Spanish Rice Skillet Dinner Recipe – Easy One Pot Meal!

Spanish Rice Skillet Dinner is a Mexican-inspired, simple recipe for a quick and easy-to-make dinner packed with rice and ground beef. And, you’ll only need one pot to cook it in! 

Mexican Inspired Spanish Rice Skillet Dinner – An Easy Meal Idea

Looking for quick and easy dinners to feed your family? This one’s a favorite meal of mine for those busy weeknights or whenever, really. You can hardly go wrong with a comforting one pot meal like this one! It’s got simple ingredients (mostly pantry staples I keep on hand), it’s easy to prepare, and it makes a big batch, perfect for the whole family!

You’ll only need one cooking vessel to make this meal, so that means there won’t be a lot of dishes to wash and clean-up in general. Yay!

Ground beef is the main protein, but hey, you can always swap it with whatever ground meat you have on hand. Or just add shredded cooked chicken. This dinner recipe is super customizable, and I love that. You can serve it alone as a one pot dinner or serve it with a side of salad or a veggie like green beans.

Mexican food is delicious. I’ve been to Mexico numerous times, and the food is definitely a highlight! We also like to eat at Mexican restaurants now and then and try our hand at making Mexican food at home now and then, too. Last night we made tacos on the Blackstone (even though it wasn’t Taco Tuesday)! More easy dinner ideas right this way➡️

This post contains affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you purchase through our links. Thanks for supporting our little family!

Here’s the list of ingredients (+ Substitutions!) for this Spanish Rice Skillet Dinner:

• Ground beef – your favorite kind of ground beef. Like usual, you can substitute with any ground meat, though ground beef is definitely our preference.
  
• Onion – a large onion, diced finely. If visible onion chunks aren’t your thing, you can sub with onion powder.
  
• Pepper – diced sweet bell pepper. Your choice of red, yellow, or green pepper, it doesn’t matter. This adds wonderful flavor, and you can also add some extra heat with a jalapeno, if you wish!
  
• Rice – white rice works best. And I don’t have a personal preference when it comes to long grain or short grain rice. If you want to use brown rice, you’ll need to cook this meal twice as long and add extra tomato juice.
  
• Black beans – from a can. (Not pictured) Drain away the juices from the can and rinse the beans before using them. If you are starting with dry beans, you’ll want to soak them overnight or use your favorite method to cook them before adding to the pan.
  
• Tomato juice – from a can. You can make some tomato juice by mixing tomato sauce or paste with water, until it reaches juice consistency.
  
• Chili powder – for flavor. 
  
• Salt & pepper
  
• Shredded cheese – adds the finishing touch. Use a grater to shred your own cheese from a block for the best quality and taste!

⬇️ Find the full recipe on a handy printable recipe card at the bottom of this post! ⬇️

Supplies to grab

• Large skillet – a soup pot, Dutch oven, large saucepan, or something like that to do all the cooking.
  
• Measuring cups and spoons
  
• Wooden utensils – these are my favorite stirring tools.
  
• Cutting board + knife – to slice (or dice) the onion and pepper
  
• Vegetable chopper – as you might have guessed, I’m going to use my little veggie chopper to chop the pepper and onion into neat little blocks.
  
• Grater – to shred your own cheese

How to make our Spanish Rice Skillet Meal

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in your skillet on high/medium heat on the stovetop. Meanwhile, dice the pepper and onion.

Sauté the diced peppers and onions for a few minutes until they start to turn a little bit brown, then add the thawed ground beef and cook until the meat is thoroughly cooked through and starting to brown. If there’s excess grease in the pan, drain it off.

Dump in the tomato juice, followed by the chili powder, salt, and pepper.

Rinse the rice thoroughly with water (until the water runs pretty much clear), then add it into the skillet too. Turn the heat to low, cover the skillet with a lid and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is soft.

Top with shredded cheese and place the lid on top for a few more minutes until the cheese is melted.

Serve and enjoy. 💛

How to store the leftover Spanish Rice Skillet Dinner

Place the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Tips, Tricks + Notes 

Out of tomato juice? No worries, you can make your own by whisking tomato paste or sauce with water until it reaches juice consistency.

If you want to use brown rice instead of white, you’ll want to add about 2 more cups of tomato juice (and more if needed) and simmer the meal about 40 minutes instead of 20.

Take it up a notch: serve this dinner with fresh cilantro, sour cream and salsa (or any of your favorite toppings for tacos)! 

Oh, and if you like spicy food, go ahead and add a diced jalapeño pepper, cayenne pepper, green chilies or whatever you like to make it perfect for you!

More easy ground beef recipes to try:

Share this recipe!

As always…

Thanks for visiting our small town! We appreciate you. Make yourself comfy and stay awhile!

’til next time,

We love you and we’ll be praying for you,

Julie