This Ground Beef Taco Meat is what I use to make our favorite ground beef tacos. It takes less than 15 minutes and is so flavorful, thanks to my homemade taco seasoning. It’s a quick dinner recipe that will elevate your next Taco Tuesday, and is always a hit with the family!
Ground beef tacos have always been one of my favorite dinners, I never get tired of them! They aren’t impressive or fancy, but they are so satisfying and everybody loves them. There are so many ways to make Ground Beef Taco Meat, but I’ve been using my recipe for as long as I can remember and it comes together with one pan in 15 minutes.
In our family, we like to serve them with lots of thinly sliced iceberg lettuce and freshly shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole, maybe chopped red or green onions, and hard shell and soft shell flour tortillas. It’s become a frequent tradition for Taco Tuesday and my girls love helping me measure the spices to make dinner.
It’s a simple and basic recipe, but let’s be real, sometimes basic is best. Tacos are one of my go-to menu items for weeknights when I don’t really want to cook or didn’t plan ahead. I almost always have hamburger in the freezer that can be defrosted and turned into tacos, taco salad, nachos, and more in the blink of an eye.
Reader Review: “That bit of tomato paste really gives the taco meat extra added flavor, so simple and so much better than the packets – great recipe!!” – Deb
Ingredients
Taco Seasoning:
- Chili powder: Smokiness, this spice is the base of any taco seasoning packet and a required spice in taco meat.
- Cumin: Adds warmth and a little bit of nuttiness.
- Coriander: Another warming spice similar to cumin, but also has citrus notes.
- Oregano: Always a nice, rich herb to enhance the flavor.
- Garlic powder: The easiest way to add a punch of garlicky flavor.
- Onion powder: Adds a little hint of sweetness and almost caramelizes when it cooks.
- Smoked paprika: One of my favorite ingredients to add an underlying smoky flavor to the ground beef.
- Crushed red pepper: For a little bit of heat! Omit if you prefer mild.
- Chipotle chili powder: Another spicy chili powder, it really takes the taco meat to another level.
- Salt and black pepper: Always season, it enhances all of the flavors.
Ground Beef:
- Ground beef: I prefer 80/20 for the best flavor to fat ratio. See my note below!
- Tomato paste: Adds rich, concentrated tomato flavor.
- Water: Don’t skip on water! It keeps the beef moist and helps to deglaze the pan for extra flavor.
Amy’s Tip: What ground beef is best for tacos?
I don’t like to use ground beef that is too lean for tacos. I think the best ground beef for taco meat is 80/20 lean, maybe 85/15 max.
The higher fat content gives much better flavor to the taco meat and helps it stay juicy. And you will drain the grease off the ground beef prior to adding the spices in the homemade taco seasoning.
How to make taco meat for ground beef tacos
- Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat until it is browned. Drain the grease.
- Add the spices, tomato paste, and water, stirring to combine. Decrease the heat to low and cover with a lid, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve with tortillas and your favorite taco fixings.
Expert Tips
- When making taco meat for a crowd, this recipe can easily be multiplied for large groups. One batch makes enough for 8 tacos, as written, which is perfect for our family of four.
- Customize the spices to your liking. I’m giving you the ratio for my classic taco seasoning, but you can make it your own. Omit some spices or double others, that’s where the fun is in this recipe.
- If you are short on tomato paste, you can use ketchup! We usually always have that in the house and it’s delicious too.
- When cooking beef that is really greasy or releases a lot of liquid, drain it before adding the spices and tomato paste. The water will re-moisten the beef and it will be so flavorful.
- Batch the taco seasoning for later! I like to make a big batch (3-4x) the amount of the recipe and keep it in a container. It stores well at room temperature for weeks.
Variations
Here are some other version of taco meat that we’ve made over the years.
- Add some veggies if you want. I’ve added half of a diced onion, a clove or two of minced garlic, or a chopped bell pepper to the pan with the ground beef before browning and saute them together.
- Stir in some beans. Mix in a can of drained black beans to stretch the taco meat a little farther.
- Make it saucy. Add ½ teaspoon of cornstarch with the taco seasoning for a slightly saucier taco meat.
- Swap the protein. You can switch out the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken if you are looking for a healthier option.
Ways to Serve Ground Beef Taco Meat
We usually have it the classic way, like I mentioned above, with corn and/or flour tortillas, shredded iceberg lettuce, cheese, pico de gallo, cilantro, and tomatoes, and sour cream.
But you can also have fun with meat and use it for topping nachos, salad, tostadas, pizza, or even make double decker tacos!
Double Decker Tacos
One of our favorite things to do with this easy taco meat is to make double decker tacos.
