Easy, delicious and perfect for all your taco needs, this mouthwatering 20-minute Ground Beef Taco Meat is made with lean ground beef, tomato sauce, and seasoned with homemade taco seasoning.
Tacos
Tacos aren’t just for Taco Tuesday…at least not at my house. And this kid-friendly ground beef taco meat isn’t just for tacos, either.
Ready in just 20 minutes, this super versatile ground beef is mixed with taco seasoning and pureed tomatoes and loves being added to taco salads, taco pasta, and even taco soup.
I love to double (or even triple!) this recipe and use it to meal prep both lunches and dinners for my family to last the whole week!
What is the best ground beef for tacos?
Deciding which ground beef to use in this recipe depends entirely on you.
Personally, I like to make my taco meat using 90% lean ground beef. The meat is still flavorful, tender, and delicious, and it isn’t overly greasy.
On the other hand, you can also use 80% lean ground beef. Readily available and extremely economical, this option comes with more fat to drain away mid-way through the cooking process.
If beef isn’t your thing, any ground meat will work with this recipe to make the best ever taco meat. Venison and ground turkey are two of my personal favorites.
Ingredients in this Taco Meat Recipe
One of my favorite parts about this homemade taco meat recipe is the small ingredient list.
You may make this recipe a few different ways- with store-bought taco seasoning, homemade taco seasoning (highly recommended- it’s SO easy!), or by measuring out the individual seasoning and spice amounts needed to make up approximately 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning.
I had a jar of homemade taco seasoning so that’s what I used and this recipe turned out perfect! Not too spicy, not overwhelmed by ground cumin, and apparently awesome enough for a 5-year-old.
- Onion. I will always and forever add onion to my taco meat. Cooked until super soft and tender, onions add loads of awesome added flavor to any ground taco meat recipe.
- Ground Beef. What you see here is 90% lean ground beef, but it’s always best to pick what will work best for you and your family. One pound of ground beef will be enough for approximately 3-4 people to enjoy a couple of tacos packed full with all your favorite toppings.
- Taco Seasoning (chili powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, paprika, dried cumin, crushed red pepper, salt + pepper, cornstarch). Store-bought or homemade, you can’t really have taco meat without seasoning.
- Tomato sauce. Sometimes I’ll use canned diced tomatoes, but I much prefer using tomato sauce. My 5-year-old doesn’t complain about the red things in his food and it helps keep the taco meat nice and juicy (even when leftover and refrigerated).
Can you add anything else to this taco meat?
Absolutely!
Sometimes I’ll try to sneak in additional veggies like carrots, or added protein from beans or lentils. Unfortunately, this will change the overall taste and texture of your taco meat – at least a little.
If you love these things, then you should be good to go and love it mixed in there with the ground beef. If you’re new to lentils and beans, I recommend starting on the lower side. For example, 80% ground beef and 20% plant protein.
How to make the best taco meat
This recipe is super simple and couldn’t be easier to make! As everyone has their own personal taste preferences, use the seasoning amounts that I have listed as a guide.
Let’s get cooking!
To get started, grab a large skillet or cast iron skillet (shown here) and set it over medium-high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and add your onion. I like to dice my onions super small, but if you prefer to have larger onion chunks, go for it! On the flip side, if you don’t care for onion at all, skip this step.
Cook the onion until soft and translucent. Times will vary but it took mine approximately 5 minutes.
Add your ground beef and immediately start to break it apart using a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook your meat, stirring and breaking into smaller pieces, until cooked- approximately 5-7 minutes.
Remove the skillet from heat and very carefully drain excess fat or liquid from the skillet. If some liquid is left in the skillet, that’s ok.
Return the skillet back to medium heat and add the taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Mix well to combine.
Allow the taco mixture to simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Stir often and season with additional salt, pepper, or taco seasoning, to taste.
Can you freeze leftover taco meat?
Yes! Totally. In fact, this is super easy to do.
To freeze any leftover taco meat, allow your meat to come to room temperature. Once your taco meat is room temperature ready, divide between the desired number of freezer-friendly bags (I love these freezer friendly reusable silicone bags). Remove as much air as possible from each bag and seal completely. Label how much taco meat is inside each bag.
When ready to thaw, transfer to the refrigerator and allow your taco meat to sit overnight, or place the bag in a large bowl filled with warm water. Allow the meat to loosen up enough to remove from the bag and either transfer to a skillet or microwave-safe bowl to reheat completely.
If you try making this Ground Beef Taco Meat, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
For more Mexican recipes check out,
- Albondigas Soup Recipe (Mexican Meatball Soup)
- Refried Beans (How to Make Refried Black Beans)
- Drunken Beans with Poblanos
- Spicy Mexican Stewed Shrimp (Shrimp Camarones)
- Pork Green Chili Recipe with White Beans
- Salsa Verde Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos with Mango Pomegranate Salsa
- Shrimp Enchiladas with Jalapeño Cream Sauce
- Chicken Mole with Homemade Mole Sauce
DON’T FORGET TO PIN AND SHARE THIS EASY TACO MEAT RECIPE AND ADD IT TO YOUR NEXT WEEKLY MEAL PLAN!
