This easy Cheesy One Pan Zucchini Taco Skillet is a total crowd-pleaser and ready to rock your weeknight dinner game in record time!
I made a thing.
Ok, ok. I’ll elaborate.
I made a thing that didn’t require 50001 dirty dishes to clean and OMGHOLYCOWHALLELUJAH it’s good!
Do y’all remember the Great Shrimptastrophe of April 2017? Well it happened again, only with zucchini this time. I bought a bag full of zucchini when it was crazy cheap and on sale and then promptly forgot about it. Then I bought more. THEN I sent Paul to the grocery store to pick up a few things and he came back with even more zucchini and (surprise surprise) even more shrimp. Neither of which were on the list… Both of which we now have in mass amounts.
As the chickpea likes to put it. we found ourselves graced with a spectacular stockpile of zucchini.
Anyone else have a boatload of zukes to use up? This recipe is for you. And clearly, for me because #zucchinipalooza
If you’ve hung around this crazy little blog of mine for a bit, you know all about my love for tacofying things that have no business being tacos. I’m taking sweet potatoes, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, soup, pasta, and anything else I can get my hands on. I also have a love for making up words like tacofy, but that’s neither here nor there.
So naturally I taco-ed the heck out my zukes.
I mean how could I not? You can follow the recipe as written below for an easy peasy one pot wonder of a meal (that reheats like a CHAMP) or recycle taco night leftovers into a zucchini taco bowl of epic proportions.
You know what? Both. Do both. We’ve got zucchini to eat, folks!
Cheesy One Pan Zucchini Taco Skillet
Cheesy One Pan Zucchini Taco Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini squash
- ½ a large onion
- 1 cup corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 pound grass-fed ground beef (ground turkey/tofu works too!)
- 1 TBSP ground cumin
- 1 TBSP chili powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup plain tomato sauce or enchilada sauce
- 1 tsp olive or avocado oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar and Pepper Jack)
TASTY TOPPING OPTIONS:
- chopped green onion
- diced tomatoes
- jalapeños, chopped or sliced
- sour cream
- Greek yogurt
- fresh cilantro
- pico de gallo
- salsa
- guacamole
- crushed tortilla chips
Instructions
- Coarsely chop your zucchini and onion and drain and rinse your corn + black beans if using canned.
- Heat 9, 10, or 11 inch cast iron skillet to medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil if desired.
- Brown your meat until golden and crumbled and drain any excess liquid. Season with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, plus salt and pepper to taste. Add your tomato/enchilada sauce and mix well. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Add 1 tsp oil to your pan and once hot, add your onion.
- Saute for 3-4 minutes until edges are golden, then add your corn and continue cooking until tender (this will take longer for fresh/frozen and no time at all for canned)
- Add zucchini and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes until softened, but al-dente.
- Reduce heat to low and top with taco meat and black beans and sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese, plus any extra your heart desires.
- Cover with a lid until cheese is hot and melty.
- If you have a side dish to prep while keeping the main course warm, you can also cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-20 min while you whip together a salad or corral the fam. I employ this tactic quite often!
- Now all that's left to do is spoon this deliciousness into bowls and top with all your favorites!
Notes
Nutrition
This delish dish would be equally awesome stuffed into zucchini boats if you’re so inclined, but that’s too many extra pots, tools, and steps for this tired mama. Give me easy or give me take-out!!! Ok maybe not take-out… the options around here are totally lacking. Easy eats FTW!
If you get a chance to try this Cheesy One Pan Zucchini Taco Skillet, let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS #PEASANDCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
This was wonderful, Had it for company and it was a hit. This is one of our favorite recipes now and can’t wait to have it again. I liked being able to put out toppings so that everyone could customize their own. This is a great idea for gatherings where need vegetarian and meat options, could do a couple of these to serve. Even leave cheese out and people can add or not. I like to give people choices.
I typically stay away from zucchini, but this was surprisingly tasty. I would even eat it again.
Just made this dish tonight. Everyone loved it…except the one who wont eat anything other than chicken nuggets!
I guessed on amounts of spices for meat. I got lucky!
Woot! So stoked it was a hit with the fam 🙂 Thanks Kay!
We ate this with chips like a taco dip and it was amazing!!!
Janna that sounds AMAZING together! Thank you 🙂
This looks delish! I’ll be giving it a try tomorrow evening 🙂
Just made the one-pot enchilada pasta last weekend. It was a hit for my husband and I, so it’s safe to say that’s a recipe for my books now. Have a feeling this one will be too.
So super glad you loved the enchilada pasta Charity and I can’t wait for you to try this next!! 🙂 Hope you adore it! xoxo
The recipe looks mouth-watering! To be honest , I never liked zucchini but I might as well try this recipe , this looks so vibrant and savory! Thank you for sharing, will definitely try this !
Thank you Ushmana 🙂 It’s a great starter recipe if you’re learning to love zucchini and so easy to customize too!
If this is the result of having too much zucchini, then sign me up! Love the pictures and the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Haha thank you Karl! 🙂
Yummy! This Taco skillet looks soo cheesy and delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thanks! Hope you get a chance to try it! 🙂