I was in the mood for some tacos and was getting a little tired of the same chicken or pork taco recipes I usually make, so this time I made some Beef Tacos.
Now if you are expecting a ground beef taco recipe, you will be pleasantly surprised with this recipe. Instead of Ground Beef, I am using a Chuck Roast.
You will need to plan ahead for this recipe as you will need a good 2 hours for the chuck roast to cook unlike Ground Beef, which would be done in under 10 minutes. But in my opinion, using a chuck roast tastes so much better than ground beef.
I kept the seasoning to a minimum and didn’t add too many spicy ingredients. If you like your taco meat to have a bit of a kick to it, you can add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the mixture before letting it simmer.
You also have a few options when it comes to the tomatoes. You can use regular diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chilies or hatch chilies, or you can even use Mexican-style stewed tomatoes like I did in the video below.
How Many Tacos per Person
For planning purposes, you should plan for two tacos per person. Each taco will have approximately 2 ounces of meat plus toppings. For reference, one pound of ground beef will yield about 14 ounces once cooked.
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You will need the following ingredients to make this Easy Beef Taco recipe. For ingredient amounts please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Chuck Roast, Vegetable oil, Chili Powder, Garlic Cloves, Salt, Ground Cumin, Diced Tomatoes and Tortillas.
Optional Ingredients for Garnish: Mexican Blend Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Fresh Cilantro and Avocado.
How to Make Beef Tacos
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven. Add the beef and cook, turning frequently, until browned.
- Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the chili powder, minced garlic, salt and ground cumin. Cook and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with liquid). Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the beef is fork-tender.
- Using two forks, pull the beef into coarse shreds in the skillet. Increase the heat to medium. Cook uncovered 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Layer the beef, cheese, lettuce, chopped tomato and/or avocado in each tortilla. Optionally garnish with cilantro.
Recipe Video
Easy Beef Tacos
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Ingredients
- 1 lb Chuck Roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
- Vegetable oil, or Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Ground Cumin
- 14 ½ oz Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies, undrained
- 8 Tortillas, or as needed
Garnish (Optional)
- 4 oz Mexican Blend Cheese
- 2-3 Cups Lettuce, shredded
- 1 large Tomato, seeded and chopped
- Fresh Cilantro, chopped
- 1 Avocado, sliced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven. Add the beef and cook, turning frequently, until browned.
- Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the chili powder, minced garlic, salt and ground cumin. Cook and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with liquid). Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the beef is fork-tender.
- Using two forks, pull the beef into coarse shreds in the skillet. Increase the heat to medium. Cook uncovered 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Layer the beef, cheese, lettuce, chopped tomato and/or avocado in each tortilla. Optionally garnish with cilantro.
Recipe Video
Great way to make tacos. They were very tasty.