RECIPE CARD
Ground Beef Taco Meat
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion - diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried cumin
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
- salt and pepper - to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cornstarch - optional
- 1 cup tomato sauce
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and diced onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Stir often to prevent burning and reduce heat to medium if needed.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet. Use a large wooden spoon or spatula to break the beef into smaller and smaller bits and pieces. Fully cook your ground beef before draining approximately 3/4 of the liquid and fat from the skillet.
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the spices and tomato sauce to the beef and mix well to combine. Continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes or so, stirring often.
- Serve with all your favorite taco dinners! Enjoy!
Jessica's Notes
- Feel free to use your favorite ground meat for this recipe including pork, lamb, venison, or chicken!
- Make your own taco seasoning mix! Per 1 pound of ground meat, you'll want to use approximately 1 - 1.5 tablespoons of taco seasoning.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
I made this pretty much as written, except no corn starch and I went light on the salt. It was delicious.
Great recipe.
Back in the 70’s Campbell’s use to make chili beef soup so I use to add one can to 3 lbs of meat. Now I use Hormel chili with no beans and don’t use tomato sauce.
Added no salt! Very good! Thank You!!!
Absolutely the best taco meat recipe and easy to make!! Everyone loved it. Never made my own taco seasoning until I tried this recipe. Just perfect!!!
Thanks for the perfect feedback and rating Carol 😀
This is almost exactly how I make my taco meat, except that I use some cayenne pepper instead of paprika (adjust for preference), and I use a spicy Mexican tomato sauce by the brand name of El Pato. I’m in Dallas and we have a lot of Hispanic brands alongside the familiar American names. Many of them are just as familiar to us as Kraft, Heinz, etc. We like our taco meat rather spicy! But the process and recipe are almost identical. Taco meat is one of those things that has plenty of room for “making it yours”. It’s easy, and who doesn’t like tacos? I’ve even used my “taco” meat for enchiladas, burritos, nachos… you name it. Add in some corn, sautéed red and green bell pepper, and black beans– stir in some sour cream and sauce,… serve over rice, melt a little cheddar-jack cheese on top– yum!
Thanks for the feedback Shelly 🙂
I also like to add about 2 TBsp of diced pickled jalepeno into the meat mixture, (from a little old el paso can…. freeze the rest), and 1 TBsp ketchup to cut/balance acidity…Ole!
We made crispy tacos with your taco meat recipe. It was really good – the meat had a great flavor with just the right amount of spices. So much better than using the taco seasoning envelopes from the store! Thanks for sharing!
I appreciate your really good feedback Beverly 🙂
Made this tonight for nachos. My boys ate it up. No left overs for work. Very good and tasty.
Do I double the spices for 2 pound of meat?
Simply click the “2x” button above the ingredients, which will show the recipe ingredients for 2lbs of meat 🙂
Thanks
I made this for my daughter (who’s a HUGE fan of tacos) and she told her grandma how good it was. Later, her grandma sent me a text asking for “my” recipe because my daughter had raved about how great it was. I sent her a link to this page and also one for the seasoning recipe. She immediately whipped up a batch and sent me another text saying how much she liked it! Oh, I almost forgot to mention—my daughter’s grandma is from Mexico and she knows her way around the kitchen! Quite the compliment coming from her! We all love this recipe, thanks for sharing!
Forgot to rate it!! We give it five stars, obviously!
Your daughter sounds amazing; she made my night – thank you for the awesome comment and rating 🙂
I am constantly searching for new recipes online and I am so glad that I found this one. It is so delicious! I substituted chicken for the beef and it was still amazing. I halved the red pepper flakes and it was just the right amount of spice. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I add some home grown hatch chiles, also chopped fine and in lieu of tomato sauce some of my homemade salsa. Otherwise, good on ya!
Great thanks!
I’m sorry to say but the chili amount is far too hot. Will have to try this again with less than a third of the chili quoted and hopefully not burn my mouth! Can only taste mostly chili even after adding almost twice the asked amount of tomato paste! 3 stars as chili quantity ruins this dish.
Did you add 2 tbsp by accident? I only ask because I made that mistake once Lol. It shouldn’t be that hot from chili powder… if anything the red crushed pepper would be what makes it too hot which is why it is optional.
I’m super sensitive to spice and can taste almost none in the recipe. I agree you maybe used the wrong amount or the wrong type (cayenne maybe?). I’d leave out the pepper flakes next time
Thanks for the confirmation and review Katie 🙂
Taco Tuesday I get the ground beef cooked and find out we are out of seasoning packets. With this new thing going around I’m not running to the store but now what do I do with the ground beef? Found this recipe. I will never buy another packet as long as I can walk and cook. Thankyou