These Ground Beef Tacos are made with a deliciously seasoned ground beef filling, served in freshly fried corn tortillas and finished with all your favorite toppings. They’re going to become one of your go-to weeknight meals!
Before I talk about how delicious these Ground Beef Tacos are, let me just say when I left Phoenix Monday night it was 82 degrees, when we got home to Salt Lake it was a whopping 11 degrees. . . . remind me again why I live in Utah?
Oh it was sooo hard to leave sunny Arizona, dang I wish I was still there.
My mom, aunts and sisters just laughed at me because I baked cookies every day we were there, sometimes twice a day. I was going through a cookie withdrawal today so I had to make some. I texted them all a picture of my warm, yummy cookies, I’m pretty sure they were all jealous!
I made these tacos a while back and have just never gotten around to posting them. They were absolutely delicious! The key to these being so scrumptious was the shells, you MUST make the home-fried shells, they take these tacos to the next level. It’s simple to do and really makes these tacos fabulous!
Enjoy and stay warm!!
Print
Ground Beef Tacos
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 tacos 1x
Ingredients
Beef Filling:
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or corn oil
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how much kick you want)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
Shells & Toppings
- 8 taco shells
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- Shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
- Shredded lettuce
- Tomatoes, diced
- chopped fresh cilantro
- Avocado, diced
- Sour cream
- hot pepper sauce to taste
Instructions
Beef Filling:
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until simmering.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the ground beef and cook, breaking meat up with a wooden spoon and scraping pan bottom, until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, broth, vinegar, and sugar, bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium -low and simmer, uncovered stirring frequently. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon the meat mixture into warm taco shells and top with cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, lettuce, onion, sour cream and hot sauce.
Home fried shells:
- Heat oil in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees, about 5 minutes (oil should bubble when a small piece of tortilla is dropped in). Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels.
- Using tongs to hold tortilla, slip half of tortilla into hot oil. With a long metal knife spatula in other hand, keep half of tortilla submerged in oil. Fry until just set, but not brown, about 30 seconds.
- Flip tortilla; hold tortilla open about 2 inches while keeping bottom submerged in oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip again and fry other side until golden brown, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer shell upside down to prepared baking sheet to drain. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adjusting heat as necessary to keep oil between 350 and 375 degrees.
Notes
- These directions for frying the shells might seem confusing without the illustrations I have in the book. If you have a simpler way to fry the shells, just do it. You basically just want to fry half at a time, while the other part is out of the oil, but you are holding on to it with tongs the whole time, keeping in bent so it forms a shell. There is a video on YouTube which is basically how the directions tell you to do it. If you need to check it out here is the link: How to fry taco shells.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Main Dishes
Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from Cooks Illustrated All-Time Best Recipes Magazine 20th Anniversary
Another wonderful receipe, I made them tonight, my boys loved it!!
I loved all the spices- made for a great flavor in the meat! Yum!