One Pot Cheesy Taco Skillet– this easy, delicious, veggie packed meal is quick and great for a budget- as well as a low carb diet!
Nothing gets our family to gather around a table faster than two things- tacos and cheese.
Mention either one, and we’re ready for a feast!
For us, quick, hearty, and secretly-packed-with-veggies meals are our go to options- and this One Pot Cheesy Taco Skillet is one that doesn’t disappoint!
I first got the idea for taco skillets from Melissa at Number 2 Pencil- she is the queen of one pot meals! Her One Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls kind of spurred on this take- because how good do these look?
I mean, just check out this profile!!! Under 13 carbs and 350 calories per serving! Plus you’re getting tons of vegetables in each serving- perfect for a hearty, healthy dinner!
And thanks to a heaping dose of cheese, it doesn’t taste like diet food at all.
This One Pot Cheesy Taco Skillet recipe is incredibly low carb- but you can also reduce the calories by using ground chicken or turkey meat, and using a skim cheese like mozzarella (though I am a proponent of full fat, gooey cheese!).
I left the baby kale mix I used unchopped so you can see it in the photos- but if you have picky eater kids, be sure to chop it up. They will never knew what hit them!
You can also swap it out for spinach, or just leave it out – this recipe is really more of a mexican taco skillet inspiration than a recipe that you have to follow to the “t”. Mix up your favorite veggies and taco accompaniments!
I also love to chop up zucchini and browning it with my beef- it browns really nicely and takes on the meaty flavor – without adding many calories!
For this recipe, you want to cook as high enough as you can without burning anything. Since there are so many variations to stovetops, pan choices, and how much moisture is in your veggies and meat, this will vary per person. Keep the pan hot, without burning – on whatever setting that represents on your stove.
I like to serve this meal over a bed of lettuce or greens- like a Chipotle Burrito Bowl- but you can also add it over rice or dump it in a taco or burrito, too!
And if you’re looking for an even easier and healthier version, check out this Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowl recipe!
One Pot Cheesy Taco Skillet
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced
- 1 12 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 1-2 large zucchinis, diced
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 3 cups baby kale/spinach mixture (this sounds like a lot- it cooks down to a small amount), optional
- 1½ cup shredded cheddar and jack cheese
- green onions, to garnish
- In a large pan, lightly brown ground beef and crumble well.
- Drain excess fat.
- Add vegetables, and cook until browned.
- Add canned tomatoes, taco seasoning, and any water needed for taco seasoning to evenly coat mixture (up to 1 tbsp- the liquid from the tomatoes will help)
- Add greens and let fully wilt.
- Mix well.
- Cover with shredded cheese, and let cheese melt - about five minutes (sometimes it helps to cover the pan with a lid to melt the cheese faster.)
- When cheese is melted, serve over a bed of lettuce, rice, or in a taco or burrito!
- Garnish with green onions if desired.
And if you like this cheesy taco skillet, you’ll LOVE this Cheesy Chicken Green Chile Taco Skillet!
For other delicious, easy, and quick one pot dinner ideas, check out:
This amazingly creamy and delicious Sausage and Ravioli Skillet:
Quick and easy one pot risotto:
So you drain the can of tomatoes or leave the juice in?
Either way is fine – if you dont drain it, just let the juices cook off a bit longer 😉
Hi! I commented last week with some critcisms. Good to see that you removed the comment and didn’t update your recipe to be better! How annoying! Good to know, though, when all the comments are rave, that they are biased and modified. Thanks for alerting me to how you run your site!
Hey Louise,
I actually just got to your comment, and had just published it before I saw this comment.
While this site is my full time job, I am also a work from home mom with two early elementary school aged kids home for the summer. Comments sadly are something I can’t get to as fast as I’d like while managing them and the million other behind the scenes part of this site and my social media accounts.
I never modify comments (save not publishing a few that are super insulting to read, and those that are just spammers adding links to sites that aren’t PG (if you get what I mean)) – and I’m sure if you poke around you can find plenty of comments that aren’t 100% glowing. Not everyone likes certain foods, certain preparations, etc. I am just sharing the stuff that I’ve made at home and works for me and my family – I am not really bothered when something isn’t someone else’s cup of tea, because I know that everyone has different tastes and it’s not anything personal to me. I’ve also had commenters let me know something got left off (especially with older recipes – which were all converted from an old plugin I used to make my recipes print-able and had some get super glitchy) – and I always appreciate their feedback, even though I can’t always get to it right away.
Was really tasty but the actual recipe instructions are lacking. Zucchini listed as an ingredient but was left out of cooking instructions. No temperature/level of heat for stove listed. Didn’t give you times of cook length. Actual final product delicious, tho!
Hi Louise, there’s a part that says to add the veggies – that’s where to go ahead and add the peppers, onions, and zucchini. As far as cooking time, I had a note about cooking temps above in the article text – it really varies. I used to have medium high listed in the instructions itself, but too many people emailed me that it burned on medium high – and some said it wasn’t hot enough. So now I just have a note above stating to put it at whatever setting keeps things very hot, but not burning, since there seemed to have been confusion!
This is a big hit with my family tonight!! Thank you!
Hi,
I was just wondering if the iron portion of the nutrition is accurate? 102% of your daily recommended intake seems like alot…
Evony, since I used an online calorie count program, I can’t verify the accuracy of the nutritional information – it is just a guide for people to use to investigate further.
Any idea what the nutritional info would be if I switch to ground turkey? Tracking my food on My Fitness.
