The Best Taco Skillet Recipe! This Taco Skillet Dinner is loaded with ground beef, veggies and rice. An easy one pan, cheesy, healthy dinner! This post is sponsored by my friends at ButcherBox.
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If you love easy, healthy meals, you will love this One Pot Cheesy Taco Skillet! This recipe is perfect for busy weeknights or when you just want to whip up something delicious without spending a ton of time in the kitchen!
Plus, it’s made in one pan with only 10 simple ingredients (that you probably already have on hand! One pan meals are the best, right?!
Whether you’re short on time or just want a yummy meal this easy, one pot dinner is about to become your new favorite!
If you love these flavors, you will likely also like Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats!
We love this Cheesy Taco Skillet
There is a lot to love about this one pan recipe. It’s one of our favorite healthy dinners because it’s:
- Super Easy to Make: You only need one pan, so there’s less mess to clean up afterward. Just toss everything in and cook… it only takes about 45 minutes start to finish!
- Delicious Flavors: The flavors of the taco seasoning, ButcherBox ground beef, and cheese all mix together to make a tasty and cheesy dinner that you’ll make over and over!
- Customizable: You can make it just the way you like it! You can choose your favorite toppings and add-ons, like extra cheese, guacamole, or salsa, to make it uniquely yours. Check out our favorite ways to serve below!
Beef Taco Skillet Ingredients
For this cheesy skillet you’ll need:
- olive oil
- ground beef
- onion, garlic
- taco seasoning
- tomato sauce
- dry white rice
- beef broth
- bell pepper
- shredded cheddar cheese
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
We used ButcherBox Ground Beef in this recipe. We enjoy their ground beef multiple times a week in healthier dishes like this Taco Pasta, Taco Casserole, and Taco Salad!
ButcherBox is super convenient because they deliver high quality meat right to your door. It arrives completely frozen so you can just defrost & cook as needed!
Their ground beef is 100% grass fed and grass finished. It’s an 85/15 blend which is perfect for burgers, soups, stews, and everything in between!
We have it in our freezer at all times and love to make easy healthy meals with it!
Want free ground beef? Right Now when you join ButcherBox you can get free ground beef and $10 off!
How to make One Pan Taco Skillet
- Brown ground beef in olive oil for 10 minutes until no longer pink. Add onions and garlic and saute for an additional 5 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients, except cheese, cover, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is cooked. Top with cheddar cheese, cover until cheese is melted.
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR TACO SKILLET
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Ground Beef: We like 85/15 ground beef. Feel free to use leaner ground beef depending on what you like. To make vegetarian you can use cooked lentils or ground beef substitute. You’ll need to adjust your cooking time. I haven’t tried making this with ground turkey or ground chicken but I think it would work.
Broth: Broth and stock are the same thing! You can use any broth or stock interchangeably. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low or no salt broth.
Tomato Sauce: You can use your own homemade tomato sauce, but we prefer canned tomato sauce. Note that canned tomato sauce and jarred pasta sauce are very different, jarred pasta sauce is much thicker and usually has seasonings added to it.
White rice: Brown rice should work as a white rice substitute in this recipe, but it will take much longer to cook and you may need more broth. I wouldn’t recommend subbing cauliflower rice because I think it would be very soggy.
Cheese: Cheese is optional on top. We like freshly grated cheddar cheese but you can totally make this dairy free by omitting the cheese!
Taco Seasoning: We love making our own taco seasoning. It’s lower in salt and doesn’t have any funky ingredients! We like this brand of taco seasoning if you don’t want to make your own.
How to serve a Taco Skillet Dinner
This Cheesy Taco Skillet is a wholesome dinner on its own, but would also be delicious in a taco shell or on a bed of lettuce as a delicious twist on a taco salad.
Top with a variety of toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilantro, black olives, and extra shredded cheese. You can also serve it alongside:
- Chips and Corn Salsa
- Guacamole
- Healthy Mexican Potatoes
- Skinny Margarita or Healthy Strawberry Mojito
Cheesy Taco Skillet FAQs
It’s not always necessary if you are using a high fat ground beef, however, if using lean ground beef or a non-stick pan, a small amount of oil can help prevent sticking and promote even browning.
No, you do not need to add water to the pan when cooking taco meat. The moisture released from the meat should be sufficient to cook the meat and create flavorful and moist taco meat.
How to store this Beef Taco Skillet
Storing: This taco skillet will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: You can freeze this cheesy taco skillet recipe for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing!
If you need more freezer friendly recipes check out our Fill Your Freezer Ebook with 22 easy freezer meals!
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave or on the stove. Defrost for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator or heat directly from frozen.
Other healthy one pot recipes:
Looking for other easy meals? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Don’t forget! Right now you can get free ground beef. That means you’ll get 2 lbs of ground beef in your first box and $10 off!
Taco Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ cup onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 15 oz can tomato sauce NOT pasta sauce. look for low/no salt!
- 1 cup dry white rice
- 2 cup beef broth low or no salt
- 3 cups bell pepper diced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. Brown ground beef for 10 minutes until no longer pink. Add onions and garlic and saute for an additional 5 minutes.
- Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce, white rice, beef broth and bell peppers to the pot. Stir together, cover and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is cooked.
- Once rice is cooked, top with cheddar cheese, cover and let the cheese melt.
Kim says
This is easy and delicious! And only 1 pan to wash too. I followed the recipe exactly, including the homemade taco seasoning, and it was so good. I will definitely put this in our dinner rotation. Thanks for the great recipe!
Janice says
there is no rice under the ingredient list??
Janice says
I saw dry white wine not dry white rice. LOL
Janice says
no rice in the ingredients list?