Easy Ground Beef Soft Tacos with a well seasoned juicy beef taco meat filling! Packed with delicious Mexican flavor and ready in 30 minutes!
Freshly made ground beef tacos are an easy recipe when you are craving Mexican Food! Instead of the crispy corn taco shells in my original Ground Beef Tacos, these tasty tacos are made with warm and soft tortillas. It’s the perfect quick meal for a busy weeknight!
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Ground Beef Soft Tacos Recipe
My delicious Ground Beef Soft Tacos are super easy but packed full of Mexican flavors. They are made with simple ingredients, most you probably already have on hand. One of the best parts is that you can keep it easy with all store-bought seasonings or you can make them completely from scratch, including the tortillas! Either way, they will come out amazing!
The key to a good ground beef taco is a filling that is well seasoned and moist. I added onions and salsa to keep the ground beef from drying out and it adds so much authentic Mexican taste. Once the meaty filling is ready you just add it to warm soft flour tortillas and top it off with your favorite fillings. So easy and delicious!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Ground Beef: Of course, the base ingredient to this Ground Beef Taco recipe is beef. 1 pound of ground beef should be plenty to make 8 tacos. I recommend using 85/15 ground beef, which is slightly healthier than fattier blends but still has good flavor and moisture.
- Onions: Browning the meat with onion adds a lot of savory flavor and some extra moisture to the meat mixture. ½ of a yellow onion should be plenty. Do a small dice or mince it so you get the flavor without big chunks of onion.
- Taco Seasoning: 1 package of taco seasoning is about 3 tablespoons of Homemade Taco Seasoning. If you have some chili powder and a handful of other pantry spices, making your own seasoning is super easy!
- Salsa: The meat mixture is finished by adding a cup of salsa. If you mix well and simmer the ingredients most of the liquid will cook away, leaving perfectly juicy but not soupy meat.
- Soft Tortillas: Use classic flour soft taco-sized tortillas for this recipe. If you have some time and feeling adventurous, try my easy Homemade Flour Tortilla recipe!
- Toppings: Serve the taco meat filling in warm tortillas with your favorite toppings like cheese, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and olives
Table of Contents
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Skillet: The best way to cook ground meat is in a large skillet. This larger surface gives you plenty of room to spread out the meat so it can develop a nice browned crust.
- Wooden Spatula: Anytime you will be doing a lot of stirring in your pan, it’s good to use a wooden spatula or spoon so that you don’t scratch the surface. This is especially important if you are using a non-stick pan.
- Tortilla Warmer: You don’t have to have one of these but they are great to keep your tortillas warm and soft. You could also use two plates, with the top one inverted over the tortillas.
Table of Contents
How to Make
Time needed:Â 25 minutes.
- Brown the Meat
Coat a heavy bottom skillet with cooking spray, and set the stovetop to medium-high heat. Add the ground beef to the skillet, and brown on all sides. Add sliced onion. Let the onion and beef cook with the onion begins to soften.
- Season and Thicken
Sprinkle taco seasoning over the cooked beef then pour in the salsa. Stir and bring the mixture to a low boil, then simmer at medium heat. Continue simmering for 10-15 minutes until the mixture thickens.
- Assemble the Tacos
Lay each tortilla out flat, and spoon the beef in tacos. Top the Ground Beef Taco recipe off with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, olives, and any other taco toppings you like.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can prep parts of these Beef Soft Tacos ahead of time, but wait until you want to serve them to assemble them. Make the meat the night before, then let it fully cool before storing in a sealed container. Toss it in a skillet over medium high heat and stir occasionally while it warms up.
Back toTable of Contents
Nutritional Facts
Table of Contents
Cooking Ground Beef Tacos Tips
Use a Large, Wide Skillet
Part of the flavor of ground beef comes from the “frond” which is the browned, almost caramelized, crust from the hot bottom of the pan. If your beef is crowded in a smaller pan, it will steam and not burn off enough moisture to get that crust. It will still be tasty and cooked in a small skillet, but the bigger pan will give you better flavor.
Buy Fresh Raw Tortillas
If you want tortillas that taste homemade but with less time, try cooking fresh, raw tortillas while your meat is thickening. They are usually in the refrigerated section near the cheese. They only need about 30 seconds on a hot griddle or clean skillet and they will take your tacos to the next level!
Back toTable of Contents
What to Pair With Ground Beef Tacos
You can add any of your favorite taco toppings to this Ground Beef Taco recipe. The add-ins are a great way to add even more delicious flavor and texture to the homemade ground beef filling. Here are some of my favorite add-ins:
- Tomatoes: For delicious tomato flavors, you can either add diced tomatoes, fresh tomato salsa, or pico de gallo.
- Sauces: You could also top the Ground Beef Taco recipe off with sauces like ranch dressing, sour cream, hot sauce, or cilantro lime sauce.
- Lettuce: Shred fresh lettuce like romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, or butter lettuce.
- Avocados: You can either add freshly sliced avocado or Guacamole to the ground beef taco meat filling.
- Beans: You can also add your favorite beans like Black Beans or Refried Beans.
Table of Contents
How to Store
- Store: If you have leftovers, it’s best to store everything separately so the tortillas don’t get soggy. The meat will stay fresh for up to 3 days in an air container.
- Reheat: You can reheat the meat in a skillet or in the microwave. Stir it frequently, about every 30 seconds, so that it warms up quickly without drying out.
- Freeze: Once the meat completely cools, store it in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the meat overnight in the fridge then reheat it on the stove top for the best taste.
Table of Contents
Ideas to Serve Ground Beef Taco Meat
- Taco Bar: You can even create an at-home taco bar with taco meat, tortillas, and assorted toppings for everyone to assemble their own.
- Taco Salad: Instead of tortillas, serve the meat in a bowl with chopped lettuce and add all the toppings. Use some corn chips to give it crunch and use more salsa as the dressing.
- Nachos: Serve the meat over tortilla chips along with beans, Nacho Cheese and your favorite toppings for some delicious, easy homemade nachos.Â
Table of Contents
Frequent Questions
¼ cup of meat is a good portion to add per taco, and two tacos is a decent serving per person.
I recommend 85/15 ground beef for taco meat because it still has plenty of fat to add flavor but isn’t overly greasy. Since you don’t drain the meat in this recipe, you don’t want too much fat in the blend.
Table of Contents
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 yellow onion , diced
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning , about 1 packet
- 1 cup salsa
- 8 soft taco flour tortillas
- 1 cup cheddar cheese , shredded
- lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, sliced black olives for optional topping
Instructions
- Brown the beef in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high.
- Add the onions and simmer until they begin to soften.
- Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the beef and the salsa.
- Bring to a low boil then simmer 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.
- Add mixture to the tacos, then top with desired toppings like cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and olives.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Table of Contents
Variations
Lean beef: If you want a slightly healthier Ground Beef Taco recipe just replace the regular beef with lean ground beef. You could also skip the ground beef taco meat altogether, and use the same seasonings and ingredients with ground chicken for chicken tacos.
Spicy: If you want to make these soft beef tacos spicy, try adding extra seasonings, like chili powder, pepper flakes, or a bit of cayenne pepper.
Tortillas: You can make this same Ground Beef Taco recipe and serve it in taco shells, corn tortillas, or whole wheat tortillas.
Add-ins: For extra flavors in the taco meat try adding minced garlic cloves, or garlic salt. You could also add chopped bell peppers, green onions, or corn to the meat mixture for extra color and texture.
Back toTable of Contents
Related Recipes
More Delicious Taco Recipes
