Easy Ground Beef Tacos (2024)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Ground Beef Tacos is one of our favorite weeknight family meals, especially on Taco Tuesdays! I have a quick homemade taco seasoning that I love to use for this recipe so I can cook the taco meat in 10 minutes. Give it a try and it’ll be your new go-to for taco night too!

Homemade taco seasoning

Making taco seasoning from scratch is super easy and can be cheaper than buying the prepared taco seasoning. Here are the spices I include in my recipe. Feel free to also add paprika, coriander, onion powder and crushed red pepper to give it some heat.

• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Garlic powder
• Mexican oregano
• Salt and pepper

I provide suggested amounts in the recipe card below because usually there’s more of the chili powder and cumin compared to the other spices. However, feel free to adjust the quantities, or use your favorite prepared taco seasoning.

How do you make ground beef taco meat

1. Place the ground beef in a skillet with olive oil.
2. Brown the beef with olive oiland then drain any fat.
3. Add the spices along with the tomato paste and water (or tomato sauce)
4. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens.

And the end result is flavorful juicy homemade tacos that’s ready to be served in less than 15 minutes.

Toppings for Tacos

I like to keep it simple with usually a few different toppings when I’m making these just for the family on weeknights. However, I love having DIY taco bars with friends and family and I usually include the following toppings for tacos:

• Shredded lettuce or cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend
• Red onions
• Guacamole (store bought or homemade) or avocado
• Olives
• Jalapeños
• Sour Cream
• Salsa or my Bean Tomato Salsa

Tips for making ground beef tacos

1. Be careful not to dry out the taco meat when you add the sauce. Once the beef is cooked, you want to cook it with the seasoning and liquid on medium low and just until the sauce starts to thicken. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t dry out.
2. Heat up the tortillas before adding the ground beef on top. You can heat them up in the microwave, oven or on a skillet for 1-2 minutes per side. This makes the tortillas soft, pliable and much less likely to break.
3. Add onions to the mixture to make it more savory. You’ll want to cook the onions until they soften before adding the ground beef. It gives the taco meat a deeper flavor, but it’s totally optional. Adding onion powder is a quick easy update as well.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best ground beef for tacos?

I prefer to use 90% lean ground beef for tacos for the best flavor and consistency. If it’s any more lean, it may be too dry. If you use a less lean kind, make sure to drain off the fat after cooking the ground beef, before adding the seasoning.

How can make the tacos low carb?

The actual ground beef taco meat is low carb, so you can use low-carb tortillas or skip the tortillas all together as serve it as a taco salad or in a taco bowl.

How much taco meat do you need per person?

Using a traditional 6-inch tortilla or traditional size hard taco shell, you can use about 2-3 tablespoons of taco meat per taco. That means that depending on how much you load up the ground beef tacos with other ingredients, one pound of beef could serve between 8 and 12 people.

For more Tex Mex recipes:

• Mexican Street Tacos
• Baked Chicken Tacos
• Tempeh Tacos
• Beef Taco Burritos
• Shrimp Fajita Bowls
• Chicken Burrito Bowl
• Walnut Tacos

This is one of those family friendly recipes that is always in our rotation. They kids love, and I love how easy it is to prepare. I’ll often double or triple the recipe when I’m having people over, or to have leftovers for adding to a taco salad lunch bowl.

If you’vetried this healthy-ish feel good Ground Beef Tacosrecipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget torate the recipeand leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me onInstagram so I can repost on my stories!

preorder MY book

The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook is now available everywhere books are sold!

Amazon Barnes & Noble Books A Million Hudson Booksellers BookshopSCHULER Books (SIGNED)