30-Minute Cheesy Taco Skillet (Family-Friendly)

In this past, we are making a Cheesy Taco Skillet. Seriously, this is a one-pan, nice, easy weeknight meal. It’s super simple, budget-friendly, and packed with flavor.

Why You’ll Love This

• One Pan Wonder: Less dishes means a happier cleanup for everyone.
• Kid-Approved: Even the picky eaters approve of this recipe. It’s healthy, filling, and totally comforting.
• Customizable: You can adjust the heat level to whatever your family likes.
• Fast: We are talking dinner on the table in under 30 minutes!

things we need

Special Equipment/Instruments:

• Large skillet with a lid (Cast iron or deep sauté pan works best)
• Meat chopper tool (optional, but “handy-dandy” for breaking up beef)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tbsp jarred garlic)
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Instant Brown Rice, uncooked (See Note below)
• 1 cup corn kernels (frozen or canned/drained)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cans (10 oz each) Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• ½ cup sour cream
• 8 oz block Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded (divided)

Let’s Get started

Start by preheating the pan on medium-high heat with a little olive oil. First, Add the onions. Cook them until they turn translucent.

Next, add some garlic. If you have fresh, grab a couple of cloves. If not? Jarred garlic works just fine. Let that cook for about a minute until it gets nice and fragrant.

Time for the Meat

Once the garlic is smelling good, it’s time for the meat. We are using ground beef.

Pro Tip: Make sure you add some salt and pepper to season it up, but don’t get too carried away! The taco seasoning we add later brings a lot of salt to the party.

Use a chopper. Chop the meat well so it breaks up into perfect bite-sized pieces as it brown.

Add All The Good Stuff

Once the meat is browned and cooked thoroughly, it’s time to dump in the rest of the magic. We’ve got:

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 1 cup of corn
• Black beans (make sure they’re drained and rinsed!)
• Rotel: We are using two cans. Use any flavor you prefer. Original works well, but we chose fire-roasted diced tomatoes with hot chiles for extra heat.
• 2 packets of taco seasoning (we want this flavorful!)
• Chicken broth

Give it a good stir and let it come up to a nice little simmer. Cover the skillet, turn the heat down, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, We want rice to be nice and tender.

The Cheesy, Creamy Finish

For the creamy finish, stir in half a cup of sour cream. This is the secret to bringing that perfect creaminess to our skillet. Finally, the best part: the cheese. Shredded up a block of extra sharp cheddar. Mix about half of it right into the skillet, then sprinkle the rest right on top.

Turn off the burner, cover the pan, and just wait a minute for all that cheese to melt into a gooey masterpiece.

You get the spice from the Rotel, the creaminess from the cheese, and that little crunch from the corn. You have to try this recipe. Happy cooking.

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One-Pan Cheesy Taco Skillet

Recipe by Sana ReiCourse: DinnerCuisine: Tex-Mex / AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

450

kcal

Total time

30

minutes

A hearty, budget-friendly dinner packed with ground beef, rice, beans, and plenty of cheese. This one-pan wonder is ready in under 30 minutes and totally kid-approved!

Ingredients

• Equipment Needed:

• Large Skillet with Lid

• Meat Chopper (optional)

• Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp (15ml) Olive oil

• 1 small Yellow onion, diced

• 3 cloves Garlic, minced

• 1 lb (450g) Lean ground beef

• 1 tsp Salt (plus more to taste)

• ½ tsp Black pepper

• 1 cup (185g) Instant Brown Rice, uncooked

• 1 cup (150g) Corn kernels (frozen or canned)

• 1 can (15 oz/425g) Black beans, drained and rinsed

• 2 cans (10 oz/283g each) Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles)

• 2 packets (approx 2 oz total) Taco seasoning

• 1 ½ cups (355ml) Chicken broth

• ½ cup (120g) Sour cream

• 2 cups (8 oz/225g) Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add ground beef, salt, and pepper. Break apart with a spatula or meat chopper and cook until fully browned. Drain excess fat if necessary.
• Stir in the uncooked instant rice, corn, black beans, Rotel (undrained), taco seasoning, and chicken broth.
• Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low, and let cook for 10-15 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
• Stir in the sour cream and half of the shredded cheese until creamy.
• Top with the remaining cheese. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

• Rice Selection: This recipe is optimized for Instant/Minute Brown Rice. If using regular long-grain rice, it must be pre-cooked before adding, or you will need significantly more liquid and cooking time (45+ mins).
• Spice Level: Use “Original” or “Mild” Rotel for kids. Use “Hot” or “Fire-Roasted” if you like it spicy.
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  
• Pre-Cooked Meat: To make this even faster on a weeknight, you can use ground beef you’ve meal-prepped and frozen in advance.