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Ground Beef Tacos

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By Pillsbury Kitchens
Updated Aug 28, 2024
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These fresh, homemade ground beef tacos are bursting with Mexican-inspired flavors the entire family will love! It’s a one-dish dinner idea that is ready to serve in just 30 minutes. As easy on the budget, and it is to make and clean up. No wonder it gets ranked highly by our fans.

The savory taco meat filling is an easy combination of ground beef that’s simmered with onions, a few on-hand seasonings, and tomato sauce, for amazing flavor everyone will love. Spooned into crunchy taco shells, the tacos get topped with cheddar cheese and lettuce and are served with salsa and sour cream, for a meal your family will request again and again.

How to Make Ground Beef Tacos

Here are the basics of how to make our easy ground beef tacos. Refer to the recipe for all the specifics, so your tacos will taste perfectly seasoned with the just the right amount of filling:

Prepare the Taco Meat

Cook your ground beef with onion to add flavor in just one step—slashing time from cooking them separately. Add garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce to the drained meat mixture and simmer to bring out and balance the flavors perfectly.

Warm the Taco Shells

For the best texture and experience, warm the taco shells in the oven. In a hurry? You can skip this step and get right to filling the shells!

Assemble the Tacos

Spoon the taco ingredients into the shells, starting with the ground beef mixture and top with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Serve with Sauces

Offer salsa and sour cream so that each person can top their tacos as they wish.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

What is the secret to our delicious tacos? It’s the flavorful combination of ingredients simmered in the ground beef! We take simple seasonings like garlic and chili powder and add them in just the right amounts with onion, tomato sauce and salt to create the best-tasting ground beef taco recipe you can make. It creates the best flavor for all-family appeal, not too mild but not too spicy either. It's like an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Make My Tacos Spicier?

Want to spice things up a bit? Here’s how to make tacos spicier for everyone or for those who want a bolder flavor:

Spicier Tacos for All: If everyone loves the heat in Tex-Mex tacos, you can add a dash or two of red pepper sauce with the tomato sauce in the ground beef mixture. Serve hot salsa with the tacos for even more heat.

Spicier Tacos for Just a Few: Prepare the tacos as directed but serve them with hot salsa and red pepper sauce on the side so those who like heat can dial up the flavor as they wish.

Can I Make the Tacos Ahead?

You can make the ground beef mixture for the ground beef tacos recipe up to 2 days in advance. Cool it and place it in a food safe storage container. Store in in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. (The flavor of the taco meat can get even better, when the ingredients have time to hang out together.) When you’re ready to make the tacos, spoon the taco meat into a microwavable bowl. Cover and microwave on medium-high (70%) about 1 minute or until heated through. Continue as directed in Step 3.

Can I Make Ground Turkey Tacos?

This ground beef tacos recipe is very adaptable to other types of ground meat. You can use ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, or even meatless crumbles instead of the ground beef. Use what your family prefers or what is on sale. If making taco meat with ground turkey, ground chicken, or meatless crumbles, spray your skillet with cooking spray before cooking, as these ground meats are lower in fat and therefore can stick to the pan without it. We don’t suggest using ground sausage for this dish, as the seasonings in the meat can fight the flavors of the taco seasoning.

Ground Beef Tacos

  • Prep Time 30 min
  • Total 30 min
  • Ingredients 12
  • Servings 6
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
  • 1 box (4.6 oz) Old El Paso™ Crunchy Taco Shells (12 Count)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz)
  • 2 cups shredded lettuce
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 3/4 cup thick & chunky salsa
  • 3/4 cup sour cream, if desired

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Heat oven to 250°F. In large skillet, brown ground beef and onion over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain.
  • Step 
    2
    Stir in chili powder, salt, garlic powder and tomato sauce. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes.
  • Step 
    3
    Meanwhile, place taco shells on ungreased cookie sheet. Heat at 250°F. for 5 minutes.
  • Step 
    4
    To assemble tacos, layer beef mixture, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes in each taco shell. Serve with salsa; top with sour cream.

Nutrition

390 Calories
23g Total Fat
22g Protein
23g Total Carbohydrate
5g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 2 tacos
Calories
390
Calories from Fat
210
Total Fat
23g
36%
Saturated Fat
11g
53%
Trans Fat
1/2g
Cholesterol
75mg
25%
Sodium
890mg
37%
Potassium
440mg
13%
Total Carbohydrate
23g
8%
Dietary Fiber
3g
14%
Sugars
5g
Protein
22g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
20%
20%
Vitamin C
8%
8%
Calcium
25%
25%
Iron
15%
15%
Exchanges:
1 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 1 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
1 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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