A bubbly casserole of sorts, this Mexican beef and bean is like a baked version of chilli con carne with lots of melty cheese – but faster to make. Think of it like your ultimate all-purpose Mexican beef – stuff in tacos, DIY burrito wraps, dunk with corn chips – like nachos!
Cheesy Mexican beef and bean bake
I can’t remember how this Mexican beef and bean dish first came to be. All I know is that when it came out of the oven in all its bubbly, melty cheesy glory, I wanted to get stuck into immediately but paralysed with indecision for how. So many options!
Like chili, with a warm tortillas on the side for dunking??
OR with corn chips, deconstructed nachos style?
Making stuffed tortilla pillows?? Which, I realised, is just a burrito actually. 😂 *Light-bulb-moment* DIY burritos! Add a pile of warm tortillas, sour cream + guacamole or quick avocado sauce for dunking. Everybody make your own!
All-inclusive-taco filling? So juicy and cheesy already, it’s like a good ole’ classic beef mince taco filling + taco sauce + cheese, all rolled into one. Efficiency, for the win!
Then another light-bulb moment. This is like the ultimate all-purpose Mexican beef filling!! It’s almost a little concerning how excited I was when I came to this conclusion. Good food has a habit of doing that to me. 🤭
What you need for Mexican beef and beans
Here’s what you need to make this Mexican beef and bean bake:
This is a casual, rustic dish – which means, lots of flexibility. I’m not so relaxed with substitutions for some recipes, so take it when you can! 😂
Ground beef / beef mince – Or chicken, turkey or pork. Any of these would work. (Even lamb actually).
Red onion – Or ordinary brown / yellow onions.
Green capsicum (bell pepper) – Or other colour capsicum, or other sauté-able vegetables like diced zucchini/courgette, carrot, green beans (chopped), corn. Even a cup of diced mixed frozen vegetables would work here!
Red kidney beans – Or black beans (on theme with Mexican food), or any other beans of choice. Or, more vegetables.
Tomato passata – This is pureed, strained tomato that is smooth, rather than lump like canned tomato. Substituted with crushed canned tomato, or what’s called tomato sauce or tomato puree in the US (eg Hunts).
Pickled jalapeno – Adds a sprinkle of spiciness plus tang because it’s pickled which is nice in this beefy dish. Canned chopped green chillies would be an excellent sub here (but this is a US thing, hoping it becomes a staple here in Australia one of these days!).
Garlic – Can’t be flexible here! 🙂
Cheese – Definitely not flexible here! Well, not flexible about the inclusion of some form of melting cheese. I’ve opted for Colby – adds flavour, melts well, gets a nice bit of golden colour on the surface, not too greasy. Feel free to use any of choice. If you use mozzarella, I’d suggest adding a sprinkling of parmesan on top (because mozzarella, while it melts beautifully, doesn’t have a much flavour).
The Mexican spice mix
And here’s what you need for the homemade Mexican spice mix. Some Mexican recipes I share have a longer list of spices. For me, this is about the minimum you can go without the flavour missing something. All staple spices! (You can substitute smoked paprika with plain).
How to make Cheesy Mexican beef and beans
It’s like chili cone carne – but faster to make because by finishing it off in the oven with a generous sprinkling of cheese, we can skip the stove simmer.
Sauté the onion, garlic and capsicum first. Use an ovenproof skillet. Pictured is my much-loved 26cm / 10.5″Lodge cast iron skillet (my essential kitchenware list is here!).
Cook the beef, breaking it up as you go.
Toast the spices with the beef. Good way to bring out flavour in spices plus get better flavour into beef mince / ground beef – FAST. 🙂
Add beans and tomato passata, give it a good mix then bring to a simmer.
Top with cheese then bake for 15 minutes just to melt the cheese.
Remove from oven and start the agonising process of deciding how to serve it! Tacos? Corn chip dunking? Burrito stuffing? ENCHILADAS? Nachos?? #FirstWorldProblems
Sides / toppings
Pictured in post for serving in all the above listed forms are:
Guacamole, and sometimes avocado sauce (essentially a smooth, faster version of guac)
Pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa). Also this pureed tomato salsa would be great.
Sour cream (sub yogurt)
Fresh coriander/cilantro
Tortillas – small ones and larger enchilada size ones (for making small burritos).
Corn chips – for dunking
Other excellent options includes:
Mexican red rice, plain white rice (or brown, or cauliflower rice if you’re doing the low-carb thing). Rice in bowls then smother with the Mexican beef and beans.
