Mexican Beef Mince

Packed with beans and vegetables this easy Mexican beef mince recipe is a delicious family friendly budget dinner recipe. Ready in under 40 minutes, cook up a batch and enjoy it on top of boiled rice, tacos, in quesadillas or burritos.

My family love beef mince, whether it’s in this savoury mince recipe (which can also be served so many ways, from bolognese to in lasagna) or when time is short, these 15 minute Hoisin beef noodles are a dinner time saviour. But when I want to stretch beef mince out to feed a crowd, or batch cook something that I can use for many different meals, I turn to these Mexican inspired beef mince recipe.

Jump to:

• Why we love this recipe
• Ingredients notes and substitutions
• How to make this recipe
• FAQ
• My recipe tips
• Green pepper / capsicum
• Add some extra veggies
• Serving Ideas / Using leftover Mexican beef mince
• Storage
• Variations
• More budget family dinner recipes
• Mexican Beef Mince

Why we love this recipe

• It is a budget friendly minced beef recipe. By adding store cupboard staples tinned black beans, tinned tomatoes and tinned sweetcorn to the beef mince, it makes the mince go further – this recipe feeds 6-8 people on 500g / 1 pound minced beef. Like my one pot lasagna soup recipe, this recipe makes the beef mince stretch a little further.
• It’s a great meal prep recipe. Cook a batch of this one pot Mexican mince and beans and serve on the following busy weeknights, or freeze and defrost later in the week.
• Mexican mince is a dinner loved by kids, and because it contains an assortment of vegetables you can serve it with pasta or rice and not have to worry about adding any extra veggies on the side.

Ingredients notes and substitutions

• Beef mince – ground beef. I prefer to use lean beef mince to make this recipe.
• Garlic – 2 cloves of fresh garlic or 1 teaspoon minced jarred garlic.
• Tomato puree – tomato paste. Adds depth to the tomato flavour in addition to using canned tomatoes.
• Spices – ground cumin, ground coriander and dried oregano.
• Green capsicum / pepper – use red or yellow capsicum / peppers if you prefer. Here in Australia green capsicum are often cheaper so when using them in a dish like this mince recipe I often go for green.
• Tomatoes – I often use chopped tomatoes for their ease, but plum tomatoes would work, use a spoon to chop them up once they are in the pan.
• Beans – I use tinned black beans or tinned kidney beans.
• Sweetcorn – tinned corn or 250g (1 ¾ c) frozen corn.
• Water – I often make this Mexican minced beef with water, however if you have any beef or chicken stock, this would make it a richer mince.

How to make this recipe

Note: scroll down to the end of the post for the full detailed recipe.

1. Cook the onion in oil over a medium heat until soft.
2. Add the crushed garlic and chopped green pepper / green capsicum and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Turn the heat up and add the minced beef, then cook, breaking the mince up with the spoon, until browned all over.
4. Lower the heat, add the tomato puree / tomato paste, ground cumin, ground coriander, dried oregano and stir. Cook for 1 minute.
5. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, water, black beans, sweetcorn and season with salt and pepper.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the beef is cooked through.
7. Serve straight away, or cool then place in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

FAQ

My recipe tips

• Browning the mince before adding the tomatoes not only ensures the beef mince is cooked through but adds extra flavour.
• Use a hot pan to fry the mince. If you put the ground beef in when the pan is cold it will stew rather than brown.
• If you want to double the recipe, fry the beef mince in two batches – this will ensure that it doesn’t overcrowd the pan and won’t stew in its juices rather than browning.

Serving Ideas / Using leftover Mexican beef mince

• Mexican beef mince bowl – serve this Mexican mince over steamed or boiled rice, then add some cubed avocado, and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
• Mexican baked potato – Spoon into a jacket potato / baked potato or sweet potato and sprinkle some grated cheese over the top.
• Mince Burrito – Heat a corn wrap or tortilla, then spoon in cooked rice and a couple of spoonfuls of Mexican mince and roll up.

Storage

• This mince will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.

Variations

• Spicy – this recipe doesn’t contain any ’heat’ spices as I have made it with younger kids in mind (and a certain 5 year old who would sniff out any spice whatsoever), however if you like spicier meals then add ½ -¾ teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper, or top served mince with chopped jalapeños – or try these quick pickled chillies.
• Chicken – use chicken mince instead of the beef mince.

More budget family dinner recipes