This easy ground beef taco meat recipe has bold flavors and takes just 25 minutes to prepare. Make it hot for spicy tacos or mild for family taco night. Use fresh pantry spices for a fantastic homemade taco seasoning—you will never use packaged taco seasoning again.
🌮Ingredients
Ground Beef—80/20 recommended
Aromatics— fresh onion and garlic, but powdered may be used.
Tomato Sauce
Homemade Taco Seasoning: chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper (optional), salt, and black pepper. Use onion and garlic powder if you are not using fresh.
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Featured Comment from SandyToes :
"Talk about a blast from the past! Your filling is as close to those classic SoCal tacos as I've ever tasted, albeit a little spicier. I like the heat… thanks from the bottom of my taco-loving heart…"
We make this recipe every few weeks. We love the mildly spicy, full flavor of the homemade taco seasoning. It scales easily to make a small batch for two or to feed a crowd. It is perfect for delicious ground meat tacos, nachos, or taco salad at home.
👨🍳How to Make Ground Beef Taco Meat—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Chop the onion and mince or crush the garlic.
2. In a large skillet, brown the meat and onion over medium-high heat. Add garlic near the end of browning.
3. Drain the excess fat well.
4. Mix in the spices and tomato sauce.
5. Simmer another 5 minutes until the sauce is incorporated.
6. Serve as tacos, nachos, or taco salad.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🐄Ingredients options, and substitutes
Meat: Standard 80/20 ground beef will produce the best moist and juicy taco meat. Lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken can be used, but they tend to dry easily.
Aromatics: I like to use fresh onion and garlic, but you may substitute powdered. One clove of garlic is ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder, and one medium onion is 1 tablespoon of onion powder.
Tomato: Use good-quality tomato sauce, but crushed or diced tomatoes could also be used. The cheaper generic sauce tends to be very acidic; you might need a teaspoon or two of brown sugar to counter the acid.
Optional additional vegetables: Black beans, chopped pepper, or shredded carrots can be added to the raw meat to cook.
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🤔Make it right every time
Speed things up by making the taco seasoning in bulk ahead of time. Add onion and garlic powder if you don't usually use fresh.
Add the fresh garlic about a minute before removing the browning meat from the heat to drain. Move some meat aside so the garlic cooks in the drainage. This "blooming" of the garlic will remove the raw taste from raw garlic and enhance the flavor.
If you make soft-shell tacos, warm the tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a damp towel. You can also wrap them in foil and bake or slightly brown them on the stovetop.
Adjust the cayenne pepper to adjust the heat of the recipe. ¼ teaspoon will produce 3 out of 10 heat, while ½ teaspoon will produce 5 to 6 out of 10 heat. Eliminate the cayenne pepper for a mild flavor.
You may substitute a jalapeno pepper for ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Add it to the meat with the onion.
🌮Taco and Nacho Recipes
Check out these other easy recipes for tacos and nachos, like Crock Pot Chicken Tacos, Mexican Shredded Chicken, Mexican Shredded Beef, or Chili Nachos.
🍴Serving, toppings, and side dishes
Serve in hard taco shells or with tortillas for soft tacos. For nachos, spread the taco meat over nacho chips and top with Mexican blend or other cheese, then heat in the microwave or oven.
Other serving options include a taco bowl, burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas.
Traditional toppings
Everybody will have their favorite taco toppings. I enjoy shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend, as well as sour cream, salsa, or pico de Gallo.
Veggie toppings include chopped tomatoes, cilantro, shredded lettuce, black beans, jalapeno slices, avocado slices, and sliced green onions or olives.
Side Dishes
Mexican rice, guacamole, refried beans, and black beans are favorites. The usual tortilla chips and salsa are also a great side dish, especially Pineapple Mango Salsa.
❄️Leftovers storage
It is an easy recipe to adjust to the desired amount, but I frequently make 2 pounds to have leftover taco meat in the freezer. Stored in an airtight container, it is good in the refrigerator for 4 days, in the freezer for 4 months.
If frozen, then before reheating, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. To reheat, use the microwave for a minute or two, depending on the amount.
❓FAQs
I always estimate ¼ pound of meat per serving, which would be 2 tacos. The number of savings per individual will vary—I triple or quadruple for teenage boys. Plus, I always want leftovers.
No, this is not a powdered mix. The tomato sauce will provide moisture.
Cast iron, if not enamel-coated, is "reactive," and heating an acid like tomatoes will cause the metal to react with the food for a metallic taste. A non-reactive skillet, like non-stick or stainless steel, is a better choice.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Ground Beef Taco Meat
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion-medium diced
- 2-4 cloves garlic-crushed
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 1-2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 oz tomato sauce
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Mix homemade taco seasoning. If using fresh, chop a medium onion and mince or crush 2 to 4 cloves of garlic.
- Brown the meat and onion in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic for the last minute of browning. Cook until there is no pink—about 6-10 minutes.
- Drain the excess fat well.
- Mix in the homemade taco seasoning and tomato sauce.
- Turn the heat to medium and simmer for another 5 minutes until the sauce is incorporated.
- Serve in tacos, nachos, or taco salad.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- To increase or decrease the amount, adjust the amount in the serving area of this recipe card and use the amounts in the ingredient list, not in the instructions.
- 80/20 ground beef gives the best results.
- Use 1 tablespoon of onion powder for a medium onion.
- Use ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder for each clove of garlic.
- You may use ground turkey or chicken. Of course, there will be a slight taste difference, but the spices in this meat will dominate.
- This is about a 3 out of 10 spicy when using ¼ teaspoon of cayenne. For spicy tacos, increase to ½ teaspoon.
- I suggest making a large amount and freezing leftovers.
- Leftovers are good in the refrigerator for 4 days and freezes well for 4 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
This modified and simplified of Cooks Illustrated taco meat recipe (Subscription required) that tastes better than any ground beef taco meat you've ever eaten.
Originally Published May 6, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Judy says
Just found your blog do you ever post what to do with leftover ingredients? What dish you could use them in or safe to freeze. Looking forward to trying your recipes. Thank you
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Judy,
Welcome to the blog.
I cover the use and storage of leftovers of the product of most recipes in the post. I don't usually cover leftover ingredients or their usage. But having said that, many things, like chopped onion and tomato sauce, can be frozen.
I hope that helps at least a little.
Dn