022 3:16 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
In place of ground beef we used ground turkey and in place of rice we used califlower rice and reduced the water otherwise it would be too watery. Just my way of making it even that much more healthier. It turned out amazing and will cook this up day of the week.

Emily Richter
August 22, 2022 3:05 pm

Ooo these substitutions sound delish!

Pat
Pat
August 10, 2022 10:12 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
I was a little leery of the amount of onions and bell peppers, so I used a half of a small onion, a small green and 3/4 of a medium red pepper. I used the whole 4 oz. can of green chilies, and a 7 oz. can of tomato sauce, because I didnโ€™t want to bother with a little dab of chilies and sauce left over in the cans! I was also concerned about not draining the meatโ€”I usually used 93/7% ground beef, and always drain off the fat. But, it was not swimming in grease. I put cheese and some chopped cilantro on the table for everyone to add as they liked. Turned out great!

Ashleyrose
Ashleyrose
August 5, 2022 4:07 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
This was great! It will now be one of our staple menu items in our house hold! next time we are going to use this to fill our enchiladas!

Emily Richter
August 10, 2022 2:03 pm
Reply to  Ashleyrose

AMAZING idea to use as enchilada filling!

Mary
Mary
March 15, 2022 6:41 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
The three off us loved it. Just followed the recipe but only had 1/2 cup of instant white rice and one red bell pepper. It was still really good. We had tortillas so made burritos with it.

IMG_20220315_183527.jpg
Emily Richter
March 18, 2022 2:15 pm
Reply to  Mary

Great idea to make burritos out of this recipe!

Brittney
Brittney
March 12, 2022 9:48 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
I made this but instead of rice I cooked it will some roasted cauliflower. It was so good! I will definitely make this again.

Emily Richter
March 18, 2022 2:23 pm
Reply to  Brittney

YAY! So fun that you subbed cauliflower — yum!

Jennifer Olson
February 22, 2022 6:48 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
Deliciousโ€ฆ.family gobbled it up. Appreciate the recipe. Thank you!

Last edited 2 years ago by Jennifer Olson