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Top golden brown potatoes with your favorite taco ingredients for gluten-free skillet Mexican potatoes the family will love.

Skillet Mexican Potatoes Recipe

I go crazy for Mexican food.

I bet you didn’t even know this little secret since I really don’t share a lot of Mexican recipes here but there are 3 must-have recipes in my mind: tortilla chip pizza, pork carnitas and pico de gallo. The pork carnitas I recently made into chicken carnitas to serve to Maddie’s cross-country team. The kids raved about them. It’s a super easy recipe to make for a crowd.

And the fresh pico de gallo? I was lazy a few weeks ago and bought some fresh salsa from the store. It didn’t even compare and I was disappointed in myself for not taking the time to make my own. I only give you the best here and those are three recipes you’ll want in your collection.

In this recipe I combined two things I can’t live without: Mexican flavors and potatoes. Remember our pizza skillet potatoes? They’re a staple in our house. I’d honestly rather have my pizza toppings over potatoes instead of on crust. Same goes with taco toppings. I don’t follow a strict gluten-free diet, but these two recipes are ideal for those who need to stay away from gluten.

Potatoes fried in the skillet make up the base to this family friendly dinner recipe.

What type of potatoes are best for frying?

Russet potatoes are starchy and hold up the best to frying in a skillet. I like to keep it simple and leave the skins on. It’s a time-saver. It’s a bonus that those skins are packed with vitamin C, potassium and B6. Dice the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. You want the cubes small because the smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook.

How to Fry Potatoes

In order to get fried potatoes to golden brown, you’ll need to heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat before adding the potatoes. Once the oil is hot, throw in the potatoes and you’ll hear that sizzle, which means your potatoes are on their way to golden brown. Cook and stir them for about 25 minutes. Again, this time depends on the size of your potato cubes.

While your potatoes are cooking, brown 3/4-pound lean ground beef, drain off the fat, and then add taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water. Stir this together and allow it to sit until your potatoes are cooked.

Top the cooked potatoes with the ground beef and freshly shredded cheese. Put the skillet in the oven under the broiler on high for just 3 minutes. Be sure your skillet is oven-safe. Cast-iron skillets are a perfect fit for this. Watch it carefully and take it out as soon as the cheese is melted and lightly browned..

Top the potatoes with fresh salsa and sour cream. Add lettuce, taco sauce and jalapeno peppers if you’d like.

My kids could hardly wait until I had photographed these skillet Mexican potatoes before they devoured them. “Best lunch ever, Mom!”

Music to my ears. 🙂

Skillet Mexican Potatoes

5 from 2 votes

Top golden brown potatoes with your favorite taco ingredients for gluten free skillet Mexican potatoes the family will love!

Servings 4

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

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Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 cups diced skin-on white potatoes (about 3 large potatoes cut into 1/2" chunks)
3/4 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby cheese
1 cup pico de gallo
Sour cream optional

Instructions

In a cast-iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add potatoes. Cook and stir for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are tender. The time will depend on the size of the potato chunks.
While the potatoes are cooking, brown the ground beef in another skillet. Drain off the fat.
Add taco seasoning and water to the ground beef and stir to coat.
Once the potatoes are cooked, top the potatoes with the ground beef, then sprinkle cheese over the beef.
Broil potatoes on high for about 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Watch the potatoes carefully while they are under the broiler.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and top them with pico de gallo and sour cream, if desired.
Serve immediately.