Taco Skillet

Quick and easy gluten-free taco skillet with ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. A flavorful one-pan meal ready in 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights.

Taco Skillet is a an easy one-pan meal that is quick, easy, and ready in about 30 minutes. This recipe is adapted from one of Grandma Helen’s favorite weeknight dinner recipes. I often double the recipe and divide the leftovers into single-serving containers.

The key to making this dinner is a great non-stick sauteuse pan with a lid. For doubling the recipe, I use a large, 7-quart Calphalon sauteuse pan, but an 5-quart non-stick chef pan will work fine for the default recipe (4 servings).

To simplify this recipe, choosing a lean ground beef, 90% or higher. With a lean beef, often, you have little or no fat to drain from the beef and onions before adding the rest of the ingredients. You can certainly use a higher fat meat that will be more cost effective, but have a can or jar on had and a strainer to carefully drain the fat.

Quick Facts

​Servings	Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time
​4	10	35	45

Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbohydrates
439	26.4g	17.1g	44.1g

Ingredients

• 1 diced onion

• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

• 1 cup dry white long grain rice

• 1 package or 1/4 cup Ortega taco seasoning

• 1 cup shredded cheese (Mexican blend or colby jack)

• 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

• 1 lb. lean ground beef (90% or less fat)

Directions

1. Brown beef with onion breaking up beef well. (Drain fat if necessary.)
   

2. Drain diced tomatoes, but reserve the juice from the can. Add water to the juice to make 2.5 cups of liquid.
   

3. Add tomatoes, liquid, rice, and taco seasoning to the beef. Stir well. Bring to a boil.
   

4. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed. About 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally.
   

5. Top with lettuce and cheese. Turn off the heat. Cover until cheese melts. About 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Notes

• Ortega taco seasoning is currently gluten-free. Always double-check and feel free to use any gluten-free alternative you prefer.

• If you use 92-96% lean beef (and even often 90%), you should not need to drain the fat. Anything lower than 90% lean will require draining fat.

• I really like to use petite diced tomatoes, but you can find large packs of regular diced tomatoes at big box stores like Costco.

• Use regular long grain rice (ex. Uncle Ben's). Don't use instant or minute rice.