The absolute BEST ground beef Taco Meat! An easy to make homemade taco seasoning and a secret ingredient that makes this the most flavorful and juiciest taco meat EVER! Perfect for loading up on soft or hard shell tacos and topping with all your favorites!
What is the best meat to use for Taco Meat?
The best meat to use for taco meat is a simple ground beef, a 70-80% lean. The fat is going to help give flavor to the meat and we are able to drain the grease prior to serving.
What spices are in Taco Meat?
The spices that are used in this homemade taco seasoning are: chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
If you want to add a bit more heat you could add a bit of crushed red pepper as needed.
How do you make Taco Meat?
This recipe is super simple to follow and easy to make. We start with the ground beef, cook it up until it’s completely browned. Drain the grease. Then when we return to the heat to the stove lower the heat, add the homemade taco seasoning and a small amount of tomato sauce.
The tomato sauce thickens it up and helps the spices stick to the meat. It’s so flavorful and you will never go back to using water with your taco seasoning again! Trust me.
Some tools that you may find helpful for making this recipe:
- My favorite Green Pan Skillets (ceramic, non-stick, they are the BEST!)
- Wooden Spoons
Recipes that use this Taco Meat:
This meat is so versatile and can be added to so many other recipes. Some simple ideas that are on my site that use this same taco meat are:
Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
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The absolute BEST ground beef Taco Meat! An easy to make homemade taco seasoning and a secret ingredient that makes this the most flavorful and juiciest taco meat EVER! Perfect for loading up on soft or hard shell tacos and topping with all your favorites!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef (70-80% lean)
- 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef fully, drain grease, then add 1/2 cup tomato sauce and taco seasoning.
- Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add to tacos shells or use in any other recipes that call for taco meat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 120
- Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 28 mg
Keywords: tacos, taco meat, ground beef,
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Mary Ann Olson says
March 11, 2019 at 9:16 PMGreat recipe. My adult kids would love it. It was a little too spicy for my husband and I. I would giving it a heat rating or suggesting 1/2 teaspoon for “lightweights.” 😂
Cathie says
March 17, 2019 at 10:22 AMI make mine similar with a twist. cook one chopped onion in olive oil until transparent then cook ground beef. in addition to your spices I add 1/2 tsp black pepper and increase cumin to 1 tsp, oregano to 1 tsp, the juice of one lime and a small can of mild green chilies. everyone loves it even my youngest grandchildren request it. use it for tacos, make extra for nachos, chimichanga, enchiladas etc the next day
★★★★★
Kelly says
July 18, 2019 at 9:32 AMThat sounds fabulous. I gotta try that. I’m making this tonight. I’ll let you know. Thank you for this suggestion.
hatetank369 says
March 20, 2019 at 10:19 AMif you really want some good flavor try adding a can of cambells tomato soup instead of tomato sauce . I have converted a many of people .
Chef Robert LeBrun says
March 23, 2019 at 3:32 PMThese seasoning is literally Serena
I have tried various seasoning from various receipt i tasted even in mexico and your is the best i tasted in the usa good job
★★★★★
Serene says
March 27, 2019 at 6:58 PMThank you so much!!
Teresa Fulton says
April 11, 2019 at 5:12 PMCook ground turkey instead of beef with chopped onion, bell pepper and crushed garlic for variation. So yummy!
Mommom says
April 24, 2019 at 8:15 AM‘what kind of taco shells do you use? Mine are always hard and crack when I heat them. These look soft and yummy.
Mommom
Serene says
April 24, 2019 at 5:48 PMThese are corn tortillas! I get white corn tortillas and fry them up real quick in a small amount of oil in a skillet. You can see my method in the video on this post 🙂 I have the worst luck with buying hard shell tacos, so I just don’t buy them.
Emma Kelley says
April 25, 2019 at 4:57 PMI made this for dinner tonight 🤤 The seasoning made a wonderful flavor. It wasn’t spicy at all. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Connie says
May 21, 2019 at 6:25 AMI used this taco seasoning recipe and made beef tacos along with Frontera taco skillet sauce and the result was amazing, very well seasoned tacos with a silky nice filling. Very tasty. The leftover taco meat was immediate gone the next day.
★★★★★
Angela says
May 24, 2019 at 3:42 PMMy husband loves tacos. But buying them at a Mexican restaurant can be too expensive..he doesn’t like the packaged seasoning so I sear hed for a homemade seasoning mix….He loved it….and he is very picky
★★★★★
Danielle says
June 5, 2019 at 5:17 PMTo double the recipe should I just double all the ingredients? Thanks in advance, I’m super excited to make this for family night on Friday 🙂
Serene says
June 5, 2019 at 7:31 PMYes! Just double it all. Enjoy! And let me know how it turns out 🙂
Danielle says
June 8, 2019 at 11:51 AMUpdate: It was such a big hit! We made our own hard shells like the ones in your video and that put everything over the top. Makes them taste like they’re from a restaurant. You were right, I’ll never go back to using water again. The tomato sauce makes a huge difference 🙂 Thanks!
★★★★★
Dawn says
June 12, 2019 at 3:41 PMMy husband and I and my in-laws liked this a lot! I used El Pato Hot Tomato Sauce instead of regular tomato sauce for extra heat. It was great! Will definitely make this now instead of using taco mixes!!
★★★★★
Nicole says
June 17, 2019 at 8:22 PMThe addition of the tomato sauce was a game changer! My husband is super picky about taco seasoning (it HAS to be from a packet) and he absolutely loved it. He even followed up with me after dinner to make sure I’d saved it! Thank you for rescuing us from seasoning packets!
★★★★★