Quick and Healthy Mexican Bake
Mexican food is great, except for when it isn’t. It’s often overly greasy, full of all kinds of unhealthy fats and unrecognizable ingredients. And then there are the insanely complicated, time-consuming recipes requiring three different sauces, homemade tortillas . . . Well, you get the point. This Healthy Mexican Bake is both pretty healthy, and quick to pull together, an antidote to the typical when you’re craving Mexican. Or, when you need a warming, easy, healthy-ish dinner option that feeds a crowd.
This is also one of those recipes that belies its simplicity. Although it can be assembled in 15-20 minutes, once it’s had a good, long bake (nearly an hour, give or take), what emerges is a flavor combination that seems to make just about everyone happy. Another bonus is you can choose your protein. I like ground beef in this, and I add a good amount. But you could use ground turkey, chicken, or even cubed chicken breast.
A green salad is a nice addition to this one-dish dinner, providing a bit of color and adding some crunch and another healthy note. Although there’s a good amount of spinach in the Bake, I don’t think you can ever get too many greens. In fact, I’d say most of us struggle to meet the minimum thresholds, especially on busy weeknights.
When quick isn’t actually ‘quick’
I know I’ll get some comments that needing to bake something for an hour pulls it out of the “quick” dinner category. But I’d disagree with that. If you get the oven preheating as soon as you walk through the door, get this assembled and into a baking dish, then you’ve got an hour to notice its aroma coming from the kitchen as it bakes. You can change, maybe pour a glass of wine, chat with whomever else is home, peruse any overlooked emails, or just drift.
I’d call that an hour well-spent. This does best if it sits for 10-or so minutes before serving. So, you can throw your salad together when you pull this from the oven. Here’s the other thing: I’ve yet to make this when the first thing my husband says as he comes through the door is, “Smells good! What are we having?”
You can tell the truth about the fact you spent 20 minutes on it and then relaxed. Or, you can say you’re glad it smells good because you’ve been slaving over a Mexican Bake he’s going to love! Whichever route you take, this is a recipe you’ll find yourself making on repeat. Enjoy!
Quick and Healthy Mexican Bake
Ingredients
- PAM or another cooking spray
- 1.5 lbs lean ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 Tbsp taco seasoning
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 14 oz can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
- 5 oz fresh spinach, chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, or your favorite Mexican cheeses, divided
- 1 cup brown basmati rice
- 1.5 cups pico de gallo, or your favorite bottled salsa
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with PAM.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and begin to brown. Then, add onion, garlic, and taco seasoning. Cook until beef is nicely browned, roughly 7-8 minutes. Drain and discard any fat.
- Add beans, tomatoes, spinach, chicken broth, 1 cup of the Mexican cheese, rice, and pico de gallo or salsa. Toss ingredients until combined.
- Pour contents of skillet into baking dish. Put into preheated oven for roughly an hour. Check to be sure rice is fully cooked. Once fully cooked, add remaining cheese and return to oven for about 10 minutes until top is nicely browned.
- Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.
