Best Ground Beef Taco Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make ground beef fine for tacos? ›

Boiling ground beef is the best way to cook it so that it comes out in small, fine crumbles. Trust me, this is the secret to all those amazing tacos and pasta sauces at your favorite restaurant! It's also a healthier option, because the boiling process helps separate the fat from the meat, and it comes out quite lean.

What is the best ground beef for tacos? I prefer to use 90% lean ground beef for tacos for the best flavor and consistency. If it's any more lean, it may be too dry. If you use a less lean kind, make sure to drain off the fat after cooking the ground beef, before adding the seasoning.

Acid is key. In just about any dish, especially meat-rich tacos, you'll want acid as part of the flavor balance. Salsa lends acid. So does crema, vinegar-based slaw, grilled fruit, or a squeeze of lime.

How Much Ground Beef Per Person for Tacos? Considering that it takes 2 ounces of filling max, per shell (about 4 tablespoons, or ¼ of a cup), a single pound can make up to eight tacos. If you add diced onion, cilantro tomato rice, beans or other fillings, you could make a pound of taco meat stretch even more.

Put the ground chuck in a large pot or Dutch oven and add seasonings. Add just enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about an hour. Every 15 minutes or so break up the meat with a large spoon or a potato masher so that it isn't lumpy.

Cooked ground beef really doesn't have any real taste so it is necessary to season it up. You can use just salt and pepper or you can add virtually anything to it like jalapenos, peppers, onions, etc. Try using fresh onion rather than powder.

“Salsa and guacamole are great, but look to mix it up with fresh radish, chicharrones, or pickled onion. A fresh, warm tortilla is made better by a crunchy counterpart.” One of Romero's favorite toppings is a morita pepper and peanut salsa, which lends a spicy, smoky, crunchy lift to any taco.

I usually do. It's because I don't want all the flavor of the seasoning going into the fat instead of adhering to the meat. The fat will drip out of your taco and with it goes half the flavor.

Lime is probably the most essential of authentic Mexican taco toppings. A squeeze of lime adds a dash of acid that brings out the other flavors in a taco beautifully. Onions, cilantro, pico de gallo, sliced radishes or cucumbers, avocado, and chili peppers are also standard toppings for authentic tacos.

Potatoes!! The potato skin to be exact. I asked the waiter about this and he said that's what gives it its creaminess and that his mother used to add potatoes (and sometimes pinto beans) to their ground beef to make it go further.

What is the most important part of a taco? ›

A good taco is one of life's joys. With all the choices for toppings and shell, don't lose sight of what is most important: the meat inside! We've got two options for unforgettable pork fillings to make taco night at home a real party. Read on for the recipes.

Each taco shell or small soft taco-size tortilla fits about 2 ounces or 1/4 cup of meat. If you add diced onions, you could stretch a pound of ground beef to make about a dozen tacos. With just the meat and spices, you can make about 8 tacos from a pound of meat.

It really depends on what toppings you are adding: lettuce, tomatoes, refried beans, cheese. I think 2 ounces would be plenty. Because of the lettuce, cheese, and other stuff in most tacos, 5 or 6 ounces of ground beef will usually make 3 regular size tacos per person.

You can feed between 2.5 to 3 people with one pound of meat. This estimate assumes that each person will eat two tacos, except children, who are counted as 0.5 of an adult and will have one taco.

Just rinse the fat off.

Using a slotted spoon, remove beef crumbles onto a plate lined with paper towels. Let sit one minute; blot top of beef with more paper towels. Place beef in a colander over a large bowl. Pour very hot water (not boiling) over beef to rinse fat.

A lot of the Cincinnati chili recipes online say to boil the ground beef (do not brown first) to achieve the uniform small grain consistency. It worked for me. I usually use a standard dinner table fork to break up the pieces into smaller and smaller bits. I use a tall pot instead of a frying pan.

To form thin patties that hold together on the grill, massage the ground beef briefly — which is a cardinal sin with many other styles of burgers, but a necessity here for cohesion. This allows you to flatten the patty out extra-thin and wide to account for shrinking as the meat cooks.