Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

This beef and quinoa taco skillet is an easy one pan meal that turns taco into an easy stove top skillet casserole. Flavorful, filling, and nutritious, this meal will happily feed the family. It is a lighter take on comforting taco casseroles.

Welcome to the third installment of my grief meal series. This is where I should tell you about the friend that single handedly kept my family fed immediately after I got out of the hospital after everything happened with my sons.

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I have a lovely group of friends. My friends surrounded me while I was waiting in weird limbo in the hospital for the week between finding out that one of my twins had passed away and when I finally went into active labor. They were in my room at all hours day and night, trying to make sure I didn’t spend too much time alone with my thoughts and kept me laughing but they listened to me cry. And when I got out of the hospital after my twins were delivered, they continued to show up for me.

Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

One of my dear friends drove me to the NICU almost every day one week so I could see my son. She also took care of my daughter while I was sitting with my son. My husband would meet me at the NICU after work before driving us back to her house to pick up our daughter.

When we would get there, without fail, my friend would have a meal waiting for us to take home. I never expected her to feed us but always went home with food. She also would text me and say she was on her way over to our house and show up with groceries or cinnamon buns or muffins. Things to keep me fed because the furthest thing from my mind was feeding myself or my family. I was living trying to get from one breath to the next, never quite taking up the space between these breaths.

Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

One of the meals my friend was tacos. Taco Bell had been a pregnancy favorite of mine (and hers) and I’ll never turn down a good taco. She sent all the fixings over – even a little container of sour cream.

This beef and quinoa taco skillet is a nod to those tacos and that friend that kept my family fed. It’s a quick one skillet meal that would be a great gift to anyone who needs a meal since it’s like eating a taco hug. Because who doesn’t love a good taco? And you can give this to them in one pan so it can be easily reheated and served. Also, the recipe can easily be adjusted to make vegetarian and will still be just as filling as it is with the ground beef.

Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

Tips for Making the Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

The pan of beef, veggies, and quinoa prior to adding the sauce ingredients

Make sure you are using a large enough pan. When all the ingredients get added in, room in the pan will be tight. I used this 15″ cast iron skillet (affiliate link)
If you are vegetarian, or making this for someone who is a vegetarian, skip the beef and add an extra can of black beans. You could also add a chopped onion and a diced red bell pepper to this instead of meat.
If using the beef, cook the beef while cooking the quinoa and make sure to add the seasoning to the beef.
You can use store bought taco sauce in place of the 2 cups of tomato puree, but you may need to use less salt as most store bought sauce is higher in sodium.
Beef and Quinoa Taco Skillet

Looking for other grief meals to gift to a friend or loved one in need? Try these:

Looking for other taco recipes? Try these: