This recipe is cross posted from Spring Forest Farm, where it is titled One Pan Mexican Beef Dinner.
I’m stepping into a busy season. Even though there will be extra demands on my time, I still want to serve my family real, nourishing food. Over the next two months, I’m planning to make a lot of soup and many one pan dinners. This Easy One Pan Mexican Dinner is fast and budget friendly. It’s also gluten free and dairy free. My son would eat this every day if I let him. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
Notice the deep, natural color of pasture raised and finished ground beef. This beef is very lean. There is no need to drain the pan of fat while cooking.
WHAT IF I DON’T CARE FOR SPICY FOOD?
My family likes a bit of heat when eating Mexican food or chili or curry. Because of this, I cook with green chilis and chipotle powder or cayenne pepper. I also like to add red pepper flakes to things like soup and collard greens. I’ve used many of these things here. Feel free to alter this recipe to suit your taste buds. You can easily omit the green chilis and/or chipotle powder. If you like the smokiness of paprika, you can up that a bit to boost the flavor without adding heat.
WHAT IF I’M PALEO OR FOLLOWING WHOLE30?
This recipe is so versatile. I consider the ground beef, onion, pepper, garlic, and spices to be the base. From that point forward, you can add or subtract anything that you like. If I were strictly following a paleo or WHOLE30 diet, I would eliminate the black beans, corn, and rice. In place of these carbs, I would probably add diced sweet potatoes. I may even add a bit of riced cauliflower. Greens work well in this mix as well. You can add some fresh greens (like spinach or kale) right at the end and stir as they cook. To make alterations like this, you will need much less beef stock as there will not be rice to absorb the moisture. I would start slow and add just enough to create a moist, saucy mixture. You don’t want a dry pan to burn sweet potatoes as they cook. Just like with rice, I would simmer on low and cover the pan to cook the sweet potatoes and any other crunchy vegetable you’d like to add.
WHERE’S THE CHEESE?
This dish would be great with cheese, especially a shredded sharp cheddar or Mexican cheese blend. My family is mostly dairy free, so I don’t regularly cook with cheese or even have it on hand in our home. If I were to add cheese to this dish, I would cook everything as described below. I would then add a layer of cheese over the top before garnishing with green onions and cilantro. If the cheese doesn’t melt readily, you could move the pan to the broiler for 3-5 minutes to melt the cheese into bubbly goodness.
However you like your One Pan Mexican Beef Dinner, I hope you find inspiration here. Adapt and make this recipe your own!
Easy One Pan Mexican Dinner (Gluten and Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 sweet or red onion, diced
- 1 orange, red, or yellow pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder (omit if you don’t like heat)
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1 7 oz can green chilis (omit if you don’t like heat)
- 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can corn, drained and rinsed
- 1 c basmati rice
- 2 1/2 c beef stock
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- avocado, guacamole, cilantro, green onions, and/or cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the onion, pepper, and garlic. Begin to brown the ground beef in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the beef has begun to brown, add the onion, pepper, and garlic to the pan. Sauté until the beef is cooked and the vegetables are soft.
- Reduce the heat to medium/low. Add the chili powder, cumin, sea salt, oregano, white pepper, smoked paprika, and chipotle powder to the mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add the green chilis, black beans, corn, rice, and beef stock. Stir to combine. Pour the tomato sauce over the top and do NOT stir. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the rice is completely cooked. (I lightly turn over the rice about halfway through cooking to be sure it all gets cooked evenly. I do this without disturbing the tomato sauce. If the tomato sauce is turned to the bottom of the pan, it can cause everything to stick.)
- When the rice is done, remove the pan from heat, and stir to combine the tomato sauce. Garnish with avocado, guacamole, cilantro, green onions, and/or cheese. Serve alone or with tortilla chips.
