Mexican Taco Skillet (30 Min) - Wholesome Yum (2024)

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Why You Need My Taco Skillet Recipe

• Taco flavors made cheesy – You get all the best parts of biting into a taco (or fajita) — including flavorful taco meat, tender bell peppers and onions, and melty cheese — without all the assembly.
• Easy to make – My cheesy taco skillet dinner gets on the table in only around 30 minutes, using common ingredients. It’s a regular on my busy weeknights, and I hope it’ll become the same for you.
• Healthy dinner – This dish is packed with protein and vegetables, and naturally gluten-free. These kinds of dinner meals are my specialty.
• Family favorite – If your family likes tacos (or my crowd-pleasing taco salad 😉), they’ll love my Mexican skillet. My kids load theirs up with sour cream to mellow out the heat.

• Ground Beef – I like 85/15 lean ground beef for this Mexican skillet, but any kind works great. You can also switch things up with lighter ground turkey or ground chicken, or Mexican chorizo for a stronger kick. I’ve even made it with shredded Instant Pot chicken.
• Veggies – I use onions and bell peppers, kind of like fajitas. But you can easily use any veggies you’ve got, like zucchini or mushrooms.
• Oil – I use olive oil for sautéing the veggies and meat, but avocado oil or any neutral cooking oil will work.
• Seasonings – You can mix up my homemade taco seasoning in just a few minutes, with chili powder, cumin, sea salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of cayenne. If you’re opting for store-bought and it’s unsalted, add a teaspoon of salt to the meat. You’ll also need a little extra salt and pepper to add to the veggies.
• Water – Adds moisture to the taco meat. If you’ve got beef broth on hand, use that instead for even more flavor.
• Diced Tomatoes – I add canned diced tomatoes to make the taco skillet a little saucy. If you like more heat, you can swap in diced tomatoes with green chiles, red salsa (either storebought, or my homemade fresh salsa or blended salsa), or even salsa verde.
• Mexican Cheese Blend – For the melty top! This shredded mix adds a nice mellow flavor, but you can swap it out for cheddar or Monterey Jack.
• Toppings – Green onions for a pop of color and flavor, and if you like, a dollop of sour cream to cut the heat. Fresh cilantro would also work nicely instead of green onions.

1. Brown the meat. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking apart the beef with a spatula or spoon, until browned.
2. Add the taco seasoning. Add the taco seasoning and water (or broth). Cook until the extra liquid is absorbed.

3. Saute the veggies. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the onions and bell peppers, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
4. Make it saucy. Add the diced tomatoes. Let the mixture simmer until any extra moisture evaporates. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

5. Melt the cheese. Reduce the heat to low. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Cover with a lid and heat just until the cheese melts. Remove the beef taco skillet from the heat and top with sliced green onions. If you like, serve with a dollop of sour cream (highly recommend!).

My Recipe Tips

• You need a very large (12 inch) skillet for the peppers and onions to fit. If you don’t have one that big, you can reduce to 1 or 2 bell peppers instead without having to change any of the other ingredients.
• The optimal temperature depends on your pan. I brown the beef at medium-high heat in my cast iron skillet, but for nonstick cookware you might need high heat. If the heat is too low, the meat will simmer in grease instead of browning nicely.
• Drain the meat if needed. I don’t usually need to with 85/15 beef and high enough heat, but if your ground beef has a higher fat content, draining is a good idea.
• Want to make your taco skillet more hearty? Add 1 can each of drained and rinsed black beans and corn, at the same time as the diced tomatoes. You may want to use a Dutch oven to hold it all, or replace 2 of the bell peppers with the beans and corn.
• Adjust your serving size depending on how you’ll serve it. The 1-cup serving size I’ve got on the recipe card is perfect for serving over a base (see below) or adding a side dish. If you’ll serve this dish by itself, this recipe is best for 3-4 servings, 1 1/2 to 2 cups each.

Storage & Meal Prep

• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. I recommend a large shallow one, so that you can keep the cheese layer on top.
• Meal prep: You can brown the ground beef ahead of time and finish with veggies later, or just cook the entire taco skillet in advance for easy lunches.
• Reheat: You can slide this back into a skillet to reheat over medium heat, or just warm individual portions in the microwave.
• Freeze: Cool completely, then freeze in a zip lock bag or container for up to 3 months. You can thaw overnight in the fridge, but I find that individual portions actually reheat fine in the microwave right from frozen.

Serving Ideas

My family totally enjoys this Mexican skillet plain, but we like it even more in bowls over rice (for my kids) or cauliflower rice (for my husband and me), along with a dollop of sour cream. Feel free to load them up with other toppings, like avocado or guacamole, salsa (see ideas above), and shredded lettuce or taco slaw.

You could even stuff this mixture in your favorite tortillas, or scoop it up with large tortilla chips like a cheesy version of my taco dip. I say there’s no wrong way to Taco Tuesday!

© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead.

Taco Skillet

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Gratitude Moment

I’m not claiming this taco skillet is an authentic Mexican recipe, because it definitely isn’t. I’ve been to Mexico dozens of times and have never had this type of dish there.

Still, it’s packed with Mexican flavors, so it definitely brings back vibes of Mexico for me. Aside from the usual beachy relaxation, one of the best things we did there was hire a photographer to take pictures of our family, 2 years ago. This is one of my favorite shots from that day!