Mexican Ground Beef Skillet

About

Everyone loves a quick, easy, weeknight Mexican meal! Ground beef makes this meal simple. Simply saute the meat in the pan with Mexican spices and then top the dish with freshly-sliced lettuce, sliced tomatoes, shredded cheese, cilantro, and fresh guacamole. This dish is a blank canvas for a wide variety of different toppings like sour cream, hot sauces, and salsas.

What kind of ground beef should I use?

Stick to grass-fed beef if possible in the 80% lean to 20% fat ratio. The fats in the meat will help keep you satiated.

What other toppings can I add?

Spicy habanero shredded cheese would be great, as well as black olives, low-carb salsa, and various hot sauces.

How is this dish to be served?

The dish is intended to serve family-style. All the toppings should be added to the final dish and served directly from the pan. This makes for easy cleanup and serving!

Ingredients

2 clove garlic
½ small red onion
1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil
1 pound hamburger or ground beef, 80% lean
¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt by morton
1 ½ teaspoon dark chili powder by mccormick
⅛ teaspoon granulated garlic by tone's
¼ teaspoon cumin, ground
2 cup lettuce
12 cherry cherry tomato
⅓ cup, shredded queso chihuahua (chihuahua cheese)
¼ each serrano peppers, raw
2 tablespoon cilantro
12 ounce avocado
1 tablespoon lime juice, fresh
¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt by morton
1 tablespoon, chopped red onion
1 tablespoon cilantro

Instructions

Heat a large nonstick saute pan, over medium-high heat until hot. Add the avocado oil and tilt pan to distribute evenly. Add the garlic and ½ small red onion diced and a pinch of salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until it is starting to brown.
Add the ground beef, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat to help cook the crumbles all the way through. Add ¼ tsp kosher salt to the meat and stir well. Turn the heat down to medium if necessary.
Add all the spices like the dark chili powder, cumin, and granulated garlic. Stir well to incorporate. Finish cooking the meat the rest of the way.
In the meantime, prepare the guacamole. Add ripe avocados to a bowl with 1 tbsp fresh lime juice, ¼ tsp kosher salt, 1 tbsp red onion, and 1 tbsp chopped cilantro.
Gently mash leaving some larger pieces.
In the meantime, prepare the lettuce by slicing it into thin strips and slicing the tomatoes in half. Garnish the final dish with the lettuce first, then tomatoes, the shredded cheese, and ¼ of a serrano sliced (add less or none if you don’t like heat). If you do like heat, you can add some of the serranos to the guacamole as well in the form of small dice. Serve hot with condiments like sour cream and hot sauces!