You know the tried and true recipes you always fall back on? Those are the best, right? Those are the dishes you can make without even thinking. Those are the recipes you always have ingredients on hand for. Those are the recipes that keep us sane and our families fed.
Suddenly I’m finding that my list of such go-to recipes is growing! I love it that there are so many recipes that don’t require much thought or effort to put together. I love it that my family keeps raving about all of these.
And I love it that I’m not compromising one bit with these recipes when it comes to nutrition. I’m certainly not compromising on taste, and not even on the budget. These are happy, happy, happy simple recipes!
Other Simple Recipes I’ve Shared Recently:
- Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
- Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
- Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
- Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
- 20-Minute Taco Soup
- Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
- Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
- Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
- Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
- Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
Today’s Simple Recipe is Taco Rice Dinner. This goes together very quickly, can be tweaked according to your preferences and food sensitivities. Plus it is absolutely yummy. (My kids don’t care much about the rest of it, as long as it tastes great!) We all love the flavor of this dish.
Simple Taco Rice Dinner
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Sea salt to taste
- 15-ounces (give or take) salsa
- 15-ounces cooked black beans
- 1-2 cups shredded cheddar or Colby jack cheese
- Boil two cups of water, add rice, turn down to very low heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is cooked.
- In the meantime, brown ground beef in a separate skillet until no longer pink.
- Add chili powder, garlic powder, and salt.
- Stir together cooked rice, cooked meat, salsa, and black beans.
- Serve as-is if you need to avoid dairy. Or sprinkle cheese on top and serve!

Just like with all the other Simple Recipes, all you have to do is throw out salad fixin’s and some fruit to go with this dish.
TIP: If you didn’t plan ahead to thaw hamburger meat (story of my life!) just do this. It’ll quickly thaw you’re meat and you’ll be on your way!
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Join the fun! Check out our amazing Simple Meals program!
You will love this!
For us dairy free people, I’m thinking diced avocado would be delicious on top! This would be a great dish to feed a crowd as well.
Delicious ,
Thank you SO much for the dairy Free option. Our family loves Mexican food but my son is casein intolerant.
This is something that is delicious and feeds the WHOLE family????????
Thank you Laura
Cookin Mom
Do you need to cook the black beans before stirring them in?
Yes, sorry I wasn’t specific! I edited the recipe to state that the beans should be cooked before stirring them in!
your last minute nacho plate and taco rice links seem to be the same. unable to get the nacho plate recipe as of 8/8/17.
Sorry about that! Here’s the correct link: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/simple-last-minute-nacho-plate