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Ground Beef and Rice Skillet Dinner

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Ground Beef and Rice Skillet is a 30 minute, one pan meal the entire family will love! Hamburger, rice, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese come together for a complete comfort food meal.

beef and rice skillet with cheese

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How many times have you wished for a quick and easy hamburger and rice recipe for dinner? Seeing as how those are two ingredients most of us have on hand, it only make since to have a few super easy ground beef recipes to turn to on those busy nights when you have no idea what to make for dinner. This is one of my favorites, along with these Mongolian Noodles and 20 Minute Stroganoff!

Why I love this recipe

This recipe is packed with flavor and a slight Mexican flair. It cooks up in 30 minutes start to finish and only uses one pan…no sink full of dirty dishes! I also love that it’s family friendly and budget friendly as well!

Ingredients

beef and rice skillet ingredients

Nothing fancy here…

  • ground beef
  • onion
  • red bell pepper
  • garlic
  • beef broth
  • rice
  • Rotel
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Cheddar cheese
  • salt & pepper

Step by step

  1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and drain. While the meat is browning, chop the onion and bell pepper.
  2. Add onion, pepper, garlic, and salt & pepper to the meat and stir. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
  3. Add garlic, beef broth, rice, Rotel, and Worcestershire and stir to mix. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Serve garnished with chopped parsley if you’d like to get fancy!
spoon with beef and rice skillet with cheese

Tips for best results

  • Do not pre-cook the rice, it cooks up in the liquid in the skillet and absorbs all that amazing flavor.
  • Don’t rush the step cooking the onion and garlic with the meat, this adds a lot of flavor to the meat and makes the final result so tasty.
  • Want it spicier? Choose the “Hot” variety of Rotel to add in.

FAQs

Can I switch up the type of meat?

You can use any type of ground meat you prefer in this recipe: turkey, chicken, pork, or a combination of these. If you use ground poultry consider adding a little extra Worcestershire to amp up the flavor.

What type of rice is best in this recipe?

I use long grain rice in this recipe but you can use most any rice, however you may have to adjust the cooking time according to the variety you use. I don’t recommend jasmine rice because it is too delicate to withstand the big flavors in this hamburger and rice skillet recipe. Short grain, white rice, brown rice, even Basmati rice will all work beautifully.

Can I substitute the onion/garlic/bell pepper?

I don’t recommend skipping the onion and garlic as they add a ton of flavor to the finished dish, however you can use any color of bell pepper you prefer or switch it out with other small veggies like peas, carrots, corn, or frozen mixed vegetables.

beef and rice with cheese on white plate

Serving suggestions

This skillet dinner can stand alone with the beef, rice, cheese, and pepper making it a complete, well-rounded meal. If you’d like to add on to it you can serve it with a side salad and/or homemade Texas toast.

If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!

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beaf and rice skillet with cheese

Ground Beef and Rice Skillet Dinner


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4.8 from 54 reviews

Description

Ground Beef and Rice Skillet is a 30 minute, one pan meal the entire family will love! Ground beef, rice, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese come together for a complete comfort food meal.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1.5 lb ground beef
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 10 oz can Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (undrained)
  • 1 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • parsley for garnish if desired

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef over medium-high heat. Drain and return to skillet. While meat is browning, dice onion and bell pepper.
  2. Add onion, pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper to meat and stir to mix. Cook 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
  3. Add beef broth, rice, Rotel, and Worcestershire to the skillet and stir to mix. 
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 20 minute or until rice is tender.
  5. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with chopped parsley if desired.

Notes

  • Do not pre-cook the rice, it cooks up in the liquid in the skillet and absorbs all that amazing flavor.
  • Don’t rush the step cooking the onion and garlic with the meat, this adds a lot of flavor to the meat and makes the final result so tasty.
  • Want it spicier? Choose the “Hot” variety of Rotel to add in.
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: main course
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 381
  • Sugar: 4.8 g
  • Sodium: 968.8 mg
  • Fat: 11.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 34.7 g
  • Protein: 33.3 g
  • Cholesterol: 89.6 mg

STRESS-FREE

AND DELICIOUS?

DO YOU WANT DINNER TO BE

Its easy! I will show you how.

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109 Comments

    1. I had some leftover rice from the night before. It seemed to make the cooking time just that much quicker. The flavor was good but we amped it up by adding some onion powder.






