Your whole family will love this easy and versatile 30-minute easy Beef Taco Mexican Skillet recipe. It makes a quick meal that everyone can enjoy no matter what type of diet they follow….. keto, gluten free, traditional, etc. The main course will fit all eating styles and the sides or toppings can be varied to suit your needs.
This recipe can be served up a couple of different ways.
Main Course Entrée: serve with shredded lettuce, salsa, chopped tomatoes, extra cheese, and some warm corn taco shells. Choose whole lettuce leaves or low carb tortillas if you want to keep it low carb.
Main Course Salad: Once your recipe is completed serve a scoop or two over a bed of your favorite salad greens. Top with a bit of ranch dressing or try blending some mashed avocado into sour cream to use as a quick salad dressing.
Hearty Appetizer: serve as a taco dip with gluten-free tortilla chips on the side. You can also create baked nachos by spooning the finished taco skillet meal over a layer of tortilla chips, sprinkling with some additional cheese and baking in a 350 degree oven until the cheese has melted. Top with additional diced tomatoes, green onion, avocado, and extra cheese right before serving.
Beef Taco Mexican Skillet Recipe
For this recipe you can use store bought taco seasoning or check out this easy to make homemade taco seasoning mix recipe.
Ingredients for Beef Taco Skillet:
- Olive oil – I used extra virgin olive oil but you can use your favorite light flavored oil for this recipe.
- Onion – use a white onion, yellow onion or even a red onion. They are all delicious in this taco skillet.
- Garlic – use fresh garlic cloves, granulated garlic or powered garlic.
- Ground Beef – I use 80% or 85% ground beef for this recipe.
- Diced Tomatoes – use your favorite canned diced tomatoes. I like using the type that has diced green chilis in the tomatoes. Drain off the juice in the can to keep the finished mixture from being too watery.
- Taco Seasoning – you can use taco seasoning purchased at your local grocery store or make your own homemade taco seasoning.
- Salt and Black Pepper – salt and black pepper is added to taste. Be aware that the store bought taco seasoning mixes often have high amounts of salt. Taste the ground beef mixture before you add the salt in.
- Shredded Cheese – use your favorite type of shredded cheese. I like to use a Mexican blend of shredded cheese. Cheddar cheese, Monteray Jack cheese and Pepperjack Cheese are all great with this recipe.
Optional when serving: Diced tomatoes, green onion, avocado, and extra cheese for topping. If making tacos then use your favorite hard or soft taco shell. Keep it low carb/keto by using large lettuce leaves. Use your favorite tortilla chips to make nachos.
How to make Beef Taco Mexican Skillet:
Add the olive oil to a large skillet and set it over medium heat. Add the diced onion and garlic and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Stir to combine. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, approximately 4-5 minutes.
Add the beef to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully drain the excess fat from skillet.
Add the taco seasoning and fire-roasted tomatoes to the ground beef in the skillet and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes are heated through and the beef mixture is thoroughly coated in the taco seasoning, approximately 2-3 minutes. Taste, and add additional taco seasoning, if desired.
Remove from heat and top with shredded cheese. Cover for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Top with any additional toppings and serve immediately.
Try serving this dish with these delicious side dishes:
For dessert try this Pineapple Coconut Dump Cake and serve this Mexican Horchata to drink.
Taco Skillet Recipe Freezer Meal Tips:
You can turn this recipe into an easy freezer meal.
Start out by doubling or tripling the recipe. Prepare the recipe up to step number 3. Once the beef mixture is done cooking serve the portion you are using for your current meal and allow the remainder to cool.
Once the beef mixture has cooled a bit you can divide it up into your freezer containers. Seal, mark the container with the recipe name and date and place in the freezer.
If desired you can also portion out the shredded cheese needed for each recipe into a smaller freezer bag. I like to place the container and the freezer bag with the cheese into a larger freezer bag to help keep all the needed ingredients together.
When I put everything into a larger freezer bag it also allows me to include a piece of paper with the final cooking instructions. If you don’t use this method then simply write the instructions on a bit of freezer tape that you stick to the freezer container.
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Beef Taco Mexican Skillet Recipe
Equipment
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 Onions medium, chopped
- 3-4 cloves Garlic, minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 1/4 pound lean ground beef
- 10 ounce diced tomatoes canned, drained
- 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and set it over medium heat. Add the diced onion and garlic. Stir to combine. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, approximately 4-5 minutes.1/2 Onions, 3-4 cloves Garlic, minced, 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Add the beef to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully drain the excess fat from skillet.1 1/4 pound lean ground beef
- Add the taco seasoning and fire-roasted tomatoes to the ground beef in the skillet and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes are heated through and the beef mixture is thoroughly coated in the taco seasoning, approximately 2-3 minutes. Taste, and add additional taco seasoning, if desired.2 tablespoons taco seasoning, 10 ounce diced tomatoes
- Add salt and black pepper to the ground beef mixture to taste.Salt and Pepper to taste
- Remove from heat and top with shredded cheese. Cover for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Top with any additional toppings and serve immediately.4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Notes
Nutrition
The whole family loves this beef taco skillet recipe and it’s joined our regular meal planning rotation. It doesn’t require a whole lot of fancy ingredients yet you can dress it up by adding in your favorite toppings. If you’d like to learn more about creating your own easy meal plans then you may want to check out these posts:
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