Good morn’, fine friends! And a very happy Monday to ya.
Remember when I baked you cookies and said that I couldn’t WAIT to share a 20-minute meal with you, but I HAD to wait until I got better pictures?
Well, voilà! Enter the Mexican Rice and Bean Skillet.
I have been surprisingly busy these past few weeks, which is saying a lot for my introverted self. Between grabbing coffee with blogging friends, staying on top of blog stuff, helping out at the Bruncshop, and hanging out with/making dinner for Mark’s parents, it’s been a fun and hectic few weeks. But the highlight of this past weekend (which, of course, is Game of Thrones, but it hasn’t happened at the moment I’m writing this) was going to IKEA. I bought a desk and a chair for my room! I have some exciting news to share with you in the next week or so, but for now, let’s just say it’s for separating my blog work and living space. ?
And the best part? I put it together with my own hands! Like, I did the hammering, screwing, sweating, and swearing all by myself! I don’t consider myself a handy person at all, but following the IKEA directions (which as we all know are written in half Swedish, half comics) was surprisingly fun. And I felt SUCH a sense of accomplishment once it was all put together and vertical! Seriously, I’m still riding that high. BUT. It took me like 4 hours, so by the time I was done, I was as ravenous as…well, something super ravenous.
So because we’ve been so busy, fast and easy meals are complete and total lifesavers for me and my guy. Skillet meals, aka. those dump-every-ingredient-into-the-skillet-and-watch-magic-happen kind of meals, are the best. I kid you not, Mark and I have this rice and bean skillet at least once a week. We always have the ingredients on hand. We are always crazy busy at night. And we are always always always hungry for Mexican food.
That’s kinda the genius behind this skillet. It literally takes 20 minutes from start to finish (and actually like 5 if you have leftover rice on hand), and it’s filled with common household ingredients that we use pretty much on the daily. It’s the best when that happens. ?
SO: the ingredients. Rice and black beans are a must. Other than that, you do you. We love sautéing up some red bell peppers in a little olive oil, but I know corn, onion, mushrooms, or your fav veggie would work beautifully here! You’re going for textures here, so the more the better!
I mentioned this in my Vegan Mayo post, but I always add hummus to my rice. It sounds a bit weird, but creamy rice is just so gosh-darn delicious. And Mark, the notorious hummus-hater (I KNOW.) couldn’t even tell that hummus was in here. He just happily gobbled it up. The hummus makes all of these little clumps of rice-beans-veg-spices that make me go completely batty. Lovelovelove.
And I’m a huge believer in the fact that a dish is only as good as its toppings. That’s why I totally kinda sorta went all-out here. Not to mention that it looks way more beautiful when it’s topped with #allthethings. I chose some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, green onion, and lime, and I definitely poured a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce over the top when I was ready to eat. Next time, a mountain of guacamole is SO going on top.
There are so many ways to eat this skillet meal, too! We love it with tortilla chips. We love it in a bowl with some shredded lettuce. Heck, I even wrapped it up in a corn tortilla, drizzled it with hot sauce, and ate it over the sink for dinner one night. Whooooops. ?
So easy. So quick. So delicious. Break out that skillet, friends. It’s Mexican Rice & Bean Skillet time.
PrintMexican Rice and Bean Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup jasmine rice, cooked according to package instructions (preferrably hot)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 small-medium bell peppers (any color), diced
- salt + pepper
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 heaping tsp. cumin
- 1 heaping tsp. chili powder
- 1 heaping tsp. dried oregano
- couple dashes (or more) of your favorite hot sauce
- 3 Tbsp. plain hummus
- small handful cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 green onions, roughly chopped
- For serving: 1 pint tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, hot sauce, salsa, chips
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and diced bell pepper. Mix to coat the peppers in the oil, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until the pepper starts to soften and blacken slightly.
- Add black beans, and mix to combine. You just want to heat the black beans through.
- Pour the hot cooked rice on top of the black beans and pepper, and mix to combine.
- Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, hot sauce, and salt + pepper, and mix to combine. Then, mix in hummus, cilantro, and green onions.
- Serve with sliced tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, hot sauce, salsa, and/or chips. I love tossing this mixture on top of some lettuce, in corn tortillas, or in a bowl with a fork!
