Great Mexican for all. The absolute best ground beef taco meat you can make at home. Perfect for nachos, salads, or even tacos. So easy and good, you will never use store-bought seasoning again. And you made it from scratch with these easy step by step photo instructions.

Introduction and My Rating

There is nothing like taco Tuesday or a full plate of nachos. This is a greatly modified and simplified Cooks Illustrated recipe that tastes better than any ground beef taco meat you ever had. Use it for the best tacos, on nachos, or a salad.

You will never open an envelope of taco mix again. For about the same work and just using what you already have in your pantry, you can do this in less than 25 minutes.

My Rating

An easy 5. I have done it over and over. And it is very hard to stop eating and save the leftovers for tomorrow.

👨‍🍳Method

I have changed the method over time but retained the great taste, so it is time for an update.

The original recipe started with cooking the onion then adding the spices to “bloom” them. It had a little effect, but that added taste was lost in the drainage from ground beef that was added and cooked after the blooming. One extra step eliminated.

I now cooked more traditionally with the onion and meat browned, drained then the spices and tomato sauce added.

The original recipe had two teaspoons of brown sugar, and a tablespoon of vinegar add near the end. I don’t find that is needed and have removed that. But if you use a cheap tomato sauce, it will help some.

🐄The Meat

The original recipe called for lower fat ground meat since the spices would decrease in the drainage. But the lower fat burger tends to be a bit dry. I suggest a standard 80/20 ground beef.

Since the spices are intense in this recipe, if you use another ground meat like turkey or chicken, most people will not know unless told.

🧂Spicing

This is about a 6/10 spicy when using 2 teaspoons of cumin and the 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne. Adjust to your taste.

I suggest using fresh onion and garlic if you can for this recipe. If you must, use onion powder, about 1 tablespoon for a medium to a large onion.  And 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder for the 4 cloves of garlic.

The quality of the tomato sauce is important. The cheaper generic sauce tends to be very acid tasting, and you might need a teaspoon or two of salt to counter that.

❄️Storage

An easy recipe to adjust to the amount you want but I frequently do 3 pounds but it stores well.

It is good in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days and freezes well for 3 to 4 months.

🇲🇽Mexican Recipes

Mexican Shredded Chicken in a Crock Pot

Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef

Tailgate Chili and Nachos

Cinco de Mayo Recipe Roundup

🔪Instructions

Note: Images are from a number of days so the pans may vary.

This is what you need plus your meat, onion, and garlic.

Chop a medium onion.

Add the meat and the onion to a large frying pan over medium-high heat. While the meat and onion are cooking, prep the garlic, and measure the spices.

Cook until the burger has no pink, which is usually 8-10 minutes. Push the meat aside in the center of the pan and add the garlic and cook 1 minute to bloom the garlic. Drain well.

Add the spices and tomato sauce. Turn the heat to medium and cook another 5 minutes until the sauce is incorporated.

Serve in tacos, nachos, or on a salad.

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📖 Recipe

Originally Published May 6, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.