      1. I made this tonight and it was so good!!! My husband absolutely loved it! I deleted the pepper because our local store wanted $3 for one and since I was using the hot and spicy Rotel I didn’t think we needed the heat of the pepper. It was very very very tasty will definitely make again!

        1. I believe it’s just a sweet pepper called for, not chili pepper! No extra heat. I use a green pepper in this delicious recipe because they’re cheaper! 🙂

  1. Can I substitute the rice for potatoes instead? It looks delicious! I may just give it a go anyway and I’ll comment how it turns out.

  2. Absolutely delicious, I followed the recipe to the tee. At the end I only had Cilantro instead of Parsley.. My Wife and I enjoyed it so much we even tried it over Tortilla Chips and added this to make nachos. It’s really good






    1. I had ground sirloin, low fat cheese, and rice on hand and looked for a quick and easy recipe. This recipe caught my eye. My husband and I really enjoyed it with a green salad. It was very good. I am sure it is the kind of recipe that can be adjusted in minor ways and will still be delicious. I plan to make it again with cheddar cheese as the original recipe calls for. Thanks for this recipe!






  3. Was kind of bland for my taste so I added a packet of taco seasoning and Fiesta corn. Turned out really good.

    1. This recipe is a big hit with my family! I also add an extra yellow pepper, a bag of frozen corn and a can of black beans (rinsed)






  4. Very delicious! My very picky 6 year old daughter had seconds! She usually picks at food. My husband even had seconds. This is a keeper.






      1. Made this tonight. Had most of the ingredients. Used plain diced tomatoes and added a little cayenne pepper for heat. Also used chicken broth as I didn’t have beef broth. Turned out great! Served it with tortilla chips.






  5. Loved it. Easy filling and tasty. I didn’t have beef broth so I opened two chicken ramen noodle seasoning packets and added one and a half cups water.
    I substituted the red bell pepper for orange and yellow small sweet ones.






  6. Recipe was super simple, quick to make and best of all even my picky eater likes it! I’ll be making this again! I used a yellow bell pepper and Success instant rice as that’s what i had on hand. Thanks for a new go to quick meal, my favorite!






  7. Thank you, this was delicious. My Husband was skeptical about this recipe. but had 2nds. I only had a pound of beef and added a 14.5 can of beef broth. Made green pepper sautéed on the side and added to my plate. Really good dish, reminded me of stuffed peppers, but in a skillet.






  8. I have made this about 4x already and I love it! I use ground beef and sometimes ground turkey. It tastes just like stuffed peppers!






    1. Amazing recipe and so easy! I’ll be making this again! I used a mix of colored peppers and used regular diced tomatoes. I added Italian seasoning since I thought it needs a bit more flavor. Also, uncle Bens rice is the best!






  9. This is delicious! Have made twice and will continue to! Halved it for the two of us, used about 2/3 can of Rotel. Perfect. I used a beef bouillion cube and water for the broth. Your recipes are my cup of tea! Thank you!

  10. Perfect quick dinner on a school night! My kids had thirds and they are picky picky. I didn’t have a bell pepper so skipped that but it still was delicious. Definitely will be adding this to our rotation of favorites. Thank you!






  11. It was delicious.I will make again!
    I did make some modifications based on other reviews. I seasoned up the meat with my usual seasonings (Goya, garlic salt and steak seasoning.). I added a packet of Sazon when I added the broth.
    Served it with cilantro instead of parsley, sour cream and cholula.






  12. Instead of sprinkling the cheese on the mix, I toasted an English muffin. Put a little cheese on top, then the mix, then sprinkled a little more cheese. Used mushroom instead of red pepper. Delicious!

  13. This was so good! Easy to prep too. I recommend (if you like it a little more spicey) to double or triple lol the pepper. Gives a nice kick. This was super easy though I always love the crockpot for the simplicity of it however this is my first stove top and it was delicious!!! Hubby’s on his 3rd bowl lol






  14. Our family loved this! We’re trying to find more freezer-friendly recipes for meal preps, so would this one be a good bet for freezing next time?

  15. Made this and added a can of black beans (rinsed) a teaspoon of Better than Bullion (beef) and 2 to 3 tablespoons of Taco seasoning. Really good!

  16. Love this dish…. I’m eating my results right now!!! It’s so delicious I added whole kernel corn… Have pictures not sure how to add to my comment






  17. I would NOT recommend making this with brown rice. We have been cooking it for an hour and the rice is still crunchy. Brown rice only takes 40 minutes to cook so I don’t know why this is, we’ve added a lot more liquid and it just won’t cook.

