Need dinner on the table quickly? Â This Beef Taco Quinoa is a quick 30 minute dinner that is perfect for adding to your salad bowls.
 I’ve got dinner covered for you tonight.
Yes, you read that right. Â Dinner. Â It’s true…we do eat more than brownies and cookies around here. Â There are these little people here that insist on eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Â Oh, and the jeans that scream when too much sugar is eaten. Â So, yes, it’s dinner on the blog today. Â How do you feel about that? Â Â
Tacos happen very regularly in this house. Â Taco Tuesday is a favorite here. Â Yes, I do realize it is Wednesday. Â Humor me and go with it.
Yesterday, my husband had a meeting at church, so that meant I was in charge of dinner. Â Yikes! Â That means I had to make real food. Â Since that doesn’t happen too often, I thought I would take pictures to document the event. Â What do you think? Â Should I keep sharing savory recipes with you?
Since tacos are a favorite of all three of my kids, I decided to play with that flavor combo and see what happened.  I figured tacos are a pretty safe food item to start with.  You can’t really mess it up too much.  Haha!  Unless you ask my husband.  About 13 years ago, I told him we were having tacos for dinner.  He came home to taco ring…needless to say, he has not let me forget about that one.  It tasted fine, but it wasn’t the tacos he was excited to come home too 🙂
This easy skillet dinner comes together in 30 minutes. Â How’s that for making dinner in a hurry? Â Perfect for those nights when you have so much going on and need dinner quickly.
God has blessed us with three very easy going children. Â They pretty much will eat whatever we make for them. Â I did say pretty much. Â There are a few foods that are met with resistance, but that’s true for me too. Â So, I knew that I could add Quinoa in place of rice without any complaints. Â We have been incorporating this super food into things lately and everyone here really likes it. Â Have you tried Quinoa yet?
While everything is cooking, you can get all your salad toppings ready. Â Basically this is where your dinner creativity comes into play. Â I pulled some frozen corn out of the freezer, chopped the lettuce and avocado, and found cheese and salsa in the refrigerator. Â Taco salad with a twist. Â Use whatever you like and have on hand.
My kids added a drizzle of ranch dressing and crushed tortilla chips to the top of theirs.
Dinner in 30 minutes. Â I think I got this dinner thing going on.
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This filling taco mixture is the perfect addition to salad.
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa*
- 1 pound cooked hamburger meat
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 taco seasonings packet (1 oz.)
- 1 - 10 ounce can diced tomatoes and chilies
- 1 - 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
- chopped lettuce
- avocado chunks
- shredded cheddar cheese
- salsa
- cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.
- Place the cooked hamburger, water, and taco packet in a skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add the undrained tomatoes and rinsed black beans. Stir in the quinoa when it finishes cooking.
- Place desired amount of lettuce in bowls. Top with 1 cup taco mixture. Add corn, cheese, avocado, salsa, and cilantro. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.
Notes
*Substitute cauliflower rice for the quinoa to make it even healthier.
More quick and easy dinner ideas:
Roasted Red Pepper & Asparagus Quinoa
Chels R. says
Anything with the word Taco in it has my name on it! Looks great!
Kelly says
Love these taco salad bowls – such a great dinner idea especially with adding the quinoa! Sounds so healthy and tasty – I am always looking for new ways to use quinoa and this sounds perfect! Pinning, awesome recipe 🙂
Jocelyn Brubaker says
Thanks Kelly!! 🙂
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
This is such a smart dinner idea Jocelyn! I love it!
Tonia says
That looks amazing! I think I could eat it for dinner every.single.night!!
Jocelyn Brubaker says
Thank you Tonia!! 🙂
Mary Frances says
Mexican salad bowls have become my favorite short-on-time meal. I’ve done brown rice, but not quinoa. Healthy and delicious – yes please!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
These bowls look fantastic! I love this kind of dinner 🙂
Jocelyn Brubaker says
Thanks Shelly!! 🙂
Julia says
I love that you used quinoa in this! I like rice bowls, but quinoa is so much more nutrient-dense!
ChristyMilby says
You’re very lucky to have kids who are not picky eaters. I’d love to experiment with this recipe of yours.
Jocelyn Brubaker says
Please let me know if you do! I’d love to know what you come up with! 🙂
shawn @ IWYD says
Wow, this looks phenomenal! I don’t have any hamburger on hand, so I am going to run out to the store right now to get some! 🙂 Can’t wait to try this out for dinner!
Amy | Amy's Cooking Adventures says
Yum! Love a healthy take on tacos!
Suge says
can you make w/o hamburger meat? from what I hear quoina has good amount of protein.
Jocelyn Brubaker says
Yes, you can leave out the meat if you prefer. I hope you enjoy it.
Sonya C says
Got inspired by your post! Am cooking some up for myself. Using ground turkey instead of ground beef. Can hardly wait!
Kacey @ The Cookie Writer says
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to make a vegetarian/vegan version! I used lentils in place of the ground beef and made some homemade guacamole to place on top of the salad. We all loved it 🙂 Thanks!