Tacos

[Country Girl]

I have a recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I currently use to make ground beef tacos. The recipe is good, but I'm looking for something better. Does anyone have a recipe for taco meat/seasoning that they love and wouldn't mind sharing?

 

Thanks!

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I make mine like this:

 

Brown one pound of ground beef with about 1/2 water. (makes it nice and crumbly)

 

Add one package of taco seasoning or your own homemade seasoning. (to me it all tastes the same) then add one heaping teaspoon curry powder

 

Add one can of Ro-tel

 

Add one can of chili beans

 

Stir it all together and let them get to know each other. Soooo good! I let all the liquid cook out until it is drier. (doesn't make your taco shells soggy that way)

[Ginevra]

I make chili for our taco meat. It has more nutrients that way. Here's the basic gist of what I do:

 

Brown meat with onions, maybe green peppers. Add canned tomatoes (if home-canned, don't go heavy on the juice). Add chili powder, cumin, corriander, salt, pepper, maybe garlic. Add kidney or black beans, rinsed. Simmer until it's not runny.

 

Mmmm. Love it like that!

[Sasharowan]

If I am making tacos for just dh, ds15, and me, I use lots of chili powder and garlic. If the little kids are eating, I use Old El Paso or Taco Bell seasonings.

[Margo out of lurking]

I'm not sure what you are looking for (and I'm probably going to see if I can find your recipe!), but I make my own taco seasoning:

 

1 T. chili powder

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. onion powder

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1/4 t. oregano

1/2 t. paprika

1-1/2 t. cumin

1 t. salt (I always cut this down to 1/2 t.)

1 t. pepper

 

 

Add to 1 lb. ground meat, along with 3/4 to 1 c. water; simmer until liquid is halved, or whenever you think it's ready.

 

I found the recipe to be flexible depending on what's in my cabinet; I used garlic salt instead of garlic powder, omitted the paprika when I didn't have any, used dried onion instead of onion powder.

[hsbaby]

We prefer chicken soft tacos so I usually throw some chicken covered with Herdes red salsa in the crockpot and shred it.

[extendedforecast]

I sauté onions, bell peppers, and a jalapeño (without the seeds and veins) in a little olive oil. Then I add tomato wedges for a few minutes before I add the ground beef. The spices I use are garlic salt, cayenne pepper or chili powder, black pepper, and about a 1/2tsp of Dijon mustard. It cooks on low while the shells bake and the guacamole gets made. Then I fill the shells and serve with lettuce, diced tomato, cheese, guacamole, and salsa, plus rice and beans.

[Country Girl]

Thank you everyone for the ideas! For those who were wondering, here is a link to the recipe I currently use (http://www.food.com/recipe/americas-test-kitchen-beef-tacos-314504). The last time I made it I added beans, but then I think it tasted too much like chili for what I was looking for. I think I going to combine what a couple of you have posted and try cutting back/out the chili pwd., using actual tomatoes (or canned) instead of the tomato sauce, and adding in some fresh spicy peppers. I'm also intrigued by the addition of Dijon mustard that Cindy posted... I may have to try that too.

 

Thanks!