$2 per serve veggie packed dinner is this delicious and SO EASY Mexican Beef in the slow cooker.
On Father's Day, I had the joy of my parents and my brother's family visiting. There were 12 of us, and boy, do we all love good, healthy food. So I whipped up this old favourite. It can be done in the slow cooker or even on your cooktop, there is no taste difference.
Give it a try!
One-Pot Slow Cooker Mexican Beef
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 12+
Description
If you're like me, you love a slow cooker meal that is more than just meat. I want it to have a bunch of veg, ideally some great carbs and have the ability to be made in to multiple meals. This one-pot slow cooker Mexican beef is one of the most popular recipes from my 4-Week Slow Cooker Meal Plan.
Oh and if slow cookers aren't your thing, I make this on my cooktop, I did it recently when I was entertaining a lot of kids. It was ready in 45-mins.
Ingredients
- 2 large onions, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 600g beef mince
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup raw green lentils, rinsed
- 4 cups broth, water or stock
- 2 red capsicums, cubed
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 zucchini, grated
- 200g tomato paste
- 400g tomato passata
- 1 x 400g tin black beans
- 1 x 400g tin corn
- 1 ½ tbsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tbsp ground coriander
- 1 ½ tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tspn chilli powder (optional)
- - To serve
- 1 ½ cup grated cheese
- 1/2 bunch coriander
- 2 limes
- 1 x 175g bag corn chips
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- 2 avocados
Instructions
- In your slow cooker (or large pot) add the onion and garlic, and sauté them until just brown. Then, add in the dried herbs and the beef mince. Stir until just caramelised. Now, pop in the rice, lentils tomatoes and broth. If you’re cooking this on the cooktop, pop the lid on and let it cook for 25 minutes. If you’re using the slow cooker, stir it well so the rice and lentils are mostly on the bottom and pop on low for 4 hours.
- When done (the lentils and rice will be softish) add the veggies, black beans and corn. Give it a good stir and season with salt and pepper. Check for taste and add some more paprika or cumin if it needs it. Stir through the juice of the lime and shred the coriander and add that in too. I let this cook for 5 minutes or so. You're doing it this way so the corn and veg stays crispy. If you want yours soft, add it in at the start.
- With 5 minutes to go, add the cheese on top and cover again. It’s ready to go when the cheese is melted.
- Mash your avocado with a teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper for a quick guacamole and pop the baby spinach and corn chips in a bowl to serve alongside.
Notes
Lots of allergy tweaks here
- Dairy-free: Leave the cheese off
- Vegetarian: Leave the meat out and add a tin of white beans or kidney beans in it's place.
And if you don't want to run your slow cooker. No problem just follow the instructions and tweak the times to
- Pressure cooker: 20 mins
- Cooktop: 40 mins
Lots of leftovers? Here's how I gobble them up
- Made in to a quesadilla
- Served as a warm salad with greens
- Wrapped in to a burrito
- Served on zucchini (or regular) pasta
- Baked on top of a jacket potato
- Made in to quiche or omelette for breakfast
- Freeze for a busy weeknight meal
- Prep Time: 15
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 0
- Sugar: 0
- Sodium: 0
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0