Homemade Crunchy Taco Skillet

adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

INGREDIENTS
1lb lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups diced onion, frozen
1 good sized jalepeño*
1 taco seasoning packet
1 cup salsa
1 32 oz box chicken stock**
1 cup long grain white rice
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 1/2 cups sweet corn, frozen
1 cup shredded cheese

Corn tortilla chips to crunch on top

DIRECTIONS
Brown ground beef with onion and jalapeño in a large skillet over medium-high heat. If using a fattier burger, drain then return to skillet.
Add taco seasoning, salsa, chicken broth, and rice and stir to combine.
Bring mixture to a boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to low.
Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender.
Stir in corn and black beans until warmed through, remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted.
Place lid back on the skillet then let sit for 5 minutes before serving with toppings.

Okay friends. I first made this recipe for my family FIVE YEARS AGO. And it has become a family favorite, and has made at least two appearances on the table every month since. We've made even more modifications to the original recipe that I posted, and to be honest, the original doesn't even compare. We've upped the convenience by using frozen diced onions and frozen sweet corn. The frozen sweet corn is necessary because it completely changes the meal. We also just increased the salsa to a full cup because no one wants to wash a second measuring cup.

Seriously y'all. This recipe is the real deal. It's even requested as special birthday meals, because the kids have grown up loving this! We're love it as is, but you can definitely top it with whatever your heart fancies. Make this! Your family will not be disappointed.

*For a milder crunchy taco helper, remove rib and seeds from inside of the jalapeño.
**You can totally sub half of this for water, but if I am opening a box of chicken stock, I'm just going to throw the entire thing in. I will forget the other half of the box and it will go to waste. That's just the type of person I am.

Tortilla Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS
1tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, small dice
1 tsp minced garlic
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 23-oz box chicken stock
2 cups water
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn
1.5 lbs shredded chicken*
1 16-oz tub of sour cream
Shredded colby-jack cheese
Crushed tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

Sauté diced onion in canola oil over medium high until fragrant, add minced garlic and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, and spices. Stir continuously while cooking for at least a minute. Add chicken stock, water, black beans, corn and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil for one minute, then turn heat down allowing soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, add sour cream, and stir until sour cream is fully blended into the soup.
Serve with crushed tortilla chips and colby-jack cheese, and enjoy!

For my shredded chicken, I cooked up some boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a tiny bit of canola oil in the pot I was going to cook the soup in. Threw them into my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the paddle attachment and shredded the cooked chicken at the #2 setting. Perfectly shredded chicken without having the sit with a couple of forks shredding for forever!