Weeknight Beef Tacos
Cumin-chile beef in warm tortillas with the fixings — the taco night that runs itself.
Discover smart recipes
Sign up on Homecooked to cook this recipe as the chef intended, with parallel steps and built-in timers guiding you along the way. Stock your pantry to discover more recipes you can cook with the ingredients you have at home.
Join HomecookedIngredients
- 500 g Ground beef
- 8 Corn tortillas
- ½ Onion
- 1½ tsp Ground cumin
- 1½ tsp Chili powder
- 1 tbsp Neutral oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Garlic powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp Tomato paste (optional)
- 60 g Melting cheese (optional)
- 2 tbsp Cilantro (optional)
- 1 Lime (optional)
Method
- Finely dice the onion.
- Heat the neutral oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Add the ground beef and diced onion and brown hard, breaking the meat into fine crumbles, until deeply coloured, about 6 minutes.
- Stir in the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, salt, and a splash of water, and simmer until saucy, about 4 minutes.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry pan or directly over the flame until soft and pliable.
- Grate the melting cheese and chop the cilantro. (optional)
- Cut the lime into wedges.
- Fill the warm tortillas with the beef and let everyone top with cheese, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Weeknight Beef Tacos
These weeknight beef tacos are the American home-kitchen version of Mexican tacos, built around a seasoned ground-beef filling spooned into warm tortillas with a spread of toppings. The beef is browned hard until deeply colored, then simmered briefly with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and a little tomato paste until it turns saucy and clings to the meat. The result is warm, cumin-forward, and mildly spiced, with corn tortillas, melting cheese, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime rounding out each bite.
What makes this an easy weeknight dinner is how much of it runs itself. The seasoning comes from pantry spices rather than a packet, so you control the salt and heat, and a splash of water helps the spices bloom and coat the crumbles. Warming the corn tortillas directly over a flame or in a dry pan until soft and pliable is a small step that noticeably improves them. Set out the beef and toppings and let everyone build their own; it is a relaxed, hands-off meal that scales easily for a crowd or a family.
Weeknight Beef Tacos: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Weeknight Beef Tacos?
One serving of Weeknight Beef Tacos has about 558 calories, with 18g of protein, 36g of carbs, 39g of fat and 5g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Weeknight Beef Tacos gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Weeknight Beef Tacos has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Do I need every ingredient to make Weeknight Beef Tacos?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out garlic powder, tomato paste, melting cheese — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Weeknight Beef Tacos make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.