This beef enchilada skillet is a fan-favorite one-pan dinner recipe perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner. The beef enchilada skillet is made with pantry ingredients, packed with flavor and is great for meal prep too.
This beef enchilada skillet is a flavorful, healthy one-pan dinner recipe perfect for an easy weeknight meal. We love that the recipe calls for simple, pantry staple ingredients making it the perfect meal for a busy night.
The best part about this recipe is it is a one-pan meal that is cooked on the stovetop and transferred into the oven to finish baking.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- One Pan Dinner
- Pantry-Staple Ingredients
- Meal Prep Recipe
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Ground Beef - Ground beef is the main protein in this dish. You can also substitute with venison or ground turkey.
- Vegetables - This skillet recipe calls or diced onion, corn and diced tomatoes.
- Rice - We use brown rice in this recipe, but you can substitute your favorite type of rice. Note that some types of rice absorb liquid and cook faster than brown rice. Substituting a different type of rice other than brown rice many alter your cooking times.
- Cheese - Freshly grated cheddar cheese is the perfect topping for this one-pan enchilada skillet.
- Enchilada Sauce - Enchilada sauce gives the dish its classic flavor.
- Water - Water adds a liquid component to the skillet to cook the rice.
- Spices - Garlic, cumin and salt give this dish delicious flavor.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet - A cast iron skillet is the perfect dish to make this recipe in, because you can cook everything on the stovetop then transfer it into the oven.
How to Make the Beef Enchilada Skillet
Step 1. Add the ground beef, minced garlic and diced onion to the skillet.
Step 2. Brown the beef in the skillet.
Step 3. Add the corn, diced tomatoes, salt and cumin to the skillet.
Step 4. Use a spatula to mix everything together.
Step 5. Pour the enchilada sauce and water into the skillet. Bring to a boil.
Step 6. Add the rice and stir to mix everything together.
Step 7. Place the lid on the skillet and cook for 20-35 minutes or until the rice absorbs most of the liquid. (Timing will vary based on type of rice used)
Step 8. Remove the skillet from the heat and top with shredded cheese.
Step 9. Place the skillet in the oven and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Recipe Serving Suggestions
This one-pan enchilada skillet is the perfect dinner recipe to serve 6 people. We love serving this dish topped with avocado, cilantro and sour cream with a side of chips.
We also love making this dish for an easy dinner and packing up leftovers as meal prep for easy lunches and dinners throughout the week.
If you love this easy one-pan meal, you definitely need to try some of our other easy dinner recipes.
Expert Tips & Variations
- Always rinse rice. We highly recommend rinsing rice to remove excess starch and debris from processing.
- Make it spicy. We love a good spicy dish and like to add a little hot sauce to the top of the skillet before baking with cheese on top in the oven.
- Meal prep recipe. This easy enchilada skillet is our favorite and go-to meal prep recipe. The recipe makes a large amount of food that is very filling. We like to pack up leftovers in airtight containers for easy lunches and dinners throughout the week.
How to Store the Enchilada Skillet
- Refrigerator - 3-4 days in an airtight container
Recipe FAQ
Visit the search results to see which questions come up under the People also ask section for your primary keyword, and answer them here
It is good practice to rinse rice because rice is slightly dehydrated in the bag and there is excess starch and arsenic on the kernels. Rinsing rice allows the extra starch and to be rinsed off along with any dirt or dust from processing. It also helps to lower arsenic levels.
More Dinner Recipes
Beef Enchilada Skillet
This Beef Enchilada Skillet is the perfect one-pan meal for a quick weeknight dinner and it is a great healthy dinner recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup diced yellow onion
- 1.5 Tablespoons minced garlic
- ½ cup corn
- 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 10-oz can red enchilada sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dry brown rice, rinsed
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- cilantro, avocado, sour cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a cast iron skillet on the stovetop on medium heat.
- Place the ground beef, diced onion and minced garlic in the skillet and cook to brown the beef.
- Add in the corn, tomatoes, cumin, and salt. Use a spatula to mix everything together in the skillet and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the enchilada sauce and water and bring to a boil.
- Pour the rice into the skillet and use the spatula to mix everything together.
- Lower the heat slightly and place a lid on the skillet to cook for 25-40 minutes. This time varies based on the type of rice you choose to cook with. White rice will take closer to 20-25 minutes to cook in the dish. Brown rice will be closer to 40 minutes to cook and absorb the liquid.
- Once the rice has cooked and absorbed most of the liquid in the dish, remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle the top with shredded cheese.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and serve with cilantro, avocado, and sour cream on top.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 315Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 616mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 21g
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