And….. eeer… I’m stuck. Help?
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Cheesy baked Mexican beef and beans
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 green capsicum / bell pepper , cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes (or other colour)
- 500g/ 1 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 400g/ 14oz can red kidney beans or black beans , drained (or other beans)
- 1 cup tomato passata (Note 2)
- 1/3 cup pickled sliced jalapeño (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 cups Colby cheese , shredded (or other cheese, Note 4)
Mexican spice mix:
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (sub normal paprika)
- 1 tsp garlic powder (sub onion powder)
- 1 tsp onion powder (sub garlic powder)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (sub black pepper)
- 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F (180°C fan).
- Sauté – Heat the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium high heat (or other oven-proof pan). Cook onion, garlic and capsicum for 3 minutes.
- Cook beef & spices – Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see raw meat. Add spices, then cook for 1 minute.
- Beans & tomato – Add kidney beans and passata. Stir, then bring to a simmer.
- Cheese it! Scatter the jalapeño across the surface, top with cheese.
- Bake 15 minutes (no lid) then remove from the oven.
- Serve! Scoop into bowls and serve with corn chips or tortillas with your favourite Mexican fixings (guacamole or avocado sauce pico de gallo or restaurant style salsa, fresh coriander/coriander, sour cream). Dunk like nachos, make DIY burritos or tacos!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer’s idea of obeying my command to stay outside the shop.
My husband said it’s the best food he’d ever eaten. He’s exaggerating no doubt. I was pretty sure he has eaten some pretty amazing food before but once I took a bite I knew he was right. The good thing is it is very easy to prepare given all the detailed recipe. I’m making it again tomorrow with ground chicken into burritos for my son’s school lunch.
Absolutely love this recipe for my teenage son. Very adaptable with rice/tortilla/enchilladas, easy to adjust the spice level and perfect for re=heating the next day.
This was loved by my partner! I used chopped tomatoes instead of Passata and served with cheesy garlic tortillas. Quick and easy – thank you 🙏
Easy, peasy, tasty, yum. Added to my Love It file.
Made this last night and served it with tortilla strips. Another keeper from Nagi!
This is so flavourful! I’ve made this twice in the past 2 weeks because it’s delicious. Teens enjoyed it too
The best recipe from RTE as always never fails, it’s absolutely delicious!!!
Made this without the the jalapeños and it was delicious served on naan bread. Definitely a keeper!
So delicious my family of four we had very little left over. Really easy for a mid week meal.
This was so delicious our family were still thinking about it days later. Just fantastic.
I made this last night using ground turkey. It was delicious and so fast to make. Nagi you always nail the spices, they were bang on again!
Made this for dinner last weekend. Was so good. Even the kids ate every last bit. Definitely make it!
Absolutely delish. So full of flavour and just the right amount of heat in the spice.
I’m making this for a second time tonight. Everybody loves it! I am extra lazy so I just put garlic and onion in my mini rechargeable food chopper and blitz it. Cook it for a minute, add the beef cook for 2 min, add tomato sauce and beans. I add 1 tsp of each seasoning (again too lazy to even do the recipe exactly). Then done! I melt some cheese on it for the people in my house that like cheese. Crazy good and so easy! Nagi keep these lazy-friendly recipes coming!
Made this tonight and it was delish! Served with sour cream, corn chips and topped with your pico de gallo recipe and it just made it zing. Perfect weeknight dinner
Wow Nagi just cooked this so easy and so delicious definitely going in my saved recipes you are a legend
Only when I think Nagi surely can’t surprise me with yet another banger, she goes and releases this recipe. Mouth. Watering. Goodness. Forget five stars, this is a 10. Made three times in as many weeks!!
Due to budget issues we omitted the jalapenos, 1 cup cheese & beef mince. We had everything else & used pork mince instead. My husband loved it, our son actually ate the kidney beans & capsicum, I already know what I’m making again this week. Easy, affordable & great tasting! Next time I’ll be leaving out all the cheese as I don’t think it’s needed. Thanks Nagi.
Sorry I forgot the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
There should be a way to edit one’s comment.
This recipe is a true celebration of Mexican flavors and comfort food at its finest. It’s the kind of meal that brings people together around the table, sharing laughter and creating lasting memories. Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe with the world. It’s sure to become a household favorite and a go-to dish for any occasion.
The vibrant colors and aromatic aromas that fill the kitchen as the bake comes together are simply irresistible. I can already imagine the satisfying crunch of the golden cheese on top, the savory goodness of the seasoned beef, and the comforting richness of the beans.