This hearty Italian Beef and Rice Skillet is made in less than 30 minutes and perfect for your busy weeknight!
My one pan Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet is where I got the inspiration for this recipe, I just switched up the flavor profiles for a more Italian twist.
Another quick and easy skillet dinner! A great way to use up your ground beef for a delicious meal.
Ground Beef and Rice Skillet
I wasn’t necessarily going for an “Italian” flavor profile when I set out to switch up this dish, but when I started playing around with different liquids and veggies to add, it all just fell into place.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s the basic list of ingredients you’ll need in order to whip up Italian Beef and Rice Skillet. As always, you can find the full list of ingredients located in the printable recipe card below.
- Ground Beef – you can swap with ground turkey if desired
- Onion – Diced
- Diced Tomatoes – no need to drain the liquid
- Mixed Veggies – Peas and Carrots (any variety of vegetable would work too)
- White Rice – You can switch the rice out with any small pasta for a pasta-based version of this recipe
- Beef Broth – low sodium
- Seasonings – Oregano, Garlic, Basil, salt and pepper
- Mozzarella Cheese – Shredded
How To Make Italian Beef Skillet
I love recipes like this because they come together so easy. There is little preparation and even less dishes
Cook the Ground Beef
In a heated skillet, brown the ground beef until there is no more pink. Drain the excess fat out of the pan.
Cook The Rice
Return the skillet to the stove and add in the rest of the ingredients except the mozzarella. Stir everything together. Bring the mixture to a light boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Cover and let everything cook until the rice is nice and tender. This should take about 17 minutes.
Finishing Touches
Once everything is cooked, fluff up the rice with a fork and top off the skillet with the mozzarella cheese. For a melted effect, cover the pan for an extra 3 minutes. Top with chopped parsley if desired.
Tips and Variations
P
RICE or PASTA?
Feel free to swap out the rice for a smaller pasta – similar to this Italian Beef and Pasta. The cooking time may vary when using different kinds of pasta.
VEGGIES
If you don’t have frozen peas and carrots on hand, you can use your favorite type of veggies – green beans, chopped broccoli or zucchini would be nice!
EXTRA SAUCE
For a saucier dish, try adding in 1/2 cup tomato sauce after the rice has cooked. If you want a cheesier dish, add parmesan to the mozzarella.
FREEZER FRIENDLY
This one pan meal is great because it’s easy to prep ahead and freeze. Once it’s cooked I like to stash it in my Souper Cubes and freeze for a later date. It will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
One of my favorite things about this dish is that I pretty much have all these ingredients on hand at any time.
Similar Recipes
If you love how simple this recipe is, and I bet you would love these ones too!
- French Onion Beef and Rice – A classic flavor turned into a tasty easy dinner
- Creamy Ground Beef Taco Pasta – Another use of ground beef mixed with pasta
- Ground Beef Stuffed Pepper Skillet – One skillet recipe for a simplified stuffed peppers recipe
- Chicken Fajita Rice Skillet – A quick Mexican skillet dinner using fresh ingredients
I know you’re going to love this quick and easy ground beef recipe too!
HELPFUL PRODUCTS TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:
Make sure you don’t miss a thing! Follow I Wash You Dry here:
FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN
Italian Beef and Rice Skillet
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 15 oz diced tomatoes, canned
- 1 1/2 cups mixed veggies, peas and carrots
- 3/4 cup white rice
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion in a large skillet until no longer pink, drain any excess fat.
- Return skillet to stove top and add in the tomatoes, mixed veggies, rice, beef broth, oregano, garlic salt, basil and pepper. Stir until combined and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let cook until rice is tender (about 17 minutes).
- Fluff rice with fork and top with the mozzarella cheese. Cover with the lid for about 3 minutes to let cheese melt. Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
Wow amazing dish this is a wonderful
Glad you enjoyed it!
How well do you think basmati or brown rice will work in this recipe?
Basmati rice and brown rice would work, just make sure to reduce the beef broth to 1 1/2 cups and you’ll need to cook it a little longer until the rice is tender.
I have instant rice can I just use that ?
Hi Judy, adding instant rice requires a few different steps for this recipe. The ratio of instant rice to water is 1:1, whereas the jasmine rice takes 1:2. In this case, you’ll want to use more like 2 cups of instant rice and adjust the beef broth to about 2 1/4 cups, so the mixture is not too dry. Hope this helps!
What,if anything,do you make to go with this?
We just had salad.
You can pair it with garlic bread and a salad! YUM!
do you cover when cooking the rice?
Hi AMG, yes, you’ll want to cover the pan when cooking the rice. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Sorry. i did reread and covered. The family loved it. I doubled the beef and increased rice to one cup as our small tomato cans are 18 oz in Canada. My 6 yr old and 2 yr old twins devoured it.
Fantastic!! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Yum!!
Hi Katrina, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
If you use cauliflower rice, should you use frozen or cooked? And at what point should you add it to the skillet? Thank you!