That’s where you spread refried beans on a flour tortilla, then lay a hard shell taco on top of the beans and fold the flour tortilla over it and fill the hard shell like normal with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. They are the BEST!
Storage
Store any leftover taco meat in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a skillet or the microwave with a splash of water until warmed through.
The taco meat also freezes wonderfully. Let it cool and place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat.
I often make this for meal prep as well to enjoy for lunches during a busy week. Usually I customize it in all different ways to make mealtime feel different and unique.
FAQs
You can add a little bit of cornstarch or try adding a small can of tomato sauce for added flavor too.
Diced onion, bell peppers, and tomatoes all work well. Just saute them after the ground beef before adding the spices and tomato paste.
Of course! This is still a great method to cook ground beef with a seasoning packet for juicy taco meat.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Grilled Thai Pork Tenderloin with Peanut Sauce
- Creamy Apple Cider Chicken Skillet
- Meatloaf Hamburger Patties
- Best Beef Kabob Marinade
- And see all of my DINNER RECIPES here!
Ground Beef Taco Meat
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
Taco Seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat, brown the ground beef. Drain excess fat.1 lb ground beef
- Add tomato paste, water and all the spices to the ground beef. Stir to mix them together, and bring to a simmer.2 Tablespoons tomato paste, ½ cup water, 1 Tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground coriander, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper, ⅛ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- Cover and simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat and use for tacos, nachos, or taco salad.
Notes
- Store any leftover taco meat in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat in a skillet or the microwave with a splash of water until warmed through.
- The taco meat also freezes wonderfully. Let it cool and place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat.
Ground coriander is pretty much my favorite spice ever! I add to everything Latin inspired. And it smells amazing!
I know! It’s such wonderful stuff! Did you know that coriander is the seed from the cilantro plant?!
That bit of tomato paste really gives the taco meat extra added flavor, so simple and so much better than the packets – great recipe!!
We love tacos and eat them almost weekly! This recipe is delicious and made the best taco salad this weekend!
I could make taco night every night around here. This looks nice and easy while being super flavorful!
I love all of the rich spices you have in this recipe! We sometimes add a squeeze of lime. We love that ground beef can be quick to make and super flavorful.
Wow ! Fantastic flavor with the meat, I really don’t care for tacos much, but this was a game changer for me ! I used the paste also and a bit extra water . I cut back on the hot stuff since my family doesn’t like it hot, I put hot sauce on mine and some sour cream along with chopped onion, tomato and lettuce . Thanks !
I always cook for crowds, so for 5 pounds of ground meat I used two 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce instead of tomato paste and water. Tasted great but way too spicy for me even though I omitted the last ingredient and cut the previous one by half. That much chili powder and black pepper destroys me. Everyone else loves it!
Wow, that is definitely cooking for a crowd! So glad it was a hit with everybody even if it was a little on the spicy side for your tastes!
it was great thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome. Thanks for making it!
Tastes incredible. Took out a tiny bit of the full tsp of cumin and added that same amount omitted in the 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika. Hope that makes sense. Tiny bit less of cumin & tiny bit more of smoked paprika. The perfect ratio in my opinion. Tasted great as recipe suggested too but a tiny bit too cumin-y. Incredible recipe overall and the range of rich spices makes me feel a lot better about eating crunchy tacos so often lol.
how do you prepare the beans you mentioned ?
I always make my refried beans in the instant pot. It’s so easy!
So simple and very tasty! I am not a cook and even I could make this without much effort and tasting great. Thank you.
Great, quik easy, short and succinct!
delicious too
The taco meat turned our to be delicious, this is especially noteworthy as it was vegan meal, Gardein’s the Utimate beetles ground. We all really loved it. Thanks for the recipe. I doubt anyone would have known it was vegan once it was spiced up.
Love this quick & easy recipe! In these pandemic times, I’ve been afraid to get take-out or use drive-thrus , & tacos were my biggest craving! I tried another recipe that was too bland, but this one gave me that authentic Mexican flavor I was looking for. I’ll be making it frequently!
I used this recipe x5 for a bigger batch of taco meat. I used the tomato paste and added 1 large clove of freshly minced garlic. It was soupy after 5 minutes of simmering so I simmered another 5 minutes uncovered. It was great! I like to leave a container of it in the fridge for quick meals.
“You can switch out the ground beef for ground taco if you are looking for a healthier option.”
Hmm so I make the taco, then ground the taco, then put that in the new taco?
I think you mean “ground turkey?”
Lol – you are right! What an embarrassing typo! Thanks for the heads up!
So, this was incredibly spicy, i suggest leaving out or maybe using less chili powders. Otherwise great flavors
Best ever taco recipe
Thank you Sasha!