Baked Beef Tacos – baked in the oven for less mess! Juicy seasoned beef taco mince and crispy shells, this taco recipe is made with a simple yet flavour packed homemade taco beef mince that truly tastes like store bought seasoning.
I like to BAKE my tacos to crisp the shells and melt the cheese before piling on your favourite salads and enjoying with much less mess!
It’s the perfect easy dinner recipe for the family and fun at the same time!
BAKED BEEF TACOS
Baked Beef Tacos for dinner don’t need to be messy for little kids and family dinner doesn’t have to be boring. By baking the meat and cheese in the oven, it holds together in the taco shell and less falls out. Everyone can then choose their own salad toppings and eat with much less mess.
There are three parts to making Beef Tacos, the beef mince, the baking in the oven and the salad or toppings options.
Preparation is the most time-consuming part of making tacos as they are really quite quick to cook. You could even prep the beef and toppings components in advance to make busy meal times easier, or you can simply prepare everything as the beef cooks.
You could even make these beef tacos using leftover bolognese, making these a great leftovers dinner.
Below are some of my other related recipes:
BAKE THEM!
Use Stand and Stuff taco shells if you can for this recipe as they have a flat bottom and so all stand fairly upright. Stuff the base of each shell with your taco mince and top with grated cheese, then bake til the cheese has melted.
BAKED BEEF TACOS INGREDIENTS
- BEEF MINCE – plain beef mince, lamb mince, turkey mince or chicken mince will work in this recipe. You could also use shredded roast chicken or even pulled pork.
- ONION – finely diced.
- RED CAPSICUM – always good to add an extra vegetable wherever possible.
- GARLIC, CUMIN & PAPRIKA – adds flavour to the beef mince.
- BEEF STOCK – any beef stock you have will work. You can use chicken or vegetarian stock as an alternative.
- HARD TACO SHELLS – you could try using soft taco shells, I haven’t tried, but you would need to squish them together in a small tray to try and keep the sides upright, but the idea would still be the same.
- CHEESE – I prefer to use grated mozzarella as it melts the most gooey, but you can use any grated cheese you prefer.
- LETTUCE – shredded, to use for toppings
- TOMATOES – diced, any tomatoes will work.
- AVOCADO – you can use slices of avocado or make your own guacamole if you prefer.
- SOUR CREAM – an alternative to sour cream is a natural or greek yoghurt.
- JALAPENOS – optional, adds some spice.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR BAKED BEEF TACOS
What are the best toppings for tacos?
There are many different toppings you can use for tacos on top of what I have used in this recipe. Some other suggestions are corn, black beans, guacamole, mango, red onion, pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, tomato salsa or chilli sauce.
What other types of tacos can I make?
Tacos are very versatile which is why I love them. Other taco fillings could be fish, chicken, prawns, turkey, lamb, jackfruit and pulled pork just to name a few.
What are tacos traditionally filled with?
Traditionally taco fillings are a type of meat with tomato, lettuce and grated cheese. But you don’t need to use these toppings if you prefer something different. Get creative and add different vegetables for some different tastes.
HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING
Forget about buying taco seasoning, it is so easy to make your own. Garlic, onion, red capsicum, cumin and paprika.
This is in comparison to Old El Paso taco seasoning ingredients;
Chili pepper, salt, maltodextrin, spice, onion powder, cornstarch, yellow corn flour. Contains less than 2% of: partially hydrogenated soybean oil, silicon dioxide (anticaking agent), sunflower and/or cottonseed oil, natural flavor, ethoxyquin (preservative).
Isn’t it so much better to know exactly what is going into the food you are serving your family.
If you don’t have want to make your own homemade taco seasoning, I would suggest you look at Mingle Taco Mexican Fiesta. This is the best taco seasoning I have seen in a packet with it’s ingredients including garlic, onion, paprika, cumin, black pepper, pink Himalayan salt, coriander, oregano, thyme, chilli, parsley and basil – all natural ingredients. You can find their range here or at either Coles or Woolworths.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED BEEF TACOS
STEP 1
Line your tray with aluminium foil, this will make the bottom of the tacos crispy, without it you get soggy shells that fall apart.
STEP 2
Fill with your taco beef mince, or you can use shredded chicken, lamb mince or turkey mince.
STEP 3
Top with grated mozzarella cheese, or cheddar cheese. You could also add a little tomato relish under the cheese if you like. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted.
STEP 4
Top with all your favourite salads, such as; lettuce, avocado or guacamole, tomato, capsicum, sour cream and jalapenos.
Baked Beef Tacos
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Oven Baked Tacos. Juicy seasoned beef taco mince and crispy shells
Ingredients
10 to 12 crispy taco shells (stand and stuff is easiest)
BEFF MINCE
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red capsicum
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 500g minced beef
- 1½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 250ml beef stock
TACOS
- grated mozzarella cheese
- iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- sour cream
- jalapenos
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil. (this helps keep the shells crispy)
In a large frypan with a lid, soften the onion in the oil over low heat. Then add the garlic, capsicum and cook for 1 minute. Add the mince, paprika and cumin and cook until the meat has browned, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon and stirring regularly. Add the stock, cover with lid and cook on low for 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it and top with a little more beef stock if needed, but you want a dry mince at the end of the cooking time.
While the beef is cooking, line up the taco shells in your baking tray on top of the aluminium foil. Then layer in each shell, a layer of beef topped with grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted.
Remove from oven and fill with your favourite toppings.
Notes
You could prep the mince the day before and add to the shells cold.
You could replace the beef with shredded chicken, or any leftover cooked meat.
You could add a spoonful of tomato salsa between the beef and cheese.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
You can find more of my easy recipes on Pinterest.
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