Weeknight Beef Tacos
The weeknight dinner that never gets old. The trick is a quick spice blend rather than a packet, and letting the beef cook undisturbed long enough to brown before you break it up.
- Cut
- Ground Beef
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 22 min
- Serves
- 4
- Season
- Year-Round
- Method
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 1½ lb Alaron Farms ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup beef stock or water
- 12 corn or flour tortillas
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
What You'll Need
- Large skillet
- Wooden spoon
- Dry skillet or comal for warming tortillas
Before You Start
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Measure the spices into a small bowl so they can go in at once.
- Set out toppings so the table is ready when the beef is.
Method
- 01
Brown the beef
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add the beef and press it into an even layer. Let it sit undisturbed for 4 minutes so it develops a brown crust before you break it up.
- 02
Add the aromatics
Break the beef into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Add the onion and cook 4 minutes until softened, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- 03
Season
Stir in the cumin, chili powder, paprika and salt. Cook 1 minute until the spices smell toasted and darken slightly.
- 04
Simmer
Pour in the stock and simmer 3–4 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid reduces and coats the beef.
- 05
Warm the tortillas and serve
Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet for about 20 seconds per side until pliable and lightly blistered. Serve the beef with lime and the toppings of your choice.
Kitchen Notes
- Letting the beef brown before breaking it up is the difference between taco filling and gray crumbles.
- Toasting the spices for a minute in the fat is what makes a packet blend taste flat by comparison.
- For food-safety guidance, ground beef should be cooked through — follow the USDA's current minimum internal temperature recommendation for ground beef.
- Double the batch and refrigerate half for taco bowls or nachos later in the week.
How to Serve It
- Set out shredded lettuce, diced tomato, cheese, sour cream and salsa.
- Leftover filling is excellent over rice as a bowl the next day.
- A squeeze of lime at the end matters more than any single spice.
Storage & Leftovers
- Refrigerate the filling within 2 hours in a covered container and use within 3–4 days.
- Freeze cooked taco filling up to 3 months; thaw in the refrigerator.
- Reheat in a skillet with a splash of stock to bring back the moisture.
Using Another Cut?
Ground Beef, 90/10
Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan; drain less fat.
More recipes with this cut
Farmhouse Smash Burgers
Thin patties pressed hard onto a screaming-hot griddle for maximum crust — the burger that made ground beef interesting again.
Homestyle Beef Meatballs
Tender, well-seasoned meatballs that hold together in sauce and taste even better the next day.
Sunday Beef Chili
A deep, slow-simmered chili built on ground beef and toasted chiles — the kind that's better on the second day.
Ground Beef, delivered from the farm.
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