Published | Julia Frey (Vikalinka)
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Learn how to make the most delicious taco meat with my easy and straightforward recipe. Ditch the store bought, pre-mixed taco seasoning and up the flavour of your beef tacos by using my simple homemade mix.
If you are a taco fan, you will love serving this Black Bean and Corn Salsa with your ground beef tacos!
This taco recipe has been long overdue. I can hardly believe I never shared it before as I’ve been making this ground beef taco and burrito filling for over a decade. My family believes I have perfected it over the years.
The beef that comes out as a result of this recipe is truly the most delicious and flavourful thing that can be created while using very cheap ingredients. Let’s look at it, shall we?
How To Make Taco Meat
If you’ve ever had a taco in Mexico or a good Mexican restaurant at home you know that almost anything can go in. That’s the beauty of a taco.
The most popular choices include pulled pork, pulled lamb in birria tacos, Mexican (not to be confused with Spanish) chorizo or chicken.
All options listed above take quite a long time to prepare, except for chicken tacos, which I cook in Instant Pot in under 20 minutes. Those ingredients could also be a bit pricey.
Today I am sharing a recipe, that is quick and relatively inexpensive. Ground beef plus a handful of ingredients, that produce that most loved TexMex treat. Beef Tacos.
I never liked using a pre-made taco seasoning mix because of the unnecessary ingredients like thickeners and too much salt. I prefer using a mix of 4 spices, which I always have on hand. Plus fresh garlic, onions and a touch of tomato paste.
I do have a secret ingredient that makes my ground beef taco filling creamy and luscious. Ready?
Black beans. I blend them up and stir into the meat mixture. This little tricks makes the meat filling thicker and more nutritious.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Ingredients
To prepare your own seasoning blend is very easy. Just mix the ingredients listed below and add to your beef. This way you will always have fresh and fragrant spices flavouring your dish. No preservatives or additives. No extra salt ether.
I am sharing my spice ratios with you in the recipe below. My family loves cumin and coriander, so my mix is heavy on those spices. However, you can increase or decrease amounts to adjust it to your liking.
- Onions
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Oregano
- Chilli powder
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Although I am using ground beef in this particular recipes you can use any meat you love. Chicken, turkey, ground pork will all work well here. You can also use shrimp! Simply adjust the onion quantity according to your taste or follow my Chicken Chilaquiles recipe as a guide.
- Ground beef is a great and affordable ingredient but could be a bit crumbly. Not exactly what you want in a taco. I use blended black beans to naturally thicken and bond the taco meat mixture. Incidentally the black beans also give the taco beef a great creamy texture as well as an added fibre boost.
- If you don’t want to involve a blender, you can simply mash canned black beans with a potato masher or substitute them with refried beans.
Other Uses Besides Tacos
What I also love about this beef recipe is its versatility. You can obviously use it in tacos. But did you know that this taco meat works equally well in other recipes?
- Beef Quesadillas
- Taco Salad
- Burritos
- Beef Enchiladas
- Beef Taco Casserole (Just add some frozen or canned corn and beans, top with sharp cheese and crushed tortilla chips and bake in the oven. Then serve with rice and salsa.)
- Taco Meat Stuffed Bell Peppers for a low carb version. Add a bit of melted cheese on top for extra flavour!
Serving suggestions
There are an almost infinite number of ways to serve tacos, but here are some of my favourite sides:
- 5 Minute Blender Salsa Fresca
- Blackberry Chilli Lime Salsa and Red Cabbage Coleslaw
- Perfect Guacamole Recipe
- Lettuce
- Sour Cream
- Grated Cheese
- Sliced Avocados
Storage and Leftovers:
If you happen to have leftover taco meet, it could be refrigerated for 2-3 days. Alternatively, you can freeze your leftovers up to 2 months when stored in air-tight containers.
More Tex-Mex recipes
- Chicken Fajitas
- Creamy White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Cuban Pork (Lechon Asado)
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos
Taco Meat Recipe
Julia Frey of Vikalinka
Easy and straightforward taco meat recipe using a homemade taco seasoning blend that consists of just a handful of spices, onions, garlic and tomato paste.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican, TexMex
Servings 4
Calories 259 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lbs lean ground beef (5% fat)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp dried coriander
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 125ml/1/2cup water
- salt to taste
- 170g/1cup canned black beans, blended in food processor or blender see recipe notes for substitutions
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the chopped onions over low heat for 5-7 minutes, then add the pressed garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Add the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. (Drain the fat if not using lean beef.)
To the beef add the cumin, dried coriander, chilli powder, oregano, tomato paste and water with a pinch of salt, turn the heat up and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Process the black bean with the liquid in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add to the beef and let it simmer uncovered for 10 minutes longer until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the beef. Taste the taco meat and add more salt if necessary.
Notes
Recipe Substitutions
Any beans will work in place of black beans. I have successfully used red kidney beans, butter beans and chickpeas.
You can also used refried beans.
I prefer using extra lean beef but feel free to use 10% fat beef or higher if desired.
Nutrition
Calories: 259kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 28gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 321mgPotassium: 734mgFiber: 4gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 380IUVitamin C: 7.6mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 6.1mg
Keyword beef tacos, taco recipe, taco meat recipe
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About Julia Frey (Vikalinka)
Julia Frey is a London based recipe developer and photographer. Julia founded Vikalinka in 2012 with the main mission to provide her readers with delicious and accessible everyday recipes, which could be enjoyed by everyone.
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