Taco Skillet (TikTok - My Way)

A cozy, one‑pan Taco Skillet inspired by the viral TikTok trend - but made the sensible, real‑kitchen way. Seasoned beef, peppers, tomatoes, green chilies, corn, and tender rice all simmer together and finish under a blanket of melty cheese.

If you love a one‑pan dinner that’s comforting, budget‑friendly, and big on flavor, this Taco Skillet is going to be a regular in your rotation. It's another one of those recipes inspired by TikTok.

TikTok is full of fun videos, including this one‑pan taco rice, and I’ll admit, they do very often catch my eye. The idea is solid, but the execution can sometimes seem a bit, well... chaotic.

So, I took the inspiration, kept the flavors, and made it my way!

Cajun Style Pork Chops and Gravy with Rice

This cozy Cajun‑style supper is the kind of simple, deeply flavorful Louisiana comfort food that comes together easily on a weeknight but tastes like it simmered all afternoon. Serve it over rice to catch every drop of that silky gravy, and you’ve got a plate that feels like home.

A Classic Cajun Meat‑and‑Gravy Supper

Meat and gravy.

It's that cozy Cajun‑style supper that brings together a protein, simmered in a rich dark‑roux gravy with the classic trinity of onion, bell pepper, and celery.

Often referred to as an etouffee or smothered, it’s the kind of simple, deeply flavorful Deep South comfort food that comes together easily on a weeknight but tastes like it simmered all afternoon.

And like most true Cajun meat‑and‑gravy dishes, the method is as old as the region itself - a straightforward process that works with just about any protein you have on hand, from pork and chicken to beef, sausage, or even game.

Gulf Coast Lenten Eggs and Rice

A simple Gulf Coast Lenten classic, made with warmed leftover rice, buttered eggs, and easy add‑ins with leftover veggies. Humble, comforting, and rooted in Mississippi and Louisiana Catholic tradition.

A Dish Rooted in Gulf Coast Catholic Life

Along the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, Lent has always carried its own rhythm. Fridays meant no meat, but nobody went hungry.

Why Eggs and Rice?

Catholic families often relied on simple, meatless meals during Lent. Rice was inexpensive, filling, and always on hand. Eggs added protein, and leftover vegetables stretched the meal even further.

Over time, the dish became a quiet Lenten tradition, not celebrated, not written down, but remembered in the rhythms of family life. It was the kind of meal you made because it was Friday during Lent, you were Catholic, and you had leftovers.

Easy Mexican-style rice starts with toasted medium grain rice, then simmered with tomato sauce, aromatic spices, and a duo of bouillons for rich depth. A wedge of onion infuses subtle sweetness, while fresh cilantro offers a bright finish.

Easy Mexican-Style Rice

This vibrant, flavor-packed rice dish is a comforting staple inspired by classic Mexican home cooking and pairs beautifully with any Mexican or Tex-Mex main dish. 

I've made quite a few variations of this side dish based on the old school Spanish rice dish I've shared here on the website before, and this version is what I've settled on. It's not a heavily seasoned dish, so the flavor is subtle enough that it's really a great side dish for pretty much any meal.

A mixture of long grain rice, cooked stovetop in chicken stock with green and sweet onion, garlic, parsley and a variety of seasonings with Wild American shrimp stirred in at the end.

Cajun Shrimp Bowl

I love simple, one pot meals like this, especially in the heat of the summer. And yeah, especially when my central A/C goes south and the part takes a week to get here from Houston. During the hottest month of southern summers too. 

Ugh. I am dying.

Thank goodness for backup portable air conditioners because we have several going at the moment, though they are pretty much intended for use during a hurricane power outage to be seated right in front of, so they can't really keep up and the house is at minimum in the low 80s - all day long. Better than nothing I guess.

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Boneless chicken thighs or mixed pieces cooked with simple seasonings, a mixed peppers blend and rice in the Instant Pot, makes for an easy meal. Just add a green vegetable or side salad!

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

This is one of those quick, easy, tasty meals that you can make when you aren't highly motivated to cook.

Yes! Believe it or not, that happens to me too sometimes.

That's one thing that I love about the Instant Pot - or any other branded electronic pressure cooker for that matter. That one appliance can make a quick and easy job of making a meal, unlike its cousin the slow cooker, which I rarely use because of the advance planning, early start and length of time required.

