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These ground beef tacos are made with an easy homemade taco seasoning, juicy beef, and served in crispy or soft shells. Serve with all your favorite toppings for an easy weeknight meal that comes together fast.
If my family had a go-to meal, it would be these ground beef tacos. They’re on our table every single week, they’re done in under 30 minutes, and everyone gets to build their own.
Two things make these better than anything from a drive-thru. The first is the filling. A homemade taco seasoning plus a spoonful of tomato paste keeps the beef juicy and a little saucy instead of dry and crumbly.
The second is the shells. If you’ve never fried your own, this is your sign. Corn tortillas take about 45 seconds in hot oil and come out puffy and crisp in a way store-bought never quite manages. (If you don’t want to fry your own, store-bought crispy hard shells or soft flour tortillas or corn tortillas also work.)
Top them however you like. I’m partial to the classics: shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and tomatoes or pico de gallo. This is also the same taco meat I use in my chalupas, so if you double the batch you’re halfway to both.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is an overview of the key ingredients I used and why. See the recipe card below for the full recipe.
- Ground beef: I like using 85% lean for the best balance of flavor and juiciness. You can always discard any excess grease once the meat is cooked if you prefer. Of course, a leaner cut will also work! It’s all personal preference.
- Tomato paste and water: I like to add tomato paste for added flavor, acidity, and moisture. If you don’t have tomato paste, you can use a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce. Just note that using tomato sauce will add a little more sweetness than tomato paste.
- Taco seasoning: A blend of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, Mexican oregano, and salt gives these tacos the perfect bold flavor. Mexican oregano is preferred, but if you can’t find it near you or online, you can use regular oregano.
- Corn tortillas: This recipe features homemade crispy shells made from corn tortillas that are lightly shallow-fried in oil to get them nice and crunchy. However, you can also just warm the tortillas in a skillet or over an open flame if you prefer. Or use flour tortillas.
How to Make Ground Beef Tacos
- Cook the beef. Brown the ground beef in a skillet, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Drain any excess grease, then stir in the tomato paste, water, and all the taco seasonings. Let it simmer for about 1-3 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in fresh lime juice.
- Prep the shells. To make homemade crunchy shells, heat 1/2 an inch of oil in a pan, then fry each tortilla for 15 seconds per side, using tongs to fold it into a taco shape. Drain on paper towels. You could also heat up store-bought shells in the microwave or an oven to crisp them up.
- Assemble and serve. Fill the taco shells or tortillas with beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream.
How to Warm Taco Shells
If you’re frying your own shells, they’re already warm and crisp, so skip ahead. But if you’re using store-bought, don’t fill them straight from the box.
Spread them on a baking sheet and toast at 325°F for 4 to 6 minutes. They’ll taste better, and they’re much less likely to crack when you fill them. In a hurry, 15 seconds in the microwave gets you most of the way there.
Toppings for Ground Beef Tacos
Half the fun of taco night is letting everyone build their own, so I set the toppings out in little bowls and let people go. You can prep all of it a day ahead except the avocado. Here are some of my favorites:
- shredded lettuce
- shredded cheese (cheddar or Monterey jack are great options)
- diced tomatoes or pico de gallo
- sour cream or Mexican crema
- guacamole
- Mexican pickled onions
- cilantro lime crema
- roasted tomato salsa
Frequently Asked Questions
You need about ¼ pound of taco meat per person. This recipe uses 1 pound, which makes a total of 4 servings. Each serving is 3 tacos. That ensures everyone is well-fed and not hungry afterward.
You need about 2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning per pound of ground beef to season taco meat.
Cooked ground beef taco meat can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
To reheat, warm the meat in a skillet over medium heat (or in the microwave) for a few minutes until fully heated through. You may need to mix in a splash of water or broth if the mixture has dried out.
Ground Beef Tacos
Ingredients
For the taco meat
- 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste (see notes for using tomato sauce)
- ½ cup water (or beef broth)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (about ½ lime)
For the crunchy taco shells
- 12 corn tortillas
- Oil, for frying (vegetable oil, olive oil, or avocado oil are great)
For serving
- Thinly shredded lettuce
- Shredded cheese
- Diced tomatoes
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Make the filling. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks. Drain and discard any excess grease if necessary.
