Oven Baked Beef Tacos are an easy weeknight meal you can make ahead with ground beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.
We love easy Taco Recipes on the site so much we’ve even made Taco Soup (readers LOVE this recipe because it’s so easy and quick) and Taco Pizza!
BAKED BEEF TACOS
Baked Beef Tacos weren’t on our calendar for the month of June but we got a few reader emails including one from Emily P. who said “You have Cheesy Taco Pasta, Taco Shells, and Taco Salad but you don’t have tacos! Would love to see a more classic taco recipe.”
It is Taco Tuesday after all!
We make these baked beef tacos anytime we’re having a taco night because we love the homemade seasoning for the taco meat, the melted cheese, the extra crispy shells and our favorite part?
In this version of beef tacos you don’t end up with 8 small bowls of toppings and taco fillings all around the table! As a parent you don’t end up spending half of the allotted dinnertime making young children’s tacos before you can eat. The whole family can enjoy dinner together, a kid-friendly dinner at that.
If you’re looking for more easy Mexican Recipes look no further as we are making all your classic favorite recipes as well as new recipes you won’t find anywhere else!
How to make Oven Baked Tacos:
- Cook your ground beef with taco seasoning until cooked through.
- Stand up your taco shells in a baking dish.
- Spoon ground beef into taco shells.
- Add shredded cheese to taco shells.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until cheese is melted.
- Top with desired toppings (shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream and olives)
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What to serve with Oven Baked Tacos?
We love serving these with classic Mexican side dishes like Mexican Rice, Black Beans, Refried Beans, Queso, Guacamole and we love having Tres Leches Cake or Mexican Wedding Cookies for dessert.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe:
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon corn starch
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional – use more or less depending on your spice tolerance)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Mix ingredient together and store in cool, dry space in an airtight container.
Troubleshooting Tips for Baked Tacos:
- Use a pan just big enough to lean the shells against each other so they can stand upright.
- Standing taco shells also help keep the shells from falling over in bigger pans.
- Make sure you are using hard taco shells. If using soft tortillas (corn tortillas or flour tortillas) it will take much longer than 10 minutes for soft tortillas to crisp up. Make quesadillas if you have soft tortillas.
- You can make chicken tacos, pork tacos or turkey tacos by simply swapping out the ground beef for ground meat of your choice.
- Ground turkey and ground chicken are much leaner options so when we use ground turkey we also sweat a yellow onion in just a bit of vegetable oil to add more moisture to the mixture before baking.
- Preheat your oven before you start making your ground beef. The longer the taco filling sits in the pan before being added to your baking dish the more moisture it loses.
- If you have leftovers you can use it in Taco Salad or Taco Pizza for an easy leftover meal for next time.
- You can add any of your favorite taco toppings to these baked tacos, you don’t have to only use the ones we added.
- You can add some salsa to the beef mixture as well before baking but be careful as it may make your taco shells slightly soggy.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning or 1 packet
- 1/2 cup water
- 10 taco shells
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- 1 vine tomato diced
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Add your ground beef to a large skillet on medium high heat and cook until no longer pink, breaking it apart (about 5-6 minutes).
- Whisk taco seasoning and water together and add to your pan, letting the liquid cook until mostly reduced, another 2-3 minutes.
- Place the taco shells into a baking dish standing them up against each other.
- Spoon the beef into the taco shells then add the cheddar cheese and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with lettuce, tomato and sour cream before serving.
Nutrition
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best low sodium tacos and easy. i also made the seasoning in the recipe!
i also did low sodium black beans as a side
Well, they sound delicious! In saying that, my dear mom was known as the Taco Queen of Glendale AZ, and then we sisters became the Taco Princesses, haha! But having terrible backaches at my very senior age, when cooking tacos for guests w leftovers for the next day, can you even imagine how great these sound?!! Thank you oh so much. Love your site ?.
Thank you!!!
This looks so yummy. I’ll try it soon. Honey Louise Gilbert
Thanks for all the good recipes. Love that you make even your spice mixes from scratch, my husband has some health issues, so this and the fact that you add the nutrition facts makes your site my favorite. So glad you share these with us.
You’re welcome Beverly. I look forward to seeing you around the site.
Are you kidding me? This is the best summer gathering group of recipes ever! Of course, everyone and their kids loves tacos! of course the hostess, me, does not want a big mess to deal with during the serving, sitting down to the table, etc. This is PERFECT, Then that delicious dessert. Perfection. All make ahead. So much less stress!
And a delicious spice mix for the ground beef. It galled me every time I bought packets, knowing I could make it cheaper myself, but no time to make it up without a recipe.
A big family gathering is coming up and I will be singing praises of your your site to all, I’ve already told my three sisters about it.
Thank you for sharing your great skills. You are helping make the world a better place.
You are too kind Trish!! Thank you so much for the 5 stars.
Those tacos look yummm! Thanks for the great recipe, Sabrina. And it’s very kind of you to leave so many tips for making the dish. Loved it! <3
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them.
What a great idea to make a lot of tacos at once! Thanks, we used this for taco tuesday today and it worked great
So glad you all enjoyed it!
Excellent! What a fantastic idea! Usually I have to keep interrupting my meal to make others their tacos. While these were in the oven, it gave me time to get the toppings ready. The shells were so crisp and the cheese so melty. Husband said these are the best I’ve ever made. Thank you Sabrina!
Interrupted no more!
wow, tacos are always a favorite at home, haven’t made them baked but you have given a great idea especially because it is only 30 minutes!
Easy peasy!
This is a great method for tacos, really making them simple and tasty. I do like the art of setting up my tacos with fillings of choice, but for an easy meal with no fuss this is ideal.
So great for feeding a crowd!
These are great for busy weeknights and everyone likes tacos so it will be a crowd pleaser as well.
Definitely!
This homemade seasoning sounds amazing. I never thought of baking the tacos. Definitely going to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you enjoy it, Patty!
Can’t wait to give these a try today! perfect for Taco Tuesday!
These Tacos look so amazing. Couldn’t have guessed that these are done in Oven. Perfectly done ?.. A must try for sure.
Thanks, Sonal.