Easy Beef Burrito Bowl (All In One Pot!)

This easy beef burrito bowl recipe is made all in one pot, and is the perfect quick dinner for busy weeknights for the whole family. Packed with savory ground beef, filling black beans and flavorful vegetables all on tender rice, this dish makes for easy meals and great leftovers the next day.

 

Why We Love Easy Ground Beef Burrito Bowls

• All In One Pot – One pot dinners make less work for me and will for you too! You won’t be cleaning up for a long time with this meal, it’s an easy dinner idea to throw together fast.
• Easy To Customize With Toppings– Toppings can vary a lot for this recipe, and can easily customize this dish so everyone in your family has what they want which is my favorite part! Plus these easy beef burrito bowls are packed with burrito flavor that my family loves. Top your burrito bowl with your favorite toppings.
• Ingredients I Often Have In My Kitchen– I love staple meals where I don’t have to think too hard at the end of the day. Most of these ingredients I usually have on hand, which makes throwing together dinner fast and easy.

Ingredients For Beef Burrito Bowls

• olive oil
• onion diced
• garlic minced
• ground beef – you can also use ground turkey instead of beef for this recipe, just make sure to cook it until it is no longer pink.
• long grain rice – white rice for this recipe as written, dry and uncooked
• tomatoes canned, diced or crushed with juice
• tomato paste
• taco seasoning
• corn – I used frozen, you can also use fresh corn or canned corn that has been drained
• black beans canned, drained
• red bell pepper chopped – you can use orange bell pepper, yellow bell pepper or green bell pepper also
• chicken broth low sodium, you can also use beef broth.
• lime– fresh limes are a must, but lemon juice can be swapped in a pinch.
• sharp cheddar cheese shredded

I will sometimes add an extra few pinches of chili powder to give the dish more flavor, but it depends on the taco seasoning you prefer.

How To Make Beef Burrito Bowls

1. In a large 5-quart saute pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Place the onion and the garlic in the pan, heating and stirring until the onions begin to brown.

2. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain any excess fat in the pan from the beef.

3. Add the rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, taco seasoning, corn, black beans, bell pepper and chicken broth to the pan and stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover the pan and bring the heat down to a simmer so that the entire edge of the pan is simmering. Cook for 18-20 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice and the rice is tender.

4. Squeeze the juice from one lime over the entire dish and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.

5. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and cover. Allow it to sit for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve with your favorite garnishes in a bowl. Enjoy!

Burrito Bowl Variation Ideas

Try Different Canned Tomatoes– Use tomatoes with green chilies or roasted tomatoes to add more flavor.

Add Green Chilies– You can add green chili straight to the pot. I usually buy canned green chillis and will add between 2-4 ounces. Read labels carefully so you know if you have mild or hot chilies.

Swap The Beans– Use pinto beans or kidney beans in an easy one to one swap. Or if you don’t enjoy beans you can leave them out altogether. If I was to leave out the beans I would double the corn or bell pepper.

Use A Beef or Vegetable Broth– I tend to default to chicken broth, but you can use a beef or vegetable broth. You can also use the equivalent by rehydrating bullion or using a base like Better Than Bullion with water. (Try the roasted chicken or the sofrito variations!)

Serve With Tortillas– While this is a burrito bowl recipe, you can serve this mixture in large tortillas to make burritos!

If potatoes are more your style, try the taco tater tot casserole. It’s similar to this dish but instead of rice, it is baked with crunchy tater tots on top of every scoop.

Can I Substitute Brown Rice?

You can substitute brown rice. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but brown rice usually needs a little more liquid and cooked a little longer. I would add 1/4 cup more broth. I would expect brown rice to need about 45 minutes to cook fully.

Can I Use Minute Rice?

Minute Rice doesn’t substitute cup for cup, unfortunately. 

You’ll likely end up with a really mushy dish. Minute rice needs a different amount of water, rice and a different cook time to make the same amount of rice as regular long-grained rice.

Minute rice is great for serving dishes with a side of rice because it is fast, but not so great for swapping into a recipe like this. You would need to adjust a lot of ingredients amounts and the cook time to make this dish with Minute Rice.

Can I Use Ground Turkey, Ground Chicken or Ground Pork?

Ground turkey or even ground chicken can easily be substituted in this recipe. Make sure the ground meat is cooked all the way through until it is no longer pink. If using pork I recommend draining any excess grease after cooking like you would do with beef.

Can I Use Steak?

You can use steak instead of ground beef, but I would recommend cooking the steak separately from the rice with this recipe to keep it from getting tough. Then add the steak to the top of the rice at the table to make steak burrito bowls.

Can I Use Chicken Breast or Chicken Thigh?

Yes you can use chicken breast or chicken thigh. I recommend following the instructions for cooking chicken breast in my one pot cheesy chicken, broccoli and rice skillet recipe, and then continuing with the rice from this recipe to make a chicken burrito bowl version.

How Long Will Beef Burrito Bowls Last?

Expect the ground beef burrito bowls will last for about four days in the refrigerator when stored in a covered airtight container. This recipe is a great recipe to meal prep, as it tastes just as delicious as leftovers.