Taco Rice

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican Inspired, Southern

Keyword best-taco-rice-recipe, easy-taco-rice-recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings servings (may vary)

Calories 504kcal

In a 12-inch oven safe skillet or Dutch oven brown 1 lb of ground beef, diced onion, red bell pepper and jalapeno pepper in a drizzle of olive oil.
Cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until no pink remains in the ground beef. Drain excess grease from the pan.
To the ground beef add the minced garlic and uncooked rice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat the rice with the ground beef.
To the skillet add the beef stock, Rotel tomatoes, taco seasoning, chili powder, garlic salt and lemon pepper. Stir to combine.
Bring to a gentle boil, then immediately lower the heat and cover with a lid. Continue to cook on low gently bubbling for 25 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Once the rice is done add the nacho cheese. Stir to combine.
Top with crushed Doritos and shredded cheese. Pop the skillet under the broiler in the oven for 3-5 minutes or just until the cheese has melted and is golden.
Serve immediately topped with sour cream, green onions, diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco salsa or pico de gallo.

Protein - You can make this recipe using ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork.
Beans - You could add black beans or pinto beans to this dish. When doing so, drain and rinse the beans prior to adding them to the rice mixture.
Seasonings - You could make your own taco seasoning to use in place of using a premade packet taco seasoning.
Cheese Sauce Substitution - Nacho cheese sauce adds a creaminess to the this hamburger rice. You could also use queso blanco.
Shredded Cheese - Colby jack cheese is a combination of colby cheese and monterey jack cheese. You can adapt this casserole using cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese for spice or quesadilla cheese.
Doritos - You could use tortilla chips in place of crushed Doritos.
Rotel Tomatoes - You can use salsa, tomato sauce or taco sauce in place of tomatoes.
Alternate Baking Dish - If you don't have an oven safe skillet you could transfer the rice mixture to a baking dish to broil the topping.
Taco Rice Toppings - This ground beef taco rice can be topped with shredded colby jack cheese or cheddar cheese. After baking, you can personalize it with a variety of toppings, such as sour cream, salsa, diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco, chopped cilantro, shredded iceberg lettuce and jalapeños.