At the end of a long day, it’s nice to have some quick and easy dinner options.
As you know I cook mostly in cast Iron. I love it for so many reasons, and that will have to be a post of its own one day. But my skillets get so much use, just daily use at that sometimes. You can whip up a skillet of almost anything in under an hour easy, for breakfast, lunch, or supper.
I believe the term “cowboy skillet” goes back to the wild west days. Most people traveling the frontier carried a good metal skillet with them, among other essentials. Those cowboys would make a whole meal over a fire, in that one skillet. So here we are, still carrying on the tradition.
I’m a meat and potatoes guy down to my core. I eat veggies too, but I’m way more selective in that category. So if you’re anything like me in taste, you will love this easy ground beef and potato cowboy skillet.
Start out by dicing up 4 cups (about 2 large) russet potatoes.
Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drizzle a little olive oil in there. While that is preheating, take this time to chop up 4 ounces of white cap mushrooms (or your choice of), and one medium sweet onion. Mix those together in a medium size mixing bowl.
Your skillet should be nice and warm now. Toss 1 tbsp of minced garlic in there, and get it nice and browned. When it’s good, dump in your potatoes, mix them around into the garlic, and give them a head start cooking. Don’t be afraid to drizzle a little more olive oil as needed throughout the cooking process. Depending how lean your meat is and all that, you don’t want everything drying and sticking.
While your potatoes are cooking, loosely mix 1 pound of lean ground beef into your onion and mushroom mixture. Mix it loosely and into chunks, because you’re not making meatloaf here. Plus it will be easier to incorporate smaller chunks into your potatoes than one big one.
Let those potatoes go at least 15-20 minutes, or until they start to become tender. When you’re ready, mix in your meat mixture, then back the heat off one notch.
*Tip: I move the potatoes to one side of the pan, then add the meat mixture in the other half. This will allow you to scoop the potatoes over the top of the meat and mix everything more evenly. Otherwise all your potatoes will be stuck at the bottom of the skillet overcooking. But make sure you use a slotted spoon instead of a spatula to mix everything together. I think it works better.
Now let that all go together until you barely see any pink meat left in there. Stir occasionally, now is also a great time to season it. I used a little black pepper and sea salt.
When you barely have any pink left in your meat, go ahead and mix in 1/4 cup of Carolina Treet and 5 ounces of Rotel. I’m telling you, I use Carolina Treet in so many recipes. It adds a delicious tangy spice. Rotel is great because of the diced tomatoes and green chilis. They contribute nicely as well. Mix that all together and let it simmer lightly for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
Scoop you a bowl out, shred a little cheese over the top, and enjoy!
Ground Beef and Potato Cowboy Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 4 cups diced russet potatoes
- 1 diced medium sweet onion
- 4 oz. chopped white cap mushrooms
- 1/4 cup Carolina Treet
- 5 oz. Rotel with green chilis
Instructions
- Start out by dicing up 4 cups (about 2 large) russet potatoes.
- Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drizzle a little olive oil in there. While that is preheating, take this time to chop up 4 ounces of white cap mushrooms (or your choice of), and one medium sweet onion. Mix those together in a medium size mixing bowl.
- Your skillet should be nice and warm now. Toss 1 tbsp of minced garlic in there, and get it nice and browned. When it's good, dump in your potatoes, mix them around into the garlic, and give them a head start cooking. Don't be afraid to drizzle a little more olive oil as needed throughout the cooking process. Depending how lean your meat is and all that, you don't want everything drying and sticking
- While your potatoes are cooking, loosely mix 1 pound of lean ground beef into your onion and mushroom mixture. Mix it loosely and into chunks, because you're not making meatloaf here. Plus it will be easier to incorporate smaller chunks into your potatoes than one big one.
- Let those potatoes go at least 15-20 minutes, or until they start to become tender. When you're ready, mix in your meat mixture, then back the heat off one notch.
- *Tip: I move the potatoes to one side of the pan, then add the meat mixture in the other half. This will allow you to scoop the potatoes over the top of the meat and mix everything more evenly. Otherwise all your potatoes will be stuck at the bottom of the skillet overcooking. But make sure you use a slotted spoon instead of a spatula to mix everything together. I think it works better.
- Now let that all go together until you barely see any pink meat left in there. Stir occasionally, now is the time to season it. I used a little black pepper and sea salt.
- When you barely have any pink left in your meat, go ahead and mix in 1/4 cup of Carolina Treet and 5 ounces of Rotel. I'm telling you, I use Carolina Treet in so many recipes. It adds a delicious tangy spice. Rotel is great because of the diced tomatoes and green chilis. They contribute nicely as well. Mix that all together and let it simmer lightly for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
- Scoop you a bowl out, shred a little cheese over the top, and enjoy!