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This Taco Rice Bowl will be your new favorite healthy dinner. Chipotle flavored ground meat, veggies and rice of choice. You will love this easy weeknight meal, endless toppings and full flavored!
Why Make This Taco Rice Bowl
This taco rice bowl is an easy weeknight dinner that is perfect for meal prep. You can customize this recipe and change it up a little throughout the week with leftovers.
- Easy to Make. Just a few simple steps!
- Customizable. You can pick and choose your favorite toppings.
- Meal Prep Friendly. This meal is great reheated throughout the week!
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Beef or Turkey. Either will work wonderfully and pair great with the flavors.
- Onion. I like to use yellow onion; it is milder in flavor and offers aromatics.
- Garlic. I always use fresh garlic cloves; it offers the best flavor and aromatics.
- Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce. This adds a little heat, great deep flavor and is wonderful mixed into the meat. You will find this in a can down the international aisle at the grocery store.
- Seasonings. Cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano. This is my go-to taco seasoning for most of my recipes, I love the combination.
- Tomato Paste. This is mixed into the ground meat mixture.
- Rice. Use you favorite rice of choice. I use long grain white rice but brown rice or quinoa will work great.
- Black Beans. I love black beans so much and they offer a great texture and fiber to this taco bowl. Feel free to use pinto beans in place.
- Optional Toppings. Fresh cilantro, salsa, cheese, avocado, sour cream, lettuce and so on.
How To Make Taco Rice Bowls
Step One. Start to cook the rice. Cook the rice according to the package (all rices has different times, but it typically takes about 20 minutes.
Step Two. Next, start browning the ground meat. Heat oil in a skillet or nonstick pan on medium/high heat. Add the ground meat. Once the meat has browned, about 5-8 minutes later, add in spices, chopped garlic, chopped onion, jalapeño, canned/drained beans, tomato paste. Mix everything together.
Step Three. With a small blender, blend up chipotle peppers and water so it’s a smooth consistency. Add it to the meat mixture and let it simmer for 2 minutes. In a small bowl, add the avocado, 1 Tbsp cilantro and a pinch of salt. Mash it up.
Step Four. Set meat aside and assemble your bowls. Add the rice, ground meat mixture top with chopped cilantro, guac, salsa, cheese and any other mix ins you enjoy with your tacos. I love to add sour cream and avocado.
Recipe Tips
- Choose ingredients you like. This recipe is very forgiving. Use the rice and meat variety you enjoy. The seasonings and sauce go well with it all.
- Don’t overcook the meat! Make sure you let it cook to temp for the best texture.
- Make it low carb. You can use cauliflower rice in place of the rice to make it lower in carbs.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQ’s
Make this recipe healthier by using lean ground turkey or chicken. Skip the cheese and you will save yourself some calories.
I do not find this recipe very spicy. I would say it is on a medium to mild level. If you are very sensitive to spice, skip the jalapeño and cut the chipotle measurement back a bit with only 3 tbsp of chipotle peppers and adobo sauce.
Other Mexican Inspired Recipes To Try
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Taco Rice Bowl
Equipment
- 1 large skillet or nonstick pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice, uncooked
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ⅓ cup onion, chopped
- 1 small jalapeño , optional
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 15oz can of black beans, *see notes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 4 tbsp water
- 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, for the guac & for garnish
- 1 avocado
- ⅓ cup salsa, for topping
- ⅓ cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- Start to cook the rice. Cook the rice according to the package (all rices has different times, but it typically takes about 20 minutes.
- Next, start browning the ground meat. Heat oil in a skillet or nonstick pan on medium/high heat. Add the ground meat. Once the meat has browned, about 5-8 minutes later, add in spices, chopped garlic, chopped onion, jalapeño, tomato paste. Mix everything together.
- With a small blender, blend up chipotle peppers and water so it's a smooth consistency. Add it to the meat mixture with the canned/drained beans and let it simmer for 2 minutes. In a small bowl, add the avocado, 1 Tbsp cilantro and a pinch of salt. Mash it up.
- Set meat aside and assemble your bowls. Add the rice, ground meat mixture top with chopped cilantro, guac, salsa, cheese and any other mix ins you enjoy with your tacos. I love to add sour cream and avocado.
Notes
- Choose ingredients you like. This recipe is very forgiving. Use the rice and meat variety you enjoy. The seasonings and sauce go well with it all.
- Don’t overcook the meat! Make sure you let it cook to temp for the best texture.
- Make it low carb. You can use cauliflower rice in place of the rice to make it lower in carbs.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so delicious my kiddos loved it, wasn’t too spicy and it had a lot of flavor. Thanks so much!
Made this for my boyfriend and we both LOVED it. I used regular white rice and added Eve extra chipotle peppers because we love spicy. Everything came together quickly and it was flavorful.
Mmmm. Taco bowls for the win!
I don’t eat beans so I don’t cook them but my husband likes them. You don’t state in your instructions how to add them. Do I just heat up a can of them and add them when I add the toppings? Thanks
P.S. I will rate this after I make it but I’m sure it’s delicious!
The recipe has been updated to be more clear! thanks for catching this. Enjoy!
I love your recipes they have been a big part of my weight loss journey but will please include the serving size?
Thank you❤️ .
Hi Suzan! Yes I will be more mindful of filling in the serving sizes for the nutrition label. Serving size is a guesstimate since my calorie calculation doesn’t calculate that at this moment! But often times it’s a 1.5- 2 cups on recipes such as this for four. I hope that helps a bit!
This was really good! I used refried beans instead of black beans and wow, like a burrito in a bowl, filling too! I’ll be making this again
Loved this! So easy & delicious, perfect for meal prep too!
So great to hear that! Thanks so much for making it.
such an easy recipe! it was great for meal prep.
Loved this!!!
My husband is tired of “sandwiches” for lunch. I am going to prep this on Sunday for next week lunches. He works out of town, so hoping this will work.