Beef Tacos With Homemade Seasoning
Beef tacos are always a treat here. The whole family loves them and they are so easy to make! I think it is harder to decide what toppings you want on them then it is to actually make them. We cheated this time and had them on a Thursday instead of Taco Tuesday, but really any day is a perfect day for something this easy and delicious.
Now I know there is one lonely one on that plate here, but there is a reason. I eat mine as a salad and the rest of the family eats soft tacos. I had to at least make one in a shell to show how amazing it is, right? And no worries, I did eat it before making my salad. No tacos were wasted for this picture.
We use homemade taco seasoning here as we are stepping away from more of the processed foods. I already have the spices here since I use them in more recipes then this. You will probably have most of them, if not all of them as well. You could probably use other meats for this as well, but we have only made these with ground beef. If using chicken or turkey, be sure to use oil.
As you will see in this picture that our lettuce is not iceberg lettuce. We grow our own and used young leaf lettuce and a spring mix. Be creative and use your favorite!
What You Will Need:
- ground beef
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- onion powder
- dried minced onion
- paprika
- turmeric
- garlic powder
- crushed red pepper flakes
- salt
- taco shells you prefer
- toppings of your choice – we recommend lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, cheese, sour cream and hot peppers.
Making the Beef Tacos
How do we make these amazing things? My love of tacos might be a little too obvious.
Start with cooking the ground beef. Now our family eats a lot so we use around 2 lbs of lean beef. If using 80%, I get 2.5 lbs. The average family will have left overs using this much but here, well we might have enough for a taco or 2 left. They are good if you reheat the meat and have them for lunch as well.
While the beef is cooking, mix together your seasoning. With the salt, check your chili powder first to see how much sodium is in it. I find that some of them are a bit different. We use Badia here for a lot of our spices and Badia has about 160 mg per teaspoon. If you are using a chili powder with more salt, then add less to your mix. If you are using a no salt added, you might want to add more.
Once the ground beef is almost fully cooked, drain most of the grease. I prefer to keep just a little bit in it, but this is preference. Stir in the water and seasoning mix. Cook until the beef is fully cooked or for 3 minutes if the beef was already cooked through.
I prefer to use the cast iron pan any time I make tacos. It helps add a special flavor that I think only cast iron can add. But any pan will work.
The beef tacos are now ready to be served! We always have lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, cheese, sour cream and hot peppers on the table for toppings.
What are your favorite toppings for beef tacos?
Beef Tacos with Homemade Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef lean
- ⅔ cup water
- 12 taco shells or soft tacos, suggested amount adjust as needed
Taco Seasoning
- 1½ tbsp chili powder
- ½ tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp dried minced onion
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt see notes about salt
Recommended Toppings
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 head lettuce or your preferred lettuce, we use home grown leaf and spring mix
- 1 avocado chopped
- 8 oz sour cream
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper or sliced peppers of choice
- 8 oz salsa or taco sauce
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef in a frying pan until it is almost cooked through. Drain most of the grease. You can drain all if preferred, but we like to leave just a little bit in the pan for these.
- While the beef is cooking, mix the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Once the beef is drained, stir in the water and seasoning mix.
- Cook until the beef is fully cooked or if it was already cooked through, cook for about 3 minutes stirring frequently.
- Serve with your favorite taco shells and toppings! We recommend lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, hot peppers, salsa and sour cream.
Notes
Nutrition
