Mexican Ground Beef Rice Bowls

The perfect weeknight meal, ground beef rice bowls are packed with delicious, Mexican-inspired flavor and served with your favorite toppings! They’re full of nutrition and make a quick meal the whole family will love.

Our Favorite, Now Homemade

When my husband and I were dating in Colorado, we loved hiking, and our go-to meal after a day in the mountains was Chipotle burrito bowls.

These days, I prefer to make most of our meals at home, however, ground beef over rice is still one of our favorites!

Just like my easy chicken enchiladas, these bowls are easily customized with your favorite Mexican toppings, making it the perfect simple and healthy meal the whole family will love.

Ingredients

• Ground beef – Lean ground beef (85/15 or 90/10) is best. If you’d prefer to use other beef, simply scoop out some of the grease before assembling the bowls.
• Cooked rice – Seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, and butter or coconut oil.
• Toppings of choice – A few of my favorites are chopped tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, and shredded cheese.

Tools Needed

• Cast iron skillet

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: First, place the ground beef in a skillet and season it with the salt and spices.

Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and brown the meat on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until it’s cooked through.

Step 2: To assemble the bowls, layer rice, ground beef, and your favorite toppings in a bowl and enjoy immediately.

If you’re looking for more easy and healthy dinners, check out my 30-minute cabbage bowls and stuffed pepper skillet!

Tips for Success

Don’t preheat the skillet – When cooking ground beef in a cast iron skillet, place the ground beef in a cold skillet and then turn it on. This prevents it from sticking.

Use brown rice – Brown rice is a delicious whole grain that will add additional nutrition to these bowls. To make it even healthier, try sprouted brown rice! (I order it through Azure Standard.)

Serve with plenty of toppings – More toppings are always better! However, for busy weeknights, you can just keep it simple and pick just a few of your favorites.

Toppings Ideas for Ground Beef Over Rice

Prep in Advance

To make this an even quicker meal, prepare the ground beef, rice, and toppings ahead of time, and store separately in the fridge in airtight containers for up to four days. When you’re ready to serve it, reheat the beef and rice separately, and serve with the prepped toppings.

FAQs

If you try this recipe, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @violet_rightathome

Mexican Ground Beef Rice Bowls

Quick and easy, ground beef rice bowls are packed with Mexican-inspired flavor and served with your favorite toppings.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Clean Eating Dinner Recipes, Clean Eating Lunch Recipes

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 498kcal

Author: Violet Parcha

Equipment

• Cast iron skillet

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 3 cups cooked rice seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, and butter or coconut oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Toppings of choice

Instructions

• Place the ground beef in a skillet and season it with the salt and spices. Then add the onion and garlic and brown on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until it's cooked through.
  2 pounds ground beef, 3 cups cooked rice, 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• To assemble the bowls, layer rice, ground beef, and your favorite toppings in a bowl and enjoy immediately.
  3 cups cooked rice, Toppings of choice

Notes

• 3 cups cooked rice is equal to 1 cup uncooked rice.

Topping Ideas

• Chopped tomatoes
• Sour cream
• Shredded cheese
• Guacamole
• Shredded lettuce
• Beans
• Salsa
• Fresh cilantro
• Jalapeños
• Fajita veggies
• Hot sauce

Dairy-Free Option

• Use coconut oil instead of butter in the rice and use dairy-free versions of the toppings.

Prep in Advance

Cook the ground beef and rice and prepare the toppings ahead of time, and store separately in the fridge in airtight containers for up to four days. When you’re ready to serve, reheat the beef and rice separately, and serve with toppings.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 498kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 491mg | Potassium: 478mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 3mg

If you tried these Mexican beef bowls, I’d love to hear how they turned out for you! Please make sure to come back and leave a comment and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating.