Tex-Mex Sausage Skillet
One Pan and 30 minutes to an affordable, delicious meal!
Tex-Mex Sausage Skillet is perfect for those nights when you need a meal but don’t need to slave over the stove. We’ve used Sausage, mostly because Baby Boy is a sausage MACHINE, but you could use
Ground Turkey
Finely Chopped Portabello Mushrooms
Ground Beef
Even Chicken!
And it would still be delicious and super tasty. Did I mention it’s ready in a flash? I have a confession:
It uses a little cheat: instant rice.
Instant rice is actually a staple in our house. Generally speaking, I don’t think to put on regular rice to cook until too late, constantly putting us behind schedule! Plus Bert prefers it. Don’t tell the food police.
If you don’t have or don’t like (THE HORROR!) instant rice (affiliate link), you can use leftover rice in this dish. The only rice I have any luck with consistently is Baked Jasmine Coconut Rice. If you use leftover rice, drain the beans well instead of including the juice in the skillet, and cut the water in half.
I use our Giant Cast Iron Skillet (affiliate link) for this, although any large, oven proof skillet will work just fine.
Heat up the skillet, and add the sausage. Once it begins to render some fat, add the onion and jalapeno to the pan.
I remove the seeds and the membranes from the jalapenos so we get more taste than heat.
Once the sausage is cooked through, add the tomatoes, salsa, spices, beans and some water. Add the finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo (affiliate link) – here’s where the heat comes in.
These suckers can pack a wallop, so be cautious.
One will add a mellow heat and some smoky flavor to the dish. Two will add more heat along with the smoky flavor. You can add more than two, but we usually stop there. We’re careful like that. And we like to taste our food.
The mixture will look pretty loose, but the instant rice is going to suck up all that goodness. Bring the mixture to an aggressive boil. Turn off the heat.
Sprinkle on a cup of the shredded cheese and then add the rice.
Mix everything up, and put a lid on it.
After about ten minutes, the rice will have absorbed the excess liquid and the dish should look like this:
The Tex-Mex Sausage Skillet is already delish, but we’re going to tip it over the top: spread the remaining cheese over everything and broil for a few minutes until it’s cheesy and gooey.
Serve immediately. We like sour cream and pickled jalapenos on ours, but you can add any fixin’s you want. Avocado or guacamole would be great, as would some finely chopped red or green onions.
Tex-Mex Sausage Skillet
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Pork Sausage, casing removed
- 1 medium White Onion, chopped
- 1 Jalapeno, seeded & chopped
- 28 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes
- 1/2 cup Salsa Verde or Regular Salsa
- 15.5 ounce can Kidney Beans
- 1-2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Chicken Soup Base
- 2 cups Instant Rice
- 3 cups Shredded Cheese; Cheddar or Mexican Blend
- Pickled Jalapenos & Sour Cream to serve
Instructions
- Saute sausage in large, oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Once some fat has rendered, add onion and jalapeno and continue cooking until sausage is cooked through and brown, about 10 minutes.
- Drain excess fat from skillet as necessary.
- Add crushed tomatoes, salsa, kidney beans (with juice), chili powder, chicken soup base and 1-3/4 cups of water (fill the tomato can about 1/2 full). Mix well. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn off heat.
- Sprinkle on 1 cup of the cheese and the instant rice. Mix in completely then cover pan tightly, using a lid or foil. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, off heat.
- Meanwhile, turn oven on to broil.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over meat mixture. Broil until cheese is melted and brown.
- Serve with sour cream and pickled jalapenos.
Fast and delicious: it’s Tex-Mex. ♥
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