Ground Beef Tacos
Posted Apr 27, 2022, Updated May 12, 2025
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It only takes 5 ingredients and 15 minutes to make this ground beef taco recipe. Mexican Ground beef tacos are an easy weeknight meal that the entire family loves. Use our homemade taco seasoning for the best flavor, and of course serve them with homemade guacamole and salsa!
There isn’t a meal we make more often in our house than this ground beef taco recipe. It takes 15 minutes to prepare, we always have the ingredients on hand (including this homemade taco seasoning) and my entire family loves it.
These Mexican ground beef tacos are made with 5 ingredients. They are an easy, healthy dinner to make when you are short on time and don’t want to fight with your kids to eat a meal.
Serve them with your favorite Mexican recipes like homemade guacamole, Mexican rice, easy salsa, cilantro lime rice, corn salad and refried black beans for true Mexican feast. Or, keep it simple and use store-bought toppings.
Or, use leftovers to make this Mexican casserole recipe or the best nachos!
Ground Beef Taco Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Ground Beef. We typically use 85% lean ground beef, however any variety works well. Or, make ground chicken tacos or ground turkey tacos.
- Homemade Taco Seasoning. I always have a batch of this in a jar in my spice cabinet. My entire family agrees it’s the best (and far better than any store-bought varieties). If you prefer to use store-bought, I suggest making sure you chose an organic variety without fillers/artificial ingredients. Two of our favorites are Siete Foods and Simply Organic.
- Onion. We usually use sweet white or yellow onions, however red onion tastes great too.
- Lime Juice. Choose an organic bottled lime juice or use freshly squeezed.
- Minced Garlic. I buy organic minced garlic in a jar and use that since I don’t ever seem to have time to mince fresh garlic. But you can choose whichever you prefer.
How to Make Ground Beef Tacos
These Mexican ground beef tacos are easy to make in 15 minutes! We’ll walk through how to make ground beef tacos step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by cooking the ground beef, onion and garlic covered over medium-high heat until the ground beef begins to brown and is no longer pink in the center, stirring often.
Depending on the fat content of your ground beef, you may want to strain some of the fat off as it cooks. Don’t drain it all, though. It adds flavor and absorbs/distributes the taco seasoning. Also, the meat mixture thickens as it cools slightly.
Once the ground beef begins to brown, add the homemade taco seasoning and stir until it’s evenly distributed.
Next, add the lime juice and stir to combine. Cook, uncovered, until the mixture is browned, stirring occasionally.
Once the ground beef is browned, transfer it to a serving dish and serve.
Serve
Serve these ground beef tacos in your favorite tortillas or taco shells (or use it to make the best homemade nachos, a delicious taco salad or ground beef enchiladas). I recommend a dollop of sour cream and cheese of course, along with some of our favorite Mexican recipes:
- Taco night isn’t complete without the this easy homemade guacamole.
- Blender salsa, pineapple salsa, corn salsa and black bean corn salsa only take 5 minutes to prepare!
- Cilantro lime rice and Mexican rice are perfect sides, especially if you want to make burritos!
- Skip the can and make your own homemade refried black beans, they only take 10 minutes to prepare!
- I always make this sweet potato and black bean taco filling to go with our ground beef tacos for extra veggies!
- Use it to make Mexican casserole or taco bowls too!
Store/Freeze
Store leftover ground beef taco meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Ground Beef Tacos Recipe FAQs
We usually use grass-fed, organic 85% lean ground beef. Any beef from 80% to 93% lean works well.
First, do not drain off all the excess fat at it liquefies. Be sure to leave some in the meat mixture to keep it moist and soak in the taco seasoning. Second, do not over-cook the ground beef or it will become dry. Third, store the ground beef covered while serving.
Depending on how lean your meat it, you might want to drain off some of the fat when you’re cooking these ground beef tacos. Just be sure you do not drain off all of it.
This recipe is for 1 pound of ground beef, and can be easily scaled to the amount you need. I always make two pounds of ground beef for my family of 8 and we have leftovers.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Mexican Ground Beef Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ onion diced
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 8 tortillas
- Toppings: guacamole salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, refried beans, etc.
Instructions
- Combine ground beef, onion and minced garlic in a non-stick fry pan or cast iron skillet.
- Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the meat begins to brown and is no longer pink in the center, stirring often.*
- Once the ground beef begins to brown, add taco seasoning and stir until it’s evenly distributed.
- Add the lime juice and stir to combine.
- Cook, uncovered, until the mixture is browned, stirring occasionally.
- Fill taco shells with meat and toppings, as desired.
Video
Notes
- Ground Beef. We typically use 85% lean ground beef, however any variety works well. You can also use ground chicken or ground turkey to make this recipe.
- Homemade Taco Seasoning. I always have a batch of this in a jar in my spice cabinet. If you prefer to use store-bought, I suggest making sure you chose an organic variety without fillers/artificial ingredients. Two of our favorites are Siete Foods and Simply Organic.
- Onion. We usually use sweet white or yellow onions, however red onion tastes great too.
- Lime Juice. Choose an organic bottled lime juice or use freshly squeezed.
- Minced Garlic. I buy minced garlic in a jar since I don’t ever seem to have time to mince fresh garlic. But you can choose whichever you prefer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We did this recipe with ground chicken and your home made Taco seasoning recipe on soft tortillas.
Quick and easy to make.
They were amazing!!!!
Thank you Brad! I’m so glad you love them!
Do you have a fish taco recipe?
I don’t have one on my site at the moment! But I will put it on the list!
Are you able to use a grill or does it have to be a Cast Iron Skillet?
You can cook these tacos in any pan you wish on the stovetop.
Looking forward to recipes that don’t require an oven. I live in a retirement home that doesn’t have ovens. I love to cook but it’s very difficult with only a microwave and a bar sink. The refrigerator would be okay in a dorm room but not for someone who likes to cook.
Made this recipe tonight for dinner. It was absolutely delicious and loved by all four of my kiddos!
I’m so glad you love it as much as we do, Melanie!