Happy Monday to you too! This looks delicious, I love those colours! Adding hummus sounds like a great idea now that you mentioned it, and your serving tips are so smart! Pinned and shared, you’re getting me hungrryyyy
Thank you so much for pinning/sharing, Vivian!! I seriously hope you can give this a try soon!
Whoaaaa go you for putting your desk together! I’ve never built Ikea furniture myself… actually, we only own one table from Ikea but I definitely watched Miguel build it lolol so rude. You know I’m all about quick meals and I’ve already pinned this!
hahaha not gonna lie, that was kind of my assumption as we left IKEA ;) BUT once Mark started working on his computer, I figured it was up to me to get it done! Thanks for pinning!
I want this for dinner!
Do it! Fast, easy, and yummy meals are always a good idea ;)
Ahhhh rice and beans…literally the best/cheapest combo ever. Love it Alexa!! :) Props to you for putting together furniture by yourself. Can’t do it lol
TOTALLY agree. I literally have rice & beans 3-4 times a week. It’s my fav when I can’t figure out anything else to have ;)
Man, bravo for putting together the desk & chair! I am NOT handy at all either, and I had to laugh at your description of IKEA instructions because it’s TOO TRUE.
I soooo want to make this skillet and stuff it inside a burrito with copious amounts of guacamole. These pics are beautiful, chica, definitely worth the wait:)
Thank you so much, Lucia!! <3 Stuffed inside a burrito sounds PERFECT.
I could eat this for every single meal! I seriously just ate breakfast and my mouth is now watering wishing I had a big skillet of this in font of me! And the colors are so pretty! Happy Monday :)
Thank you so much, Izzy! These colors make me happy :)
This is a dressed up version of my favorite cheap dish to make in college haha. This one’s got all the goods!
haha SAME! Rice & beans is always a good idea ;)
Can’t wait to hear about your announcement …. and to try this dish! J
:) :) I can’t wait to spill the beans! I hope you get the chance to try this!
Yum! I love quick, bang it all in the pan kinda meals. I’ll definitely be giving this a go!
Me too, Megan! Those kinds of meals totally save my butt during busy weeknights!
Ohhh I wanna see pics of the new space!! That’s wonderful! And this looks perfect— I live by quick, simple weeknight dinners like this ;)
Oh yeah! I’ll totally snap the space tomorrow – great idea :)
Looks amazing! I will definitely make this dish. Yummy. Your blog is beautifully prepared too. Congrats on IKEA furniture. You are a woman of many talents!
haha thank you so much, Aunt Debbie! You are the sweetest <3
omgah this looks amazing! i love that overhead shot with the lime in the middle. served with some tostidas? YES PLEASE!
Oh thank you so much, Beverley! :) We seriously love this meal!
America has turned me into a Mexican food addict! This looks beautiful, gorgeous photos too looks so fresh and healthy!
If it wasn’t the middle of the night I’d totally get up and make this right this second because I actually have all the ingredients on hand. That’s so rare for me when I’m reading through a recipe, so thanks for making that possible :D
Pinned for tomorrow!
OOOooOoo Hummus IN rice?!?! Most definitely will be trying that next time I make rice! Looks like the perfect dinner, but a mountain of guacamole = extreme perfection! :)
Girl you are on fire lately! This is gorgeous! I’ve been craving Mexican food throughout my pregnancy, so this will definitely hit the spot :)
These are such gorgeous photos!! All of the colors are so pretty. Annnd it looks like it tastes amazing :)
This was delicious! I’m eating it out of the pan and finding it hard to contain myself. It’s supposed to be for dinner, and it’s only lunch time. Trying to get my cooking done early. Hope it lasts!
Ha! I know that feeling verrrrry well ;) So glad you liked it!
Could you sub the jasmine rice with brown rice or farro?
Definitely! That would be delightful :)
This looks delicious! Do you think you could sub out the jasmine rice with wild and brown rice?
Definitely! :)
I used brown rice and it was so good. I had everything on hand except the hummus and I had to cook the black beans but the instant pot saved me they were ready in 45 minutes. And I had just cooked some garbanzo beans in the instant pot two days ago so. Made my own hummus. It was all so good together. Thank you so much for the inspiration.
One of our faves!
This recipe is SO DELICIOUS, I’very made it twice in a week. Great to take to work for lunch!
YAY! So happy to hear that!