The Best Homemade Taco Meat

The Supreme Quality of Taco Filling The most flavorful and juicy taco meat ever, thanks to a special homemade blend of taco seasonings and tomato sauce. The perfect foundation for Tacos, this recipe can be thrown together in under 15 minutes.  

This perfectly spiced taco meat can be used in a variety of ways to create a quick and easy family meal, including tacos, taco salad, taco pizza, and baked sweet potatoes.

Tacos are a reliable option for a satisfying family dinner. Buffalo chicken tacos, lentil tacos, honey lime chicken tacos, and any other taco variation I can think of, my family devours them all.

Nonetheless, the traditional ground beef tacos are our favorite kind. The combination of taco meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream in a taco shell is irresistible. Simple as it may be, this dish has never failed to satisfy.

Tacos can only be as good as the taco meat used to make them. Moreover, this is without a doubt the finest taco meat recipe ever.

The seasoned tomato sauce that coats the ground meat makes it taste just like the taco meat you get at your favorite taco shop. This taco meat recipe alone eliminates the need for MSG and gluten while drastically reducing sodium content.

In conclusion, this dish must become a regular in your home. This taco meat tastes great on tacos, but it can be used in so many other ways that you'll never get bored of it. It's cheap, easy, and suitable for children.

Taco Meat Ingredients

• Meat for tacos—Use whatever ground meat you prefer. You can't go wrong with any of these four meats: beef, turkey, chicken, or pork
• Authentic tacos have a saucy tomato base, which can be easily replicated by adding a small amount of canned tomato sauce to the taco meat.
• I use a taco seasoning that I make in large batches at home and keep on hand for whenever the craving strikes. However, if you don't have time to make your own spice blend, you can always just use the spices called for on the recipe card.

Methods for Preparing Taco Meat

Because it is so easy to prepare, my mother had me start by making taco meat from scratch. But there are a few things you can do to make this the best taco meat ever.

• Prepare a large cast-iron or nonstick pan by heating it over medium heat. To avoid meat sticking, use 1/2 tablespoon oil in a stainless steel pan.  
• Break up the ground meat into small pieces as it browns, and stir it frequently to ensure an even color.
• When the meat is done browning, remove any excess grease. Additionally, if needed, you can blot with a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Tacos can be made at home just as well as they are in authentic Mexican restaurants by browning the meat in advance and then pulsing it in a food processor until it forms very small crumbles. Keeping your cool is essential. The meat can be minced easily by pulsing it a few times. Put the pan back in the oven and keep cooking.  

• Put the meat back into the pan after draining it, along with the tomato sauce, 1/4 cup water, and the spices.

• Simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomato liquid has been absorbed.

Traditional preparation calls for the taco meat to be served in either soft or hard taco shells, then topped with cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. However, taco meat can be used in countless other inventive ways.

• Make a quick and easy taco salad by layering lettuce, taco meat, diced tomatoes, olives, onions, corn, cheese, and tortilla chips.
• Nachos are made by layering tortilla chips, taco meat, and cheese. Put in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes to melt, then top with the desired fresh ingredients.
• Taco Pizza is made by layering refried beans, taco meat, and cheese on top of homemade pizza dough. Put in the oven and cover in taco fixings.
• As the name implies, taco meat is the foundation of this quick and simple pasta dish.
• Mini taco cups made from baked wontons.
• As an alternative to traditional tortillas, I enjoy stuffing my taco meat into baked sweet potatoes or russet potatoes. In my home, this dish never fails to please because it is simple and hearty.

How to prepare taco meat from frozen ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey is a common question I get. If you want to defrost meat in the microwave or cook it in a skillet, don't bother. But for Instant Pot Taco Meat, you can use your instant pot to cook frozen meat.  

Instant Pot Frozen Ground Meat: After following my instructions, release pressure, discard fat, and switch to the saute setting. Saute for 5 minutes, or until heated through, after adding seasonings, tomatoes, and water. Make available upon request

Freezing Meat for Tacos

I recommend tripling this recipe so that you always have the foundation for a quick and easy meal in the freezer. If you follow these guidelines, you'll be able to prevent freezer burn on your taco meat and have it ready to pull out of the freezer on those nights when you're running short on time.

• Follow the recipe's instructions to a T, increasing the amount of ingredients by a factor of 2 or 3, and then let it cool completely.
• The cooked taco meat should be divided into 1-pound or 1/2-pound portions.
• Seal each serving in a plastic bag and freeze it. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal it so that there is just a tiny slit. One method involves inserting a straw into the narrow hole and closing the bag securely around it. Remove the air by sucking on the straw, and the bag will flatten to enclose the meat. Take out the straw, then quickly put the lid back on.
• The bag should be dated and stored in the freezer for a minimum of three months.
• You can thaw it overnight in the fridge and then reheat it in the microwave. The microwave is another option, but a slow thaw is preferable.

Please share your thoughts and experiences with this taco meat recipe if you've made it.