Homemade Tacos are the perfect busy weeknight dinner. These Easy Ground Beef Tacos are better than take-out and ready in minutes.
Mexican Tacos
Traditional Mexican beef tacos are made with marinated sliced or shredded beef on soft corn tortillas. Those are great! But, that’s not what most Americans think of when we think of classic tacos.
Best Ground Beef Taco Recipe
Most of us grew up eating ground beef tacos in a crispy corn shell or a soft flour tortilla, with lots of toppings. That’s the traditional taco we’re making in this recipe. But, we’re not using a pre-packaged taco seasoning mix. This recipe uses a flavorful homemade taco seasoning.
What Kind of Ground Beef For Tacos?
Lean ground beef is the best beef to use for making tacos because you don’t need to drain off any fat after cooking it. There is just enough fat in the beef to make it super flavorful, but not so much to make it greasy. Skipping the step to drain the fat makes this a quick and easy taco recipe.
Of course, if you have ground beef with more fat, you can still use it in this recipe. Just cook the beef and drain off the fat before you add the taco seasonings.
How To Make Tacos
*Note: The full printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.
- Break apart lean ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add chili powder, cumin, salt, oregano, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Cook until the beef is browned.
- Add tomato sauce and water to the meat.
- Cook until some liquid has evaporated, but the meat is still saucy.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of the taco meat into hard taco shells or small soft tortillas.
- Top the tacos with your favorite traditional taco toppings.
Taco Toppings
- Shredded cheese
- Shredded lettuce
- Chopped tomatoes
- Diced onion
- Sliced avocado
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
How Much Taco Meat Do You Need Per Person?
If you use the traditional size hard taco shell, or small 6-inch flour tortillas, 2 tablespoons of taco meat per taco is the perfect amount. This recipe, using 1 pound of lean ground beef, will make 12 tacos. I tend to serve 3 tacos per person. So I use 1 pound of taco meat for 4 people.
Watch the step by step recipe video for The Best Homemade Tacos Recipe below.
The Best Homemade Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. 90% to 93% lean ground beef
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 12 taco shells - either hard shells or small 6-inch soft flour tortillas will work
- Optional Taco Toppings: shredded cheese shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, diced red onion, taco sauce, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
Instructions
- Add the beef to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Break the meat apart with a wooden spoon. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, oregano, garlic powder, and pepper to the meat. Stir well. Cook until the meat is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomato sauce and water. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes, until some of the liquid evaporates but the meat mixture is still a little saucy. Remove from the heat.
- Warm the taco shells according to their package directions.
- Fill the taco shells with 2 heaping tablespoons of taco meat. Top with desired taco toppings: shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, diced red onion, taco sauce, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
Nutrition
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Renea says
Looks very delicious and so colorful
Noelle says
This was perfect last night for taco tuesday!! I loved the flavors, delicious!
Jenna @ CookingInTheSouth says
My mouth is watering! Looks absolutely delicious!
Suzy says
One of my favorite weeknight meals to make! The whole family loved it!
Lisa says
It is the one Friday night dish my son loves. This recipe is very easy. I was using spaghetti sauce. I think next time I ‘ll try fresh chopped onions, bell peppers and garlic ; trying to add more fiber.
Jerry says
Drain the meat somewhere along the way (before adding seasonings, I’d think).
Chad says
Think she covered that In the intro. If your using really lean meat, no need to drain ,if using fatty meat, drain. Please read
Natalia says
The taco meat turned out delicious. I just reduced salt a bit.
Betty says
I followed your recipe and we really enjoyed them tonight. The flavor was very good.
I added 1/2 can of reffried beans Thank you
Jadine says
This recipe is amazing. I will deffo make this again