How do I cook ground beef for tacos?

I brown ground beef for tacos on a dry skillet preferable a non stick one on a medium high heat. Keep stirring the meat for even cooking and prevent scorching. Drain as much fat as possible without burning the beef. Then add chopped onions, garlic and one/two tablespoons of tacos seasoning. If you want to spice it up, add chili flakes and ground cumin to bring out the flavor and fragrance. Add a little bit of water so the beef is not too dry *

Cooking Ground Beef For Tacos

Get your pan hot over medium high to high heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. If the oil smokes reduce the heat a bit. Add the beef about 1/2 pound at a time. If you add it all at once it will take too much heat out of the pan. Browning is different from being completely cooked(indicated by the beef losing its red or pink color). Browning is done to add flavor. What you want is the surface of the beef to get a brownish crust like toast. This requires letting the beef sit a while (1-2minutes) in the heated oil. Once one side browns start breaking the beef apart with a spatula or spoon and allow it to brown some place new. It is not necessary to get every bit of beef brown. As the each half pound cooks add more beef until it is all completely cooked with some browning. Add about 1/2 tsp of salt per pound of beef as it is cooking. Once the beef is cooked add 3 chopped medium onions. These will deglaze the pan and dissolve the brown crust on the bottom of the pan. When the onion is translucent add your canned chili. Let the whole thing become hot and bubbly before serving. An alternative to the canned chili is to use garlic powder and cumin and some type of chili pepper either fresh or ground. For 3 pounds of beef 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp cumin, are a good starting point. (How much spice you add is a matter of taste and these are minimums) Add chili pepper to taste as these will make the meat more spicy.

1

Beef has its own fat, so you don't need any oil. Just put into skillet or pan and stir and crumble over medium heat. When all the red is gone, the meat is cooked. It should be crumbly. I then put the meat into a colander and rinse the fat off of it. Put it back into the pan (if there is a little water on the meat it does not matter....it will cook away) and add your taco seasoning and follow the package directions.

Good Luck and enjoy your tacos!

2

mist your skillet, I use cast iron, with oil, break up the chunk of ground beef, cook and stir over