A rice and okra side dish with bacon and vegetables, made easy with the Instant Pot!

Instant Pot Okra Pilaf - Limpin' Susan

I'm sure that you've heard of Hoppin' John. Southern Living says that "rumor has it Limpin’ Susan was Hoppin’ John’s secret girlfriend." Well, I don't know about all that, but I can tell you for sure, it is a delicious side dish! 

Where Hoppin' John is a rice central dish made with some kind of southern pea, most typically blackeyed peas, Limpin' Susan is made with bacon, rice and okra. Likely originating in the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands Lowcountry and deeply tied to the region’s rice and okra heritage.

A quick one-pot, skillet meal of chicken, seasoning veggies, diced tomatoes, yellow rice and cheese.

Cheesy Chicken And Yellow Rice Skillet

I don't buy a lot of rotisserie chickens.

Not that I don't love them, because I do, and not that they aren't convenient, because they sure are. It's just now that I'm finally seeing whole chickens showing up on sale again here lately, I always pick up a couple of them.

Sometimes I bake my own rotisserie style version in the oven, or I grill one or smoke cook it on the Traeger (#ad). Other times I use the Instant Pot (#ad), and I'm loving the way that the air fryer works for a whole chicken too.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

Leftover cooked rice is transformed into a fabulous fried rice dish that starts with bacon, onion and garlic to which leftover or thawed and cooked, frozen mixed vegetables are added along with beaten eggs, all finished with the classic Asian flavors of soy and oyster sauce.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

Recently we went to a hibachi dinner for a birthday celebration, and I think half of my plate was fried rice, so I had a good bit of it leftover to bring home. Okay with me!

It was so barely seasoned though, that I wasn't really super excited about eating it, but I figured I would get it home and play around with it because I hate wasting food and I absolutely love fried rice.

A baked rice dressing, made with freshly shucked Gulf oysters, with sautéed onion, green onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, rice and seasonings, and always a holiday favorite here in the Deep South.

Oyster Rice Dressing

Rice stands in for bread and cornbread in this common dish here in the Deep South and is what we refer to as a rice dressing.

A mix of meats or seafood, or sometimes, as with this oyster rice dressing, a blend of them, along with onion, green onion, bell pepper and celery, rice and seasonings, it's very often offered as a side dish, though it is also used as a stuffing at times.

One thing is for sure. It's a favorite here in the Deep South year-round, and super popular for  Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

Instant Pot Chicken Bog

A simple one pot chicken, sausage and rice dish, regional to South Carolina and one that dates back to the 1700s, using a whole chicken and made super easy with the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Chicken Bog

I was a bit intrigued when I first heard about bog. It's not something that is known much around here as far as I know. It's more of a regional dish born in South Carolina.

Every region seems to have some sort of chicken and rice dish like this though, and of course in my area of the Deep South, it's all about jambalaya!

So... what is the base difference between a Deep South jambalaya and bog?

Fresh, wild caught shrimp, cooked in a buttery, well-seasoned sauce with mushrooms and served over pasta.

Shrimp Diane

I have no idea the origin of the name of Shrimp Diane, but what I can say, is that it is both super easy to make and mighty delicious!

It's really not anything like Steak Diane in comparison, so who knows how the name came about, though it appears to have been created by Chef Paul Prudhomme, who wrote this for only two servings, though you could absolutely stretch that out a number of ways.

A quick, small batch soup, made using a vegetable mirepoix of onion, carrot and celery, with fresh minced garlic, okra, tomatoes, leftover cooked chicken and rice and a quality commercial stock or broth.

Southern-Style Chicken and Rice Soup

Whole chickens are on sale around here often and I sure take advantage of them, always buying a larger one for intentional leftovers. Sometimes I'll roast one, sometimes stew it, or cut it up and bake it.

Very often I'll use my Instant Pot {affil link} to cook a whole chicken using my "ready chicken" recipe, use some of it for a meal, then reserve the rest to use in a soup, chicken and dumplings, a casserole, some chicken salad, or even just to put up in the freezer for another day.

A smaller batch of classic jambalaya, made with the trinity, rice, shrimp and smoked sausage.

