A couple of months ago I posted a side dish, Southwest Cauliflower Rice, and ever since I’ve been dying to flesh it out into a main dish. This week I finally got around to it, and OMG, so good! I added some ground beef, black beans, and a bunch of fresh ingredients on top, so you get this wonderful mix of hot and cold flavors and textures, kind of like when you eat a taco, but in bowl form.
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Is it Spicy?
The heat level in this recipe depends on the spiciness of two ingredients: the canned diced tomatoes with green chiles (like Ro-tel) and your chili powder. Unfortunately, with both of these ingredients, some brands are spicy and some are not. So you may need to do some experimenting to find the brands that match the heat level that you prefer.
Fresh or Frozen Cauliflower Rice?
You can use either fresh homemade cauliflower rice or frozen store-bought cauliflower rice for this recipe. Both types of riced cauliflower cook very quickly and you shouldn’t need to make any changes to the recipe based on the type of cauliflower rice used.
Take the Taco Seasoning Short Cut
The recipe below includes all the herbs and spices in my homemade taco seasoning. If you don’t have a well stocked spice cabinet, you can use a packet of store-bought taco seasoning in place of the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper listed in the recipe below.
Other Topping Ideas
This recipe is so flexible! If you don’t like some of the toppings that I used, here are some other ideas:
- Sour cream
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Pickled red onions
- Black olives
- Green onions
- Lime crema
- Jalapeños (fresh or pickled)
- Sliced radish
Make it Low Carb or Vegetarian
If you want to make this tasty skillet low-carb, you can skip the black beans and use a full pound of ground beef instead.
If you want to make this taco skillet vegetarian, add an extra can of beans in place of the ground beef. You can use an extra can of black beans, or add a can of pinto or kidney beans.
Beef and Cauliflower Taco Skillet
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.50)
- 3 cups riced cauliflower ($1.25)
- 1 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles ($0.55)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.50)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp pepper ($0.02)
- 2 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($0.38)
- 1 avocado ($0.99)
- 1 tomato ($0.46)
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion ($0.10)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro ($0.10)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic. Add the garlic, olive oil, and ground beef to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the ground beef is browned. If you're using a high fat content beef, you may want to drain off the excess fat before the next step.
- Drain the can of black beans and add them to the skillet along with the diced tomatoes with green chiles (not drained), chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook until the skillet is simmering.
- Add the riced cauliflower to the skillet (no need to thaw, if frozen). Continue to stir and cook over medium heat until the cauliflower is tender (about five minutes).
- While the beef and cauliflower are heating, dice the tomato, avocado, and red onion. Roughly chop the cilantro.
- Top the beef and cauliflower mixture with the shredded cheddar. Place a lid on the skillet, and let it heat over medium for a few minutes, or until the cheddar has melted.
- Once the cheese is melted, top the skillet with the tomato, avocado, red onion, and cilantro. Serve immediately.
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Equipment
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How to Make Beef and Cauliflower Taco Skillet – Step by Step Photos
Mince two cloves of garlic. Add the garlic to a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil and ½ lb. ground beef. Cook over medium heat until the ground beef is browned.
Drain one 15oz. can of black beans and add them to the skillet along with one 10oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (not drained), 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper. Continue to cook and stir until the skillet is simmering.
Add 3 cups riced cauliflower to the skillet. Continue to cook and stir until the riced cauliflower is tender (about 5 minutes).
While the cauliflower and beef are heating, dice one tomato and one avocado. Finely dice about ¼ cup red onion. Roughly chop one small handful of cilantro.
Top the skillet with 2 oz. (about ½ cup) shredded cheddar cheese. Place a lid on the skillet and let it heat over medium for a few minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Once the cheese is melted, top with the fresh tomato, avocado, red onion, and cilantro, then serve!
That’s one FLAVORFUL bowl!!
Liquid add is sorely missing in the recipe instructions. Id throw in some stock at certain steps. Otherwise flavors are ok for a simple dish
So tasty! Very easy to make and that is always a plus after coming home from a long day at work. I didn’t have purple onion and my avocado wasn’t ready yet sooooo I made some pico with green onions, tomatoes, zested a lime and added the juice with a bit of cumin salt and pepper and a dash of EVO this made a great topping. I will definitely make this one again.
I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe this week. I am only making it for 2 people – would it work to freeze the mix including the cauliflower (but not the toppings), or would it be safer to freeze the beef and bean mix without the cauliflower added?
I think it’d be fine to freeze them together. :)
This was so good!! I made this yesterday and just now finished the leftovers for lunch. It honestly is even better on the second day. I’ll keep this one in mind for meal prep!
Well … I had the best of intentions of following the recipe but life had other plans. I didn’t have canned tomatoes nor black beans. I did have pinto beans & salsa so I subbed! I served it in taco shells but when warmed, they collapsed so we broke them open & ate them as opened faced tacos! I used Mexican riced cauliflower annnnd …. It was delicious! Thank you!
Amazing! I made with impossible hamburger and didn’t have tomatoes to put on top, but it was still perfect!
One of the tastiest things I have ever eaten – restaurants included. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this <3
I'm not usually one for avocado, but in here, it really brings out the heat, especially since I prefer it very hot and spicy. I also use kidney beans instead of black beans, and add a splash of lime juice and Maggi.
Thanks again for this recipe and your blog in general, I'd probably only eat take-out without it :)
This is such a yummy recipe! Using cauliflower rice is such a smart idea. I used a full pound of ground Turkey because it was on sale and also added an extra zucchini I had leftover from another recipe. I minced it up and added it with the rice. :) so good! It makes so much food too, perfect for meal prep.
Very good
This was delicious and so easy – perfect for the end of a weekday when I didn’t feel like spending a ton of time/energy in the kitchen. I used Beyond “meat” just to make the meal even more plant-based. The blend of spices is really savory and satisfying as written. In my case it wasn’t spicy at all, but that’s probably down to my particular chili powder. Next time I might try adding a dash of lime juice as another commenter suggested.
Loved this recipe! I used ground turkey instead of beef since that’s what I had on hand and left out the avocado due to personal preference. This was my first time trying out riced cauliflower and it was super tasty!! Definitely revisiting this one in the future.
Yum. my husband loved it and it’s even better the second day.
Made this tonight. It’s a pretty simple and quick recipe. I’m excited to eat the leftovers for lunch this week. It’s a healthy recipe and one that I imagine would be fun to make with the kids. I followed the recipe exactly, except I added a lot more salt. There was something missing about the recipe, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe a squeeze of lime? I don’t know. It needed more bite. I’ll let you know if it comes to me. Overall, it’s a tasty recipe, and I’m glad I made it.
I roasted the cauliflower rice, because when I’ve used the Trader Joe’s bagged stuff, it can smell a little stale. Roasting with some of the taco seasoning added some extra flavor and texture. I made guac with my tomato and avocado, added that, sour cream, and crumbled corn chips to the top. Oh, my!
Awesome idea! Thank you for sharing that! :)
I’ve never used cauliflower rice before, but this looks delicious! Do you think it would work well for meal prep lunches?
Yep! Keep in mind that the avocado may get a little dark, but it will still taste fine. :)