One Pot Mexican Mince Bake
I’ve really been leaning into efficient meals lately and this hearty, veg packed One Pot Mexican mince bake is another perfect example. Making weeknights easy, there’s minimal prep or cleanup. We have 4 generous portion sizes, but this meal could be stretched a little further depending on your family size and needs.
Rice and lentils pair well for a slightly earthy flavour, while also blending seamlessly into the mince for fussy eaters. A further boost could be achieved by adding black beans, kidney beans or cannellini beans. This trick is especially useful if you’re wanting to replace the mince in this receipe for a vegetarian spin on this One Pot Mexican Mince Bake.
The key for efficiency with this recipe is to use a solid based pot that can transition from stovetop to oven. This makes browning the mince and onions a seamless part of combining the remaining ingredients, also allowing the rice to soak up all the pan flavours. The finished dish texture is more aligned with fried rice than risotto, but far lighter as there is very little oil involved in the cooking process. The rice should be fluffy and perfectly cooked. If there’s still a bit of liquid at the bottom, a lid-on rest will resolve this in a few minutes.
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One Pot Mexican Mince & Rice
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Heat a 3L cast iron pot over a medium high heat, add the olive oil and sautee the onion until softened and golden. Add the mince and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the meat gets a chance to brown properly.
Add the capsicum and spice mix ingredients and cook for a further two minutes.
Turn the stove off, add all of the bake step ingredients and combine well. Cover with Lid (Or Foil if required) and transfer to the oven.
Bake Covered 25mins, then uncovered for a further 15mins
Remove from Oven, top with Sliced Spring Onions then re-cover and rest for 10mins before fluffing up the rice and mixing through the spring onions.
Serve in individual bowls topped with Sour Cream.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Heat a 3L cast iron pot over a medium high heat, add the olive oil and sautee the onion until softened and golden. Add the mince and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the meat gets a chance to brown properly.
Add the capsicum and spice mix ingredients and cook for a further two minutes.
Turn the stove off, add all of the bake step ingredients and combine well. Cover with Lid (Or Foil if required) and transfer to the oven.
Bake Covered 25mins, then uncovered for a further 15mins
Remove from Oven, top with Sliced Spring Onions then re-cover and rest for 10mins before fluffing up the rice and mixing through the spring onions.
Serve in individual bowls topped with Sour Cream.
Notes
Recipe Notes
It won’t be one pot mexican mince, but a non-carne version of one pot mexican rice can be equally delicious. Substitute the mince for one extra can of lentils and add one can of beans. The beans that will work best include cannellini, black or kidney. Butter beans or chickpeas will work too, but will be more noticeable. If you’re having trouble deciding, a can of 4 bean mix can give extra variety.
Simply exclude garlic powder from the spice mix. Add 2 cloves minced garlic to the onions towards the end of browning. Fresh garlic will become aromatic slightly quicker than the onions will soften. Adding them halfway or towards the end can help avoid burning.
Use an equal amount of liquid stock in place of water and exclude stock powder from the spice mix.
One Pot Mexican Mince has been tried and tested with medium grain white rice.
Unfortunately this recipe won’t work with brown rice, risotto rice or rice alternatives like quinoa or cauliflower.
You can complete the first steps in a frypan and transfer to an oven safe dish for the final cook. If you don’t have a lid, cover tightly with foil before baking.
Key Ingredients
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