🥩 Steak Cheese and Rice

A Mexican-restaurant inspired skillet dinner — seasoned rice topped with seared steak and melty white queso. Great for switching up Taco Tuesday.

Adapted from Cooking in the Midwest .

Ingredient	Quantity	Notes
Long grain white rice	1 cups
Olive oil	2 tbsp
Small onion, chopped	1 whole
Garlic, minced	1 tbsp
Chicken broth	2 cups
Tomato sauce	1 cups
Salt	0.5 tsp
Black pepper	0.5 tsp
Cumin	1 tsp
Dried cilantro	1 tsp
Sirloin steak, sliced thin	1 lbs
Butter	2 tbsp
Montreal steak seasoning	1 whole	To taste.
White queso (e.g. Pancho's)	1 whole	To taste.
Fresh cilantro	1 whole	For topping.
Flour tortillas	1 whole	Optional, for serving.

Ingredient	Quantity	Notes
Long grain white rice	240 ml
Olive oil	30 ml
Small onion, chopped	1 whole
Garlic, minced	20 ml
Chicken broth	480 ml
Tomato sauce	240 ml
Salt	10 ml
Black pepper	10 ml
Cumin	10 ml
Dried cilantro	10 ml
Sirloin steak, sliced thin	455 g
Butter	30 ml
Montreal steak seasoning	1 whole	To taste.
White queso (e.g. Pancho's)	1 whole	To taste.
Fresh cilantro	1 whole	For topping.
Flour tortillas	1 whole	Optional, for serving.

Steps

Toast the rice

Rinse 1 cup of long grain white rice. Add to a skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tbsp olive oil. Stir the rice around, letting it toast up a bit.

Cook the rice

Add the chopped onion and minced garlic, stir well. Pour in the chicken broth and tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and dried cilantro. Stir and bring to a bubble. Cover, lower heat to medium-low, and cook about 20 minutes until rice is tender.

Sear the steak

When the rice is about halfway done, melt 2 tbsp butter in a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced steak and season with Montreal steak seasoning. Cook to your liking, then remove from heat.

Assemble and serve

Fluff the rice with a fork. Top with the seared steak and drizzle heated white queso over everything. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve as-is or in warm flour tortillas.

Notes

Use long grain white rice, not instant/minute rice.
Sirloin, strip steak, or skirt steak all work well.
Any store-bought or homemade white queso works — Pancho’s from Sam’s Club is the original recommendation.
Great topped with salsa, fresh pico de gallo, or taco sauce.