Ground beef browned with onion in a deep skillet, then cubed Yukon Golds, garlic, chilli powder, cumin, kidney beans, tomatoes and half a cup of broth.
Covered for eighteen to twenty-two minutes until the potatoes are tender, reduced uncovered if it needs it, and finished with a cup and a half of cheddar melted under the lid.
Why This Recipe Works
- Everything after step 2 goes into the pan at once. The potatoes cook in a chilli rather than beside one, so they take up the chilli powder and cumin as they soften.
- Only half a cup of broth for a pound and a half of potato. Tinned tomatoes bring their own liquid and the potatoes release more, so a generous pour of broth here is the fastest way to end up with soup.
- Yukon Golds rather than a floury potato. They hold their cubes through twenty minutes of covered simmering where a russet would break down and thicken the pan into mush.
- The lid goes on for the covered stage and back on for the cheese. Two different jobs — the first traps the steam that cooks the potatoes, the second traps the heat that melts the cheddar without direct flame.
- Chilli powder and cumin go in with the raw potatoes, not at the end. Twenty minutes of covered simmering is what carries them into the potato rather than leaving them on it.
Step 5 Is A Question, Not An Instruction
Almost every step in this recipe is fixed, and one is conditional. Step 5 says to simmer uncovered for three minutes IF excess liquid remains — which means you are being asked to look in the pan and decide. It is the step that keeps this a skillet rather than a bowl of chilli.
When the potatoes are tender at the end of step 4, is there loose liquid pooling around them?
Yes — liquid is sitting in the pan
Take the lid off and simmer for three minutes before the cheese goes anywhere near it.
The cheese has to melt onto something, not into something. Sprinkled over a wet pan it disperses into the sauce and you lose the cheese layer that gives the dish its name.
No — the sauce is clinging to the potatoes
Go straight to step 6: cheddar on, lid back for two to three minutes.
Over-reducing dries out the potatoes and the tomatoes catch on the base of the pan. If it is already right, leave it alone.
Ingredient Notes
- Yukon Gold potatoes, 1/2-inch cubes
- A pound and a half, cut evenly. They are the only thing cooking from raw in the covered stage, so cube size sets the timing for the whole dish.
- Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce can, both drained and rinsed. Canning liquid is starchy and would push a deliberately dry skillet toward soup.
- Diced tomatoes
- One 14.5-ounce can, undrained. Its liquid is counted as part of the cooking liquid, which is why the broth is only half a cup.
- Chili powder and cumin
- A tablespoon and a teaspoon. Both go in at step 3 with the raw potatoes so they cook into them rather than sitting on the surface.
- Cheddar cheese
- A cup and a half, added at the very end and melted under the lid. It needs a pan that is not swimming, which is what step 5 is for.
How to Make It
Heat the pan
Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat.
Brown the beef
Cook the ground beef and onion until the beef is browned; drain excess fat.
Everything else in
Add the potatoes, garlic, chili powder, cumin, beans, tomatoes, broth, salt and pepper.
Simmer covered
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 18 to 22 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.
Reduce if needed
Uncover and simmer for 3 minutes if excess liquid remains.
Cheese under the lid
Sprinkle with cheddar, cover for 2 to 3 minutes, until melted.
Serve
Serve with scallions if using.
Success Tips
- Use a genuinely deep skillet — this is a full pan by the time step 3 is done.
- Cut the potatoes evenly; uneven cubes are the main cause of a mixed result.
- Stir occasionally during the covered stage so the tomatoes do not catch underneath.
- Look in the pan at step 5 and decide rather than skipping straight to the cheese.
- Melt the cheddar under the lid off direct high heat so it does not turn oily.
Serving Ideas
Soured cream and hot sauce, or with tortilla chips for scooping. It is beef, beans and potato in one pan, so nothing starchy is needed beside it.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It thickens in the fridge as the potatoes take up the remaining sauce.
Freeze
Freezing is not recommended. Cooked potato cubes go grainy on thawing and the texture is most of what this dish has.
Reheat
Reheat in a covered pan over low heat with a splash of broth. High heat breaks the potatoes down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mine came out like soup.
Step 5 was skipped or extra liquid went in. Half a cup of broth is deliberately short because the tomatoes and the potatoes both bring their own — and the uncovered three minutes exists to fix it when they bring more than expected.
The potatoes were still firm.
They were cut larger than half an inch, or the heat was too low to keep a real simmer under the lid. Cube size is what the 18-to-22-minute window is set against.
Can I use black or pinto beans?
Yes, drained and rinsed the same way. Kidney beans hold their shape best over twenty minutes of simmering, which is why they are specified.
How do I make it hotter?
Sliced fresh chilli at the table, or a hot chilli powder in place of the standard tablespoon. Adding more of a mild chilli powder makes it dusty rather than hot.
