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Home » Recipes » How to

How to Cook Ground Beef for Tacos

Published: Aug 19, 2020 · Modified: Jul 1, 2025 by Wendi Spraker · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

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How to Cook Ground Beef for Tacos

Wonderful, amazing and easy ground beef for tacos!! Your family will be begging for more with this easy recipe for How to make ground beef for tacos.  Its a family favorite and I’ll show you how to make it!

tacos on a table with drink

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS 

Contents show
1 WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
2 HERE’S HOW To Cook Ground Beef For Tacos
3 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) About How To Cook Ground Beef For Tacos
3.1 How Do You Crumble Ground Beef?
3.2 Do You Add Taco Seasoning Before Or After Cooking?
3.3 Do You Drain Ground Beef For Tacos?
3.4 How Lean Should Ground Beef Be For Tacos?
4 Tips and Tricks
5 If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You Might Also Enjoy…
6 Can You Help Me Out?
7 How to cook ground beef for tacos
7.1 Ingredients
7.2 Instructions
7.3 Notes
7.4 Nutrition
8 A VERSE TO SHARE
8.1 You May Also Love:
  • Easy
  • Only a few ingredients 
  • Ready in 30 minutes 

HERE’S HOW To Cook Ground Beef For Tacos

STEP 1:

Open up your ground beef and put it in your hot frying pan.  Using a wooden spoon, spatula, or tongs, start to break up the hunk of ground beef.  

hand tearing up ground beef and putting in black skillet with red napkin for how to cook ground beef

STEP 2. 

Continue to break up the beef until it is at your desired consistency.  Some people prefer small chunks of meat while others prefer larger chunks.  It's up to you!

Wooden spoon chopping ground beef in a black iron skillet with red towel

STEP 3. 

Once your beef is cooked all the way through, meaning no more pink color is showing then you can drain any excess fat and add your taco seasonings. 

Browned ground beef in pan with gingham napkin

POINTS TO REMEMBER: 

  • Stop cooking as soon as the meat is not showing any more pink color
  • Break your beef up into the size you and your family prefer! 
  • It's just as easy to use ground chicken! Here's how, in my article "How to cook ground chicken recipe (easy, tacos)".

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) About How To Cook Ground Beef For Tacos

How Do You Crumble Ground Beef?

So glad you asked! Here's a WHOLE article about that very thing: How To Break Up Ground Beef.

I like to use a wooden spoon and break up the meat while it is cooking.  I do this by mashing and mixing up any larger chunks of meat until the meat is uniform and the size that I am after. 

You can also use a tool called a potato masher to make this process go faster. 

Do You Add Taco Seasoning Before Or After Cooking?

After, you add the taco seasonings of your choice once there is no more pink color showing.  You should follow the instructions on the seasoning packet.  

Do You Drain Ground Beef For Tacos?

If you have a large amount of excess fat you can drain off the fat.  Leave just a little bit so that the meat doesn’t dry out.  It also adds extra beefy flavor. 

How Lean Should Ground Beef Be For Tacos?

Your ground beef should have an 80/20 ratio.  This means 80 percent lean, and 20 percent fat. 

This will help eliminate the need to drain excess fat because this ratio is usually the right amount for flavor vs meat. 

ground beef in green bowl with green napkin

Tips and Tricks 

  • Don’t over cook your beef! Stop cooking as soon as the pink color is gone
  • Drain the fat if you need to but leave a little for extra flavor
  • Add your seasonings last!
  • Use two packets of seasonings for an extra flavor
  • HEre's some homemade taco seasoning, if you need it.

PRO TIP: If you have a potato masher use it when you are trying to break up the ground beef.  This will make it go a lot faster and help make sure the crumbles are even and cook evenly! 

If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You Might Also Enjoy… 

How to drain ground beef

How to cook ground beef for spaghetti

Easy Taco bake casserole? 

Ultimate Guide to Ground Beef

ground beef for tacos in tortillas

Can You Help Me Out?

Please leave a 5 STAR comment in the comment section below, doing so helps others to find the recipes at Loaves and Dishes! Thanks! 

Photo 3Easy 15 minute Beef and Rice and Corn Burrito

How to cook ground beef for tacos

Wonderful, amazing and easy ground beef for tacos!! You family will be begging for more with this easy recipe for How to make ground beef for tacos.  Its a family favorite and I’ll show you how to make it!
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: how to cook ground beef for tacos
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 289kcal
Author: Wendi Spraker

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 packet taco seasoning

Instructions

  • STEP 1. Open up your ground beef and put it in your hot frying pan.  Using a wooden spoon, spatula, or tongs, start to break up the hunk of ground beef.
  • STEP 2. Continue to break up the beef until it is at your desired consistency.  Some people prefer small chunks of meat while others prefer larger chunks.  It's up to you!
  • STEP 3. Once your beef is cooked all the way through, meaning no more pink color is showing then you can drain any excess fat and add your taco seasonings.

Notes

 
  • Don’t over cook your beef! Stop cooking as soon as the pink color is gone
  • Drain the fat if you need to but leave a little for extra flavor
  • Add your seasonings last!
  • Use two packets of seasoning for extra flavor
PRO TIP: If you have a potato masher use it when you are trying to break up the ground beef.  This will make it go a lot faster and help make sure the crumbles are even and cook evenly! 

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
How to cook ground beef for tacos
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 289 Calories from Fat 207
% Daily Value*
Fat 23g35%
Saturated Fat 9g45%
Cholesterol 81mg27%
Sodium 96mg4%
Potassium 306mg9%
Carbohydrates 1g0%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 19g38%
Vitamin A 23IU0%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @loavesanddishes or tag #loavesanddishes!

A VERSE TO SHARE

Sometimes it can be really hard to determine what is evil and what is not. The devil is a tricky old fella. I mean that sincerely, he is! Do your best, that's all you can do.

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

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Comments

  1. Hegel says

    January 19, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    "Romans 12:9

    Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. "

    There's also an ad showing Love > Hate. So, do we abhor the evil, or is it better to love it?

    Reply
    • Wendi Spraker says

      January 20, 2021 at 8:25 am

      Sounds self explanatory to me?

      Reply
  2. Wendi J Spraker says

    September 02, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    5 stars
    aggregate ratings test

    Reply

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Welcome!

Hi! I'm Wendi and I believe that food made with love and passion has power. It can bring people together AND carry them home. I'll show you how to get amazing flavor from simple dishes. Your family and friends will exclaim, "WOW! Amazing! I NEED this recipe!" Join me and nourish your body and soul.

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