Easy Skillet Taco Rice | Cookies and Cups

Make this Taco Rice recipe multi function skillet with savory floor beef, salsa, taco seasoning, and loads of cheese. This quick and straightforward dinner concept brings collectively all your favourite Tex-Mex flavors in half-hour or much less.

If you happen to love this floor beef and rice recipe, you might want to give my Fiesta Chicken Casserole a strive!

Tacky One-Pan Taco Rice Recipe

At the moment we’re turning easy white rice right into a zesty all-in-one meal, loaded with floor beef, onions, taco seasoning, salsa, and melted cheese. Taco rice is a fast and straightforward skillet dinner, and I like making it on weeknights or as a enjoyable twist on Mexican night time. The whole lot comes collectively on the stovetop in below half-hour, and we by no means run out of topping concepts.

If you happen to’ve by no means tried taco rice, put together to be hooked. This simple floor beef and rice recipe is beefy and tacky and jam-packed with Tex-Mex flavors. Prime your rice with avocado, bitter cream, and extra taco toppings. It’s my concept of consolation meals!

What Is Taco Rice?

Consider it or not, the unique taco rice was invented in Japan. Okinawan taco rice consisted of seasoned floor beef, shredded cheese, salsa, and lettuce served over Japanese rice. A chef created taco rice at a restaurant on the island of Okinawa, and it grew to become fashionable with locals in addition to US navy personnel stationed there.

Taco rice isn’t to be confused with Mexican rice. Mexican rice is a facet dish consisting of rice and generally veggies, cooked in broth and seasoned with taco seasoning. My recipe is mainly a mixture of each dishes!

Elements You’ll Want

Only a few easy components are all you might want to make this flavorful Tex-Mex taco rice recipe. Under is a fast overview, with the total ingredient quantities accessible within the recipe card beneath the put up.

• Yellow Onion: You’ll saute diced onion and garlic with a bit of additional virgin olive oil for aromatics.
• Floor Beef: I like to recommend utilizing lean floor beef (85-90%), however you can too make this taco rice skillet with floor turkey or floor rooster. See additional down within the put up for extra variation concepts.
• Taco Seasoning: Select your favourite packet of taco seasoning from the grocery retailer, like Previous El Paso (or related).
• Rice: I like to make use of raw long-grain white rice or brown rice. I don’t advocate utilizing pre-cooked rice as it would grow to be too mushy.
• Hen Broth: You’ll want low-sodium rooster or vegetable broth for simmering the rice. You too can use Homemade Chicken Stock when you want.
• Salsa: Use your most well-liked model of jarred salsa, both gentle or spicy, chunky or blended. That is the right approach so as to add a little bit warmth to your rice when you’d like.
• Cheese and Cilantro: I take advantage of grated cheddar, together with cilantro, for topping and garnishing the completed rice.

Can I Use Minute Rice As an alternative?

Sure, simply take into account that prompt rice will cook dinner a lot quicker, so that you’ll want to regulate the cooking time accordingly.

Learn how to Make Taco Rice

I take advantage of my 9-inch nonstick skillet with a lid for this recipe, however you should utilize any sized skillet you’ve gotten available, so long as it has a canopy. This taco-inspired meal comes collectively in 3 simple steps:

• Saute: Begin by sauteing the onion in a scorching skillet with olive oil. As soon as softened, stir within the floor beef and break it up whereas it browns. Lastly, stir within the garlic.
• Mix: Subsequent, you’ll sprinkle within the taco seasoning, then add within the rice. Pour in your broth and salsa, and let the skillet come to a boil earlier than decreasing the warmth. Cowl and simmer the rice, stirring often, till tender. The liquid also needs to be totally absorbed by now.
• End and Serve: Garnish your taco rice with a beneficiant sprinkle of cheese and cilantro, then cowl and let it soften. Afterward, serve topped with bitter cream, avocado, or any of your favourite taco toppings! See beneath for extra concepts and serving ideas.

Ideas for Success

This taco rice is really easy, you actually can’t go incorrect. Listed here are some closing ideas:

• Use lean floor meat. I like to recommend utilizing lean floor beef in order that the dish doesn’t come out too oily. If you happen to discover that there’s quite a lot of grease within the skillet after your beef has browned, contemplate draining it earlier than going forward with the recipe.
• Make your individual taco seasoning. I like the comfort of packet seasoning, however when you’d want to make your individual, it’s simple sufficient to do! To make do-it-yourself taco seasoning, mix 1 teaspoon every of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and dried oregano with 1 tablespoon every of floor cumin and smoked paprika.

Add-Ins and Variation Concepts

This taco rice skillet is scrumptious as it’s, however you possibly can all the time change up the components to fit your household’s particular person tastes. There are such a lot of methods to make this Tex-Mex-style recipe, and it’s actually as much as you! Under are some easy variation concepts to strive.

• Completely different Protein: Strive making this rice with floor turkey, floor rooster, shredded rooster, and even floor or pulled pork.
• Vegetarian: To make vegetarian taco rice, swap the rooster broth for vegetable broth and exchange the bottom beef with chickpeas, brown lentils, crumbled tofu, or your alternative of plant-based mince.
• Beans: Stir in canned black beans or pinto beans (bear in mind to empty them first). 
• Veggies: Add in candy corn, diced bell peppers, shredded or diced carrots, or sliced jalapeños.
• Herbs and Spices: Be happy so as to add in extra herbs, like basil or oregano. If you happen to’re after a little bit of kick, stir in chipotle powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or crushed crimson pepper flakes together with the taco seasoning.

Serving Strategies

I typically serve this taco rice DIY-style, the identical as you’d an precise taco! I fill the desk with simple taco toppings like diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, avocado, bitter cream, inexperienced onion, and tortilla strips, and let everybody have at it. And as a facet, no taco night time is full with out crispy corn chips dipped in Avocado Salsa or Cowboy Caviar.

This satisfying rice recipe can also be nice to serve with Fluffy Sour Cream Cornbread and a Southwestern Cobb Salad. Or, we’ll pair it with Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas and a facet of Instant Pot Corn on the Cob for a hearty Mexican-inspired meal.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Retailer any leftover taco rice hermetic within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Reheat parts within the microwave or in a skillet on the stovetop till warmed by.

Can I Freeze Taco Rice?

Sure! I like to recommend freezing the rice earlier than including the cheese. Retailer the cooled rice in an hermetic container and freeze it for as much as 1 month. Defrost the taco rice within the fridge earlier than reheating, topping it with melted cheese, and serving.

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