I’m not really much of a shopper. I don’t really enjoy being out and about browsing through clothes and furniture and decorations and what have you. I mean, sometimes I do, but not very often. Usually I’d rather buy it online. In my pajamas. But, grocery shopping? I don’t necessarily love that either (other than shopping at Whole Foods…why do they make that store so much fun and make me want to buy everything?), but I haven’t converted to the apps and online shopping where you can enter your whole list of items and then have them delivered or just pull up to the curb and pick them up.
But, yeah, grocery shopping. Maybe I’m not overly tempted to buy all the shoes, but groceries? They’ve been a bit of a budget issue. I want to make gourmet meals, like, every night. Like I’ve mentioned before, cooking is a hobby for me and good food is an important part of my life. I can’t just eat bananas, rice, and beans or whatever. So, enter, the grocery budget. This has been a really helpful thing for me. Plus, I love that, by the end of the month, I need to be really creative with what I already have in my freezer, fridge, and pantry to make a yummy meal that doesn’t cost much (I still haven’t quite stretched my budget evenly through the month…working on that!).
Enter, the Weeknight Mexican Skillet. I made this meal near the very end of a month, and I was really pleased with where my pantry parameters led my creativity. This meal is fairly inexpensive and left us with a fair amount of leftovers (lunch tomorrow, anyone?). Oh, and it is made with real food. Quickly. These are a few of my favorite things…
A few notes about the recipe…
- I suppose you could use chicken breasts instead of thighs…but why??? Chicken thighs are less expensive, and the fat keeps you full and satisfied. Plus, they’re, like, impossible to dry out with overcooking. Chicken thighs are one of my favorite weeknight sources of protein! They have so much more flavor than their friends, the oh-so-much-more-popular chicken breast.
- You could also use brown rice in this recipe, but I probably wouldn’t. The dish will take much more time to cook, and this is a weeknight, and we are hungry. Plus, white rice and brown rice aren’t all that much different when it comes to glycemic load (a.k.a. effect on your blood sugar) when you eat a reasonable amount (think: 1/2 cup). Brown rice is one of those foods that has an unnecessary health halo, in my opinion. Plus, brown rice has trace amounts of arsenic. We all seem to forget about that piece. Anyway…just use white rice for this recipe so you can eat dinner already.
- A naturally gluten free meal! Hooray! I much prefer meals that are gluten free without any sort of substitutions rather than using gluten free this and gluten free that. Also, this meal is totally dairy optional. Just skip the sprinkling of cheese on top. The meal has enough flavor in and of itself that you really won’t miss it.
- Please for the love of real food do not try to buy one of those taco seasoning packets and use that in this meal! You can make this Mexican seasoning blend in a few minutes and then you can store the extra in your spice cupboard for Taco Tuesday. We do not need to add things like sugar, maltodextrin, vegetable oil, and sodium dioxide to our skillet. These things just don’t belong. You likely have all the things you need to make your own taco seasoning already in your cupboard. This takes just a few minutes and is totally worth it. (Remember all that time you’re saving with the white rice?…use a few minutes here.)
Easy enough? Let’s dive in…
- 1 lb. chicken thighs
- ½ red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 T. avocado oil
- 1 T. lime juice (1/2 lime)
- 3 T. Mexican seasoning blend
- 14.5 oz. boxed or canned crushed tomatoes
- 15 oz. canned black or pinto beans
- 1 c. white rice
- ½ c. fresh cilantro
- Additional toppings: diced avocado, sharp cheddar cheese, salsa or halved cherry tomatoes
- Rinse the chicken thighs and pat them dry. Dice them into half inch pieces. Don't bother trimming them of all the fat. It will all be just fine, people.
- Dice the red onion and garlic cloves.
- Prepare the Mexican seasoning blend, if needed.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet (that has a lid!).
- Add the chicken thighs, onion and garlic and stir to combine. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside (It does not need to be fully cooked on the inside yet as it will continue cooking with the rice).
- Meanwhile, open the tomatoes and beans. Rinse and drain the beans. Measure out the rice.
- Add the lime juice and Mexican seasoning blend. Stir to combine.
- Add the tomatoes, beans, and rice.
- Give everything a good stir to combine, turn the heat down to low, and put the lid on for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the cilantro, dice the avocado, shred the cheese (if using), open the salsa, etc.
- After fifteen minutes, remove the lid and taste the rice (carefully!). You want the rice to be completely cooked and to have absorbed a good amount of the tomato juice. It may need another three to five minutes or so. This is not a soupy dish when it's all finished.
- When the rice is cooked and has absorbed a lot of the liquid, scoop generous portions into bowls and add toppings as desired.
Do you have a quick and easy budget-friendly weeknight go-to dinner? Did you give this one a try? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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We needed a quick Wednesday night dinner, and when I saw this recipe in my inbox I knew we needed to give it a try. It was easy and SO delicious. The rice we used took longer to cook, but it was perfect after the extra time. We will definitely be making it again!
Thanks for giving this a try, Kendall! I look forward to bringing you a few more recipes this summer!