    1. This happened to me as well. I added another cup of broth just to get it soft enough to eat. It probably took over a hour. Told my husband that next time I’ll just have to use white instead of brown rice. Otherwise we loved it!






  18. Took a very long time for the rice to cook, and I ended up having to add a lot more beef broth, but once it was finally done, it was very delicious. Tastes good with hot sauce too.






  19. Loved this! Had to use a lot more broth and cook a longer than listed, but the result was still delicious! Also added onion powder, garlic powder, a hint of cumin and paprika.






  20. I made this for the first time tonight. My husband said this is so good 5 times while he was eating it and going for seconds. Thank you so much. This is a keeper.






  21. OMG this was fantastic. So easy to make. I only had 1 lb of ground beef so I added a can of black beans. It made so much for me, can’t wait to have leftovers.
    This would taste real good wrapped in a tortilla with sour cream salsa and guacamole.






  22. I’m making this now it’s just the rice takes a little longer to cook but overall I’m ready to dig in simple easy meal thanks for the recipe.






  23. In stead of green pepper how much frozen peas and carrots do I use? Can’t wait to make this, sounds so yummy.

  24. This ground beef/hamburger skillet dish is a nice adaptation to stuffed bell peppers…1 cup of rice was a bit more than we like in our stuffed bell peppers and if we are having this again, I’ll just add 1/2 cup rice or more ground beef/hamburger but I did add extra bell peppers, straight out of the garden young jalapenos and serrano peppers along with my own personal home canned petite diced tomatoes seasoned with roasted veggies (peppers, onions, and garlic)…the whorschestershire added a slight sweetness that was a nice flavor (Lea & Perrins is what is preferred in my house so use what you prefer) and definitely add some spice as you desire.






    1. I did something similar, PV (but without pre-roasting anything, and i had to sub dried minced onions for fresh). Came out so flavorful. I’m going to try the leftovers with tacos and nachos, as others have recommended. Thanks for the tasty, flexible recipe, Melissa






  25. Made the double size recipe. It was a great base! I added diced jalapeños, and I didn’t have Rotella, but I added diced chili’s and diced tomatoes. I also added less salt, I figured with the Worcester it wouldn’t need it. I also added chili, garlic, and onion powder, and some paprika. It was very tasty and made a lot!






  26. This is so good! Do you think it would work to sub the rice for pasta shells or macaroni? I also want to add corn to this…






  27. I made this for dinner tonight. It is good, not fabulous! I have another meal left, my husband liked it, but we both thought that there was something missing. I am not sure that I will make it again.






  28. I made this for dinner. While it was cooking, I read the comments and decided to put it in tortillas and make tacos. It was good. I used sour cream on mine to stop the kick from Rotel tomatoes. I am not a spicy girl.

  29. Made it tonight for dinner. It was for 4 people. Everyone really liked it and I loved it cause it was so simple to make! I made garlic toast with it. I will definitely make it again!






  30. This recipe is great!!! My family loves it! What is also great is that it is simple and doesn’t have a ton of ingredients I don’t have, and it doesn’t take long to make. Thank you Melissa!






  31. I made the Ground Beef and Rice Skillet and I have to say it was outstanding!!! My husband and I both loved it!!! I added 1 cup of corn and used basmati rice and stirred in the cheese once done cooking it as sooo yummy!!!






  32. I made this a few nights ago and it’s a huge hit in this house! I will be definitely making this more often! I get home late and this is a quick,one pan my kinda dinner. Highly recommend!! We like to pair it with refried beans and street taco shells with a lil sour cream.






  33. I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. I didn’t have Worcestershire so I used soy sauce. This is definitely a redo. Probably very often. I look forward to try some of the other ways with the vegetables and such. Have a great day

  34. We love this. We have been having this weekly. I throw in 2 cans corn or small bag of frozen and either fresh or canned mushrooms,depending what I have on hand. I do everything else exact same as recipe. I also always double the recipe. My husband loves eating it two days in a row. Thank you for a great recipe. Bev






  35. So easy even a caveman can do it. Was delicious. As opposed to Rotel I just used a tomato, a red chili (pick your head level with those seeds, and a tiny amount of cilantro.

    And it was super inexpensive!






  36. Made this tonight for dinner and it is delish! I had some leftover corn I added to the mix and I forgot the cheese lol! It was still good without!

    I got the original rotel and its a tad bit spicy so just a tip, get the mild rotel if you don’t like the heat.

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