Skillet Jambalaya

There are rice with protein dishes in just about every region of the country. Chicken Bog, Red Rice and Pilaf are some of the top southern favorites, but in my part of the south, it's all about jambalaya.

Whatever version you know, they all involve rice, vegetables, protein - and often a variety of proteins - and mostly made in huge batches, intended to feed a crowd, making it perfect for Mardi Gras.

Sometimes a gal just wants some jambalya for herself!

A quick, small batch, stovetop version of creamy rice pudding with raisins, made using leftover cooked rice.

Stovetop Rice Pudding

We eat a lot of rice here in the Deep South, more so than potatoes I'd say, although we do eat our fair share of those too. Since rice is grown all over the south though, including Arkansas, here in the Delta regions of Mississippi and over in Louisiana, chances are there is always some leftover rice around.

Storing rice can be a challenge because even rice that is tightly sealed tends to harden in the refrigerator. This is off-putting to some folks so they don't even save leftover rice. They pitch it. Don't do that!

Boneless chicken breasts, soaked in a southwestern seasoned, brown sugar brine, tossed in fajita seasonings, grilled over indirect heat and served with a southwestern seasoned rice.

Grilled Fajita Chicken and Rice

This is a main dish take on those well loved chicken fajitas, putting that bold fajita flavor on those ever popular, full-sized boneless, skinless chicken breast and using the classic peppers and onions to flavor a side dish of rice. Just something with familiar flavors. but a little different!

As always, the full recipe with instructions are further down the page, past the step by step photographs. Scroll or swipe down to the bottom of this post to go straight to the recipe.

This one pot skillet meal starts with a butter roux based gravy, cooked with the trinity of veggies, chicken is tossed in and the dish spooned over steamed rice.

Skillet Cajun Chicken and Gravy

Most times when folks think of a chicken and rice dish, it's the classic version where they are baked together in a casserole form, and it's delicious no doubt. We love it! But even though kids are mostly already back in school down here, it's actually still summer, and skillet meals are definitely a go-to.

I especially love this one because it utilizes already cooked chicken and cooked rice. I always have cooked chicken in my freezer because when you use a FoodSaver sealer, (I love mine!) it keeps it so nice and fresh and free of freezer burn for a pretty long time.

Having already cooked chicken in the freezer sure is a big-time saver and comes in handy for those hurry-up meals. Rice is so common here with meals that it's not at all unusual to have some leftover. It's also super easy to make in your Instant Pot.

A quick beef and rice skillet with a little Southwestern flair from sweet and hot peppers, chili powder, cumin and paprika, diced tomatoes with green chilies and Mexican blend cheeses. Eat as is, or roll up in flour or corn tortillas and top with a dollop of salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

Southwestern Beef Skillet

I love a good skillet meal! They're easy and certainly quick and because of that they don't heat up the kitchen too much, an important bonus in these triple digit summers we're having in the south.

I actually cut this recipe off of a package of Kraft shredded cheese sometime back and finally got around to giving it a try. I found it to be a bit bland sounding though, and it also appeared to be lacking in some of the typical flavor elements you might find in a dish labeled as "southwestern," so I used it as a base, and made some changes by adding more veggies, spices and seasonings.

A near lost south Louisiana classic, calas are a flour and yeast fritter, made with cooked rice and flavored with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Creole Calas (Rice Fritters)

I've certainly mentioned this before, but we eat a lot of rice here in the Deep South, and there's almost always some leftover. We have lots of ways to use that leftover rice (just click that link to see a few) including sweet things, like rice pudding and these sweet rice fritters, called calas.

A near lost classic, Calas hold a past in the city of New Orleans, though their origins date back more likely to Africa. In the French Quarter, Cala ladies would wrap fresh, piping hot Calas in towels and carry them in a covered bowl on top of their heads, hurrying to the streets to sell them, shouting "Calas, belles calas, tout chauds!"

Photo Credit: Times Picayune

Spanish Rice - a side dish made with bacon, rice, tomatoes, the Trinity of veggies and a few simple seasonings.

Spanish Rice

With some variations in cooking method - stovetop, oven or a combination of both - and ingredients - tomatoes versus sauces, pastes or purees - that, which is defined as Spanish Rice across much of the country, is quite similar to Red Rice from the Lowcountry and the base of our beloved Creole Jambalaya of the Deep South.