Use this tasty homemade taco meat recipe in six different meals your family will love! You can take this basic spiced taco meat and make tacos, taco salad, taco pasta bake, tostadas, burritos, and easy enchiladas with just a few added ingredients for each meal.
If you have time to make the taco meat recipe ahead and freeze it in meal-sized portions, it will save you so much time on weeknights! Grab a bag of meat to thaw, fix up the other ingredients you need for your meal of choice, and put dinner on the table fast. It’s like a homemade version of a good old-fashioned Hamburger Helper, but without the added sodium. Such a fast meal option!
How to Make the Taco Meat Filling
Making this homemade taco meat recipe is very easy and forms the base of six different inexpensive meal options. I’m including the recipes for the filling, the homemade taco seasoning, and all of the different meal options in this post. Print what you want now, and come back for more options later!
Taco Meat Recipe Ingredients
Ground Beef or Shredded Chicken.
Tomato Sauce.
Taco Seasoning. You can use either store-bought or homemade.
Instructions
Cook the ground beef fully. Drain the grease. Then add tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Simmer for five minutes.
How to Make Your Own Taco Seasoning
If you don’t have a taco seasoning packet in the house, you can make your own by throwing all of these spices in a bowl and stirring it all up with a fork. Easy peasy. The amounts are listed on the recipe card. Make sure your spices were purchased in the last six months for best results.
If you are gluten-free, making your own homemade taco seasoning may be a necessity, but it is a happy one. You can control your spice level, ensure there are no unnecessary added ingredients in your food and have taco seasoning at your fingertips whenever you need it.
Ingredients for Taco Seasoning
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Dried Oregano
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Salt
Easy Meals To Make With This Taco Meat Recipe
Each of these options requires slightly different ingredients, timing, and varying degrees of effort. I’ve included a different recipe card for each and every option in this blog article. Print one or print them all!
- Tacos. Serve the filling in traditional taco shells with various toppings.
- Taco Salad. Serve the meat on a salad with crunchy tortilla chips.
- Taco Pasta Bake. Throw pasta and the meat filling into the oven for a baked pasta dish which is the ultimate comfort food.
- Tostadas. Crunchy bowl meat yummy meat.
- Burritos. Use soft shells for a different food experience.
- Easy Enchiladas. Serve enchiladas in the blink of an eye.
Use the Taco Meat Filling for Tacos
The most obvious way to use the base recipe is in tacos. If you’ve never made tacos before, here’s how it all comes together.
Use the Taco Meat Filling to Make Taco Salad
The fresh, light taco salad is a nice flavorful dinner when you are craving salad greens and the crunch of tortilla chips. It’s not mentioned on the recipe card, but I like to add a little sour cream to my salad, and skip a dressing. You can also use a cilantro or avocado ranch dressing if you like.
How to Make Taco Pasta Bake using our Taco Meat Recipe
This delicious taco pasta bake is comfort food that kids especially love. Use pre-cooked pasta, even leftover pasta if you have it. Some frozen corn, drained black beans, or a can of diced tomatoes can be added to this dish for variety.
Make Tostadas Like A Restaurant
This seems like such a fancy dish, but you can actually buy the shells at your grocery store, so why not get fancy at home? It’s a fun way to combine salad and crunch with tacos.
Burritos
Make a delicious burrito meal your whole family will enjoy.
Easy Enchiladas for a Busy Weeknight
When you want something fast and you are tired of tacos, make these instead.
Other Recipes to Enjoy
Easy Enchilada Casserole Recipe – Mexican Lasagne
Mexican Summer Squash Recipe and Slow Cooked Chicken Menu
Easy Homemade Fajitas Recipe – Quick And Easy $5 Dinner Recipe
Everything sounds delicious will have to try. Tonight I made the chicken and dumpling soup . It was filling. Watched the show tonight my prayers are with everyone , glad everyone is alright. Also I hear your Birthday is this Friday so HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY Tawra and many more to come.
Thank you so much Dale for the birthday wishes – from Tawra
Hi Jill and Tawra I have just finished going through this News letter and seeing if I could find the Taco recipe , which I could, wrote down the Glutten free Brownie Recipe and Frosting. Have a question what does Xanthan Gum do…? (if not in flour). Also wrote down the soft scrub recipe for tub cleaning . On FB I always save anything that might save time and money. Thank you for these posts I really appreciate them and they keep me busy.
Xanthan can do different things but one of them is to add thickness. Gluten helps things like bread to rise and with the texture of the bread so Xanthan gum helps in that area.
I loved your taco mix. We don’t care too much for oregano so I substituted with paprika. I made up a bunch of the mix, over 2 cups worth, and put it in an empty spice container. The next day I cooked up 5 lbs of hamburger with onion and bell peppers, added the taco spice mix and ended up with 10 bags of taco meat in the freezer with plenty of the taco spice mix left in the jar. I used to cook 1 lb of hamburger meat for the three of us for dinner. Now I only use 1/2 lb for the three of us. (Thanks for sharing this frugal tip with us, Jill and Tawra.) Better for our wallet and figure. We just add extra lettuce and salsa.