If you are using cauliflower rice, substitute the same amount frozen cauliflower rice for the regular rice. Add to the skillet at the same time as you would regular rice. Add only 1/2 c. broth instead of 2 c. and simmer uncovered for the same amount of time. Hope this helps!
I added green pepper, red and orange pepper. It is very tasty and easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
That’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Made this tonight for dinner…..came out great
Great! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Can this be cooked in the Slow cooker?thanks x
I don’t think this would work well in the slow cooker.
Do you have to pre cook the rice?
No, you don’t have to pre cook the rice.
Never have diced tomatoes in the pantry. Can I leave out and add more liquid? Or use a measure of pasta sauce?
You could try using fresh tomatoes, diced or tomato sauce. Hope this helps!
So you had the uncooked rice in with the veggies and simmer for 17minutes?
Thank you for the great recipe. I’m always on the lookout for something easy and tasty with a pound of ground beef and ingredients that are always in the pantry. This one goes in my “Favorites” binder.
The last fresh leafy item is fresh parsley, correct? I am asking as its not included in the recipe.
You can garnish it with chopped fresh parsley. Hope this helps!
Just wondering if it is instant rice or regular rice?
I used regular rice.
I used regular rice.
Do you drain the tomatoes?
No need to drain the tomatoes. The liquid helps cook the rice.
This is my favorite recipe! I’ve made it several times, and it is always perfect. Just the right blend of ingredients, not too much tomato.
That’s awesome! So glad you’re enjoying it Belle!
Haven’t made this yet, but am looking forward to trying it. Can I substitute quinoa for the rice?
You can definitely substitute quinoa for the rice!
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe?
Hi Whitney, I just updated the post with the nutritional info! Thanks!
I made this tonight, and we all liked it. This is the 4th/5th recipe of yours that I’ve made, and they have all been good. We also like the tater tot skillet. Thanks for the easy and yummy recipes.
Can you freeze this.
Can you substitute cauliflower rice for this recipe?
Would brown rice work in this dish? If so, what would the cooking time be?
could i substitute chicken broth instead of beef?
NICE RECIPE’S
Thanks William!
If you do choose to use a pasta like orzo for example, would you cook the pasta separately and then mix it into the dish? Or just toss it in altogether from the beginning?
The great thing about this recipe is that you can just toss the orzo in (uncooked) with the rest of the ingredients. The extra liquid that is used to cook the rice should be plenty to cook the pasta too. 🙂
Sound delicious, will definitely give this one a try.
Had this tonight and it was wonderful! I skipped the peas and carrots, using both zucchini and yellow squash instead. Even my lucky teen loved it! I think I want to go the broth and try it as a soup, too.
Haha – picky teen (although she is lucky)
I’m glad to hear you and your teen enjoyed it!
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
Deeelish!!!!
Does pasta really go in this recipe?
I want to make this for my boyfriend since it doesn’t include any special spices and he’s quite the picky one this one
The recipe calls for rice, but you can substitute pasta for rice if you want.
Can I use steak instead of ground beef?
This would be a great filling for stuffed peppers!
I’m going to try this tonight! I don’t have Italian diced tomatoes only plain ones. Can I use these instead and maybe add Italian seasoning also? If so how much seasoning?
Yes! You can use regular diced tomatoes with Italian Seasoning. I would start with 1 tsp seasoning and add more to taste. Enjoy!
What kind off white rice?
I use a Jasmine rice.
Your bread looks amazing! Did you just spread melted butter and sprinkle on the spices? It looks so yellow I thought maybe there was cheese on it.
I am guessing you used a rice other than Mnute Rice, is this right? Any special kind?
I cooked this. Tastes great…
My family enjoyed this. It is very filling and inexpensive. After the first round, we added sharp cheddar to give it a little umph!
This looks great! I am going to try it tonight. Does it really only take 17 min to cook the rice? Whenever I cook rice, it takes foreveeeer for some reason!
I remember this happening to me when I first started cooking rice. For basic white rice, first bring 2 c water and 1 c rice w/ some salt to a boil, then cover and turn to low for 15-20 min. I was forgetting the bring to a boil step before starting my timer, so it did take forever. Brown rice takes 40-60 minutes, so that’s different. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip Meghan! 🙂
I use minute rice about a cup of broth and rice .cook like box said. Cover 5 minutes off stove covered. Residual heat cooks rice. After cooking other ingredients minus broth stir in cooked rice or pasta mix together and add cheese. I add about 1/2 Sugar and small can of tomato sauce. I start the rice first. Delicious.
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
I wondered if you could cook it in the oven instead?
Time, temp?
I would keep this one on the stove top.
How about including nutritional information? Iam working ion a lowfat/lowchloresterol diet
There are websites and apps that can help you calculate this info based on the ingredients you use (lean ground beef, low fat mozzarella). My Fitness Pal is one of my favorites.