Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet

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This easy yet delicious Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet has ground beef, black beans, corn, and cheese and is topped with our favorite Chipotle Crema. We love this recipe because the crema gives it just a bit of extra flavor!

Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet Recipe 

My family seems to love any Tex Mex flavors, and we’ve always got tons of ground beef in the freezer to use up since we raise cattle for a living.

You can cut this recipe in half if it makes too much, but the cooking time will be about the same when the rice gets fully tender.

I’m thankful to have another recipe that allows me to use ground beef for more than just meatloaf and tacos….Hallelujah!

Ingredients needed for Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole recipe 

• Ground beef: Our ground beef is super lean and I like that.
• Black beans
• Diced tomatoes and green chilies: These will come in the same can and can be found at your grocery store with the canned vegetables.
• Chipotle peppers: Also known as canned chipotles in adobo sauce. These can be found in any Hispanic or ethnic section at the grocery store.
• Sweet corn: Canned, frozen or fresh.
• Taco seasoning: Sometimes, I make my own by combining equal parts of chili powder, cumin, granulated onion, and granulated garlic – easy peasy!
• Diced onion or dehydrated onion flakes: My original recipe called for a diced onion. I opted for dehydrated onion flakes since you can just toss those right in from the cabinet and keep moving!
• Chicken broth: If you don’t have chicken broth, use water for this recipe.
• Jasmine or Basmati rice: This recipe calls for Jasmine or Basmati rice because I’ve fallen in love with both of these rices. They cook very quickly and always turn out with such a nice texture, much unlike plain long-grain white rice.

How to make Tex Mex Beef and Rice Casserole 

Add the ground beef to a large 12-inch cast iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground beef as it cooks until no pink remains and the beef is well browned.

Always make sure you start your ground beef off in a preheated skillet.  When the ground beef hits that skillet, you want to hear SIZZLE!

This will ensure that your beef gets good browning and that’s what leads to lot of flavor. Drain any fats that accumulate.

Add the taco seasonings and dehydrated onions. Continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, rice, black beans, diced tomatoes and green chiles, and minced chipotle. Stir to combine.

Cover and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes.

Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the skillet.

Stir in corn and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until hot throughout.

Top with shredded cheese and optional garnishes.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream with the minced chipotles until well blended. I use a food processor or blender for this.

Make sure to refrigerate the rest to use again on other recipes. Add a generous dollop of Chipotle Crema (recipe below) and serve at once.

If the rice absorbs the broth and other liquids and the casserole seems a bit dry, add more broth. You can even another can of diced tomatoes and green chilies, if desired. 

What is a chipotle? 

A chipotle is a smoked jalapeno pepper. 

Now, I don’t have time to be smokin’ any jalapenos, do you? I didn’t think so.  Thankfully for both of us, there’s such a thing as canned chipotles in adobo sauce.

You’ll find these in the Hispanic section of your local grocer. I always keep a couple cans of these in my pantry so I can pull them out and throw those suckers into my food processer and blend them until smooth. 

Then, I spoon the chipotle/adobo puree into a mason jar and store it in my fridge. You’ll use it just like any other condiment for all kinds of recipes! It will add not only spiciness to your recipe, but also a lot of smoky goodness, as well.

What size of skillet is ideal for Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet?

Because this recipe make a large batch, you will need a  12″ skillet that’s 2-3 inches tall on the sides.

This gives ample space for stirring without flinging the ingredients all over your stove top as you cook.  And, if you ever want to make fried chicken, you can fit an entire chicken into a 12″ cast iron skillet easily.

What if I don’t have a skillet?

Great question, and yes you can. I’d opt for a 9×13-inch casserole dish or even an 10×14-inch casserole dish. This recipe makes a lot!

Reheating Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet

Sure does, and we love having the leftovers. When you reheat this taco rice casserole, you may need to add some chicken broth to make it nice and moist once.

The rice has a way of soaking up much of the moisture somehow.

If I don’t have Basmati or Jasmine rice on hand, can I substitute regular long grain white or brown rice?

Yes, just know that you’ll likely have to cook this skillet meal a little longer to get the rice nice and tender.

Also, you may have to incorporate more chicken broth to keep everything moist – long grain rice of any kind really soaks up the broth!

Other Recipes to Enjoy

Easy meals like this are a staple in my weekly rotation. I also really love this Crock Pot Meatloaf with Potatoes. It is so nice to cook almost a full meal at one time.

If you want to stay with this flavor profile, try my Chicken and Bacon Black Bean Enchiladas  or my Instant Pot Chicken and Black Bean Fideo Soup. Both are so very good and simple!