What is considered a serving size? I see it saids 343g but that seems like a lot to me and I don’t think I’d have enough for 6 servings
what a great recipe. it looks like we will be having mexican tonight. have already wrote the ingredients down…i hope it is as mouthwatering as it looks. thanks for sharing.
Have you ever used ground turkey in this recipe?
yes- it works really well! It is so delicious 🙂
The one skillet cheesy taco dish was a hit with my family. Will be making this again soon….
Thank you for a great recipe! I added eggplant instead of zucchini. Eggplant is easier to find here on Guam.
The final test? My husband loved it! Yeah me!
I made this tonight & it was so good! Everyone loved it. I used 3 tbsp of homemade seasoning & 1/2 zucchini with 1 pepper. It was great!
Hi, has anyone tried to make this the night before and reheat for dinner the next day. I work weird shifts and was hoping this would make a good make ahead recipe.
I do make it ahead often- simply leave off the cheese, and add it when you reheat it! 🙂
Awesome recipe! My husband and i love it. Quick question. How are your carbs so low? When i calculate it out mine are almost double. What brand of tomatoes are you using? Thanks so much!
Nevermind i figured it out. I used a bad calculation on Kale. Great Recipe though! Absolutely love it!!!
Question: recipe says 2 green bell peppers, But video shows Zucchini? so is it a misprint in the recipe portion? Just curious.
Danielle- you can make it with either. There’s a note in the recipe that you an use whatever you prefer or have on hand- there are diced peppers in the video but they are hard to spot! It sounds weird, but I like to “cut” my ground beef with finely diced zucchini- it browns up nicely and has a good texture, and it’s a great way to trick my family into eating another veggie 🙂
I need more ways to trick my family of 5.. Do you have anymore?? I’m going to try that one.
How many carbs per serving?
under 14!
where info on carb calories protein fiber?
Its been updated 🙂
Hi, just found this recipe and it looks amazing cant wait to make it!! Can you freeze the leftovers?
Alyx- you can freeze them, but the veggies (minus onions) might get mushy when re-heating. If you don’t mind that, it will still taste great- but I’d suggest making big batches of the meat and onions, and then freeze them in individual sizes to heat up with freshly sautéed veggies.
How many carbs would you say is in a serving?
under 14
Ladies, did you use a whole packet of prepared taco seasoning? Or for those who made their own (great job!!), what measurement did you use/add?
Ali,
You can use a whole package— or about two tablespoons of homemade seasoning. Of course, some of it will depend on if you like more or less spices. I always like to add a little cayenne pepper onto the dish to make it a touch spicier 🙂
I tried this recipe and it is amazing. I made my own taco seasoning that is carb friendly and used one red and one green bell pepper. Instead of rotel I used diced tomatoes and a can of green chilies. I would highly recommend this recipe. I used a serving of brown rice but you could use cauliflower rice too if you are needing less carbs. It wouldn’t let me rate this but I give it 5 stars.
By making your own taco seasoning you reduce the salt and have more control over the heat of the spice. We tried this as part of a taco salad, with rinsed warmed black beans in the base of the salad. For our dairy free friend, we eliminated the cheese in his portion of this recipe as well as in the taco salad. He would not have thought this was that great if not in the salad for more textures. The cheese is half of what makes this a great recipe. and we have to get creative for our lactose intolerant friend, so he doesn’t feel left out or a burden to cook for. Then he just eats the cheese and pays for it later.
I’ve made this twice now and it’s soooo good! Thank you for the quick and easy recipe!
Oh. My. Gosh! So good, and so easy! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cheese! Definitely a keeper!
Thank you so much, this was delicious and easy! I forgot to buy taco seasoning so I had to make my own but other then that I followed the recipe to a tee. We are a low carb family so I served this topped with sour cream along side a salad and everyone loved it. I will definitely be making this many more times! Yummy.
This is absolutely delicious!! I made it with ground turkey and half kale/half spinach. It’s spicy (my taco seasoning is quite spicy), savory, cheesy, and I don’t feel horribly guilty and stuffed after eating it. We spooned it into taco shells and topped with guacamole. Such a great, easy, adaptable dinner that’s great for weeknights. My sister is paleo and she loved it! Thanks for great recipe – can’t wait to make it again.
Courtney! I have to tell you, I have made this recipe THREE TIMES for my husband since you linked it up a couple weeks ago at Found & Foraged. This one is off the chain! I love it!
Your pictures are making my mouth water!! Looks so good! We are obsessed with tacos around here so I know we will love this and it’s one pot! Can’t beat it. Pinned and shared! 😉
This looks SO good! My mouth is literally watering right now. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Pinning!
I am making this one soon! Our family loves tacos! Thanks for linking up at #PureBlogLove Link Party!Hope to see you next Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. at http://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com. Can’t wait to see what you’ll bring.
nom nom nom! check out that cheese baby! Your cheese taco skillet looks delish and just the dish to put out for a quick supper! thanks for sharing with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
This looks sooooo good! Trying this tonight. Pulling hamburger out of the freezer now! Thanks for linking up at Found & Foraged!
That looks so good! I’ve got it pinned.
Happy WW and thank you for linking up and sharing with the OMHG WW link up! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week! xx Ashleigh @SimplyWright
This looks so tasty and cheesy. I love that it is low carb as I am always looking for ways to reduce the carbs in my everyday meals.
Holy cow! That looks so delicious and creative! I can’t wait to try this.