Southwest Black Bean Skillet
One pan, a few ingredients, and 25 minutes is all you need for one seriously tasty meal.
How does this sound? An economical, extremely tasty dinner that’s done in about 25 minutes and comes together in a single skillet. It’s not too good to be true, it’s just this Southwest Black Bean Skillet. It’s a meatless main dish but it’s plenty hearty enough to act as a complete meal and it’s quick enough for your busiest weeknights. (And pro tip: it also makes a great burrito filling.)
The base of this is really just rice, black beans, and sweet potato, which keeps it rather cost efficient. If you wanted to add meat you certainly could, but I promise that it doesn’t need it — it’s plenty filling. The rest of the ingredients are for flavor — your favorite salsa, diced green chilies, chili powder, a touch of cheddar cheese, some lime juice, green onion, and cilantro.
What I love (maybe the) most about this is it’s not one of those “one pan” meals that expects you to already have cooked rice ready. The rice cooks IN the skillet along with the sweet potatoes. So easy!
You just combine the rice, salsa, sweet potatoes, black beans, green chilies, chili powder, and broth in the skillet and let it simmer covered for about fifteen minutes. Let it sit for five minutes, then fluff up that rice, add in the lime juice and green onion and top it with cheese.
Just cover it back up for a few minutes until the cheese melts and you’re good to dig in. This makes for a great quick meal but I love it as a simple meal-prep for lunches too. It’s kind of like a one-pan burrito bowl and is an ideal vehicle for your favorite toppings!
Southwest Black Bean Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 cups sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (4 oz) can green chiles
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 green onions, sliced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large skillet, stir together the rice, salsa, sweet potatoes, black beans, green chilies, chili powder, and broth.
- Cover and place over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and let simmer 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes, covered.
- Uncover, fluff mixture with fork, then stir in lime juice and green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Top with cheddar cheese and replace lid for a few minutes until cheese has melted.
- Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired, then serve. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Budget Bytes.