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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat

Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat

April 17, 2018 by Alea Milham 5 Comments

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homemade taco meat recipe with homemade taco meat seasoning mix using pantry spices

Making homemade seasoned taco meat is easy. Even better, this taco meat recipe is a hit with my family! You will probably find all the spices you need to make the taco meat seasoning in your spice cupboard.

Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat Recipe - Making this seasoned taco meat recipe ensures you know exactly what's going in it, and you can customize it to suit your taste.Pin it button

Taco Tuesday is a very real thing in our house. However, my family is perfectly willing to eat tacos Wednesday through Monday as well. In fact, they will eat southwest inspired recipes for breakfast, lunch, and even for snacks. I like to make a big batch of this taco meat recipe so we can use it in a variety of dinner and lunch recipes throughout the week.

Homemade Taco Seasoning vs. Store-Bought Mix

Have you ever read the back of one of those store-bought taco seasoning packets? There’s often a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce! The kicker for me was when I saw that a package of taco seasoning that contained genetically modified ingredients. What?!? a spice mix shouldn’t contain any GMO foods! Making this Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat Recipe ensures you know exactly what’s going in it, and you can customize it to suit your taste.

We also don’t use any flour in this recipe, so it’s completely gluten-free. And since we don’t use flour, this doesn’t have a thick gravy-like consistency that you get when you use the taco meat seasoning packets. As the beef simmers with the liquid, the flavors will cook down and intensify which gives the beef lots of flavor and keeps it moist. That said, if you like a thicker sauce that you get with store-bought taco seasoning mix, just don’t cook all of the liquid out, and thicken it with a slurry of 1 tablespoon cornstarch to 2 tablespoons water.

If you like your tacos spicy, feel free to add some cayenne or crushed red pepper along with the seasonings. You could also add green peppers, jalapeños, or whatever else you like. My husband and son like spicy tacos, my daughter and I prefer mild tacos, so I prefer to allow the boys to add jalapeños to their tacos instead of to the taco meat.

Hat Tip: I started adding diced tomatoes to my taco meat recipe after seeing my friend Tegan’s Tacos. When tomatoes are not in season, I use canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh. If you don’t have tomatoes, you can substitute 1/3 cup of tomato sauce for the 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes.

Batch Cooking Ground Meat for Tacos

This usually provides me with 2 – 3 meals worth of taco meat, but the amount this recipe will serve is going to depend on how you use it. You can use this recipe to make ground turkey or ground beef tacos. It’s not only delicious in homemade tacos, it is also a flavorful addition to burritos, quesadillas, and even taco salads!

Prep-Ahead Tip: You can batch cook the ground beef ahead of time. Then skip to step 3 and use 3 cups of cooked ground beef.

Batch Cooking Tip: You can double or triple this taco meat recipe. Then freeze the cooked meat in usable portions. You can put it in the refrigerator to thaw the night before you need it. Then reheat before serving.

Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 pounds lean ground beef or other ground meat
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • Optional ingredients: cayenne or red pepper

Ingredients for the homemade Seasoned Taco Meat recipePin it button

Instructions:

  1. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat- processPin it button
  3. Add the tomatoes and onions, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the onions have started to soften.      Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat- adding seasoningsPin it button
  4. Add all of the seasonings and the garlic, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant.  Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat- simmering meatPin it button
  5. Add the water and bring to a simmer.
  6. Cover the pan and simmer for approximately 5 minutes.
  7. Uncover and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, which will take approximately 5 more minutes.
  8. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the green onions.
  9. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat- finished taco meatPin it button

Serve in flour tortillas, hard taco shells, or on tostadas.

Printable Recipe for Seasoned Taco Meat

4.0 from 1 reviews
Homemade Seasoned Taco Meat
 
Print
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
25 mins
 
Easy recipe for ground turkey or ground beef tacos with homemade taco meat seasoning.
Author: Alea
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • ½ cup chopped tomatoes
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 11/2 teaspoons cumin powder
  • 11/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • pinch of cayenne or red pepper (optional)
Directions
  1. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink.
  3. Add the tomatoes and onions, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the onions have started to soften.
  4. Add all of the seasonings and the garlic, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant.
  5. Add the water, and bring to a simmer.
  6. Cover the pan, and simmer for approximately 5 minutes.
  7. Uncover and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated which will take approximately 5 more minutes.
  8. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the green onions.
  9. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
3.5.3229

More Southwest Recipes:

Corn Tortilla Taco Casserole

Taco Salad

Mexican Fried Rice Recipe

Homemade Flour Tortilla Recipe

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Janet says

    November 17, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    I have been looking for taco meat that doesn’t taste like chili powder. I’m assuming with the small amount of chili powder this could be the recipe I’ve been looking for. Any comments would be appreciated.

    Reply
  2. Alma says

    March 13, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    Do you not drain the meat?

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      March 13, 2019 at 5:52 pm

      No, I simmer the meat until the liquid cooks off.

      Reply
      • Dan Mintana says

        March 26, 2019 at 4:19 pm

        I made this recipe and added some diced green bell pepper and used Rotel diced tomatoes with cilantro and lime, ablnd also black beans. I like beans in my taco meat. It is excellent

        Reply
  3. Karen Strain says

    January 5, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    This recipe is just what I was looking for. Most other recipes use 1 lb of beef and my family needs to have more than that. Instead of the diced tomatoes, I used diced tomatoes with green chilis and cut back on the water. This was a hit that I will make again. Thank you!

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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