- Add the tomato paste, water, chili powder, ground cumin, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano. Stir together until fully combined. Cook for 1 more minute.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
- Make the crunchy taco shells. Line a large baking sheet with paper towels. Heat 1 inch of frying oil in a sauté pan or pot over medium-high heat until hot. (If the oil sizzles when you dip the edge of the tortilla in, it’s ready.) Working 1 tortilla at a time, add in a tortilla and fry for 15 seconds. Flip it over and use tongs to fold the tortilla in half to create a “U” shape. Fry for 15 seconds like this, then flip once more, continuing to fold the tortilla with the tongs, and fry on the other side for 15 more seconds. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet to drain off any excess oil. Continue frying the remaining tortillas.
- Serve the ground beef in the taco shells topped with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream.
Notes
- Beef: I like using 85% lean ground beef to keep the taco meat juicy and moist without it being overly greasy.
- Tomato paste: You can use ½ cup of tomato sauce instead of the tomato paste and water.
- Taco shells: If you don’t feel like frying your own taco shells, you can use your favorite store-bought crunchy taco shells, or you can use soft and warm corn tortillas or flour tortillas.
- Reheating the taco meat: Add a splash of water or broth when reheating the taco meat to help prevent it from drying out.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Taco Recipes
This post was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with new photos, more helpful tips, and a better overall recipe.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
Hello Isabel,
If you don’t have lime can you replace with lemon?
Thx
Yes, you could!
Hi Isabel,
Are you using regular oregano or Mexican oregano in this recipe? Thanks!!
Hi Shandria! This recipe uses regular oregano.
I really like this but I added a tsp of ancho chili powder and smoked paprika — it has become a family tradition.
Do you have a recipe for a big batch of diy taco mix?
Hi Cristina! Yes we have a recipe for homemade taco seasoning and you can double or triple it depending on what you need.
Your post about potato taco brought back a fond memory. My late husband and I drove a tractor trailer. Our favorite load was to Larado, TX. The taco truck served ground beef and potato tacos. We actually would not put ourselves available till after the morning taco run. We tried to recreate them at home but never found the right combination. If you have a recipe can you please share
Hi Susan! We’re glad this recipe brought back memories for you. We dont have a recipe that mixes both, but you can definitely make the potato taco filling, and this ground beef filling and then fill and fry them with the potato taco instructions.
When you say chili powder, is there a specific one that you use?
Hi Carol! Any chili powder you can find in your grocery store is fine. We usually use a regular chili powder that is a combination of different ground chilis.
I thought I already had the best taco seasoning that could be had, but I gave this one a try because of all the great recipes Isabel does every day. I’m forced to leave a comment after making this tonight. This is by far, the BEST I’ve had from anywhere (including restaurants). Excellent Isabel, many thanks.
I am very excited about the recipe for taco seasoning. I need to control my salt intake so this will give me the perfect seasoning without the sodium. My question is: after I have my double batch of mix how much per 1 lb of ground beef?
Hi Debbie! On the recipe page on the website, if you hover over the serving size number, you can adjust it to what you need. It then automatically adjusts the amount for the ingredients. I hope this helps!
Debbie K asked how much of the pre~made seasoning to use for 1 pound of ground beef. She has ALREADY made a double batch of the Taco Seasoning, now she wants to know how much of that bulk seasoning she should use per pound of ground beef.
I don’t understand how your response answers her question? How is hovering over the serving size and adjusting the amount of each individual spice going to help her figure out what amount should be used per each 1 pound of ground beef?
Hi Lyssa! I apologize for the confusion, I misread the response. We recommend 2 tbsp per 1 pound of ground beef.
Isabel. What is that specific hot sauce you have in this picture. I hope you have the recipe for that one. It looks very delicious.
I do! It’s this Toasted Red Chile Salsa – https://www.isabeleats.com/toasted-red-chile-salsa/. Enjoy!
making tacos tonight using your taco seasoning, thanks so much for sharing! do you make your own hot or chipotle or sriracha sauce?
Thanks, Abby! And I make my own hot sauce sometimes. Here’s a link to check out the sauces that I’ve shared – https://www.isabeleats.com/recipes/sauces-dressings-dips/. I also have a lot of different store bought hot sauces in my fridge, haha. I like Valentina, original Cholula, Frank’s Red Hot, and more! 🙂
This taco seasoning is delicious and tastes just like seasoning you’d buy in a packet. I’ve tried other recipes and they weren’t as good and also required a lot more spices. This one is perfect and makes for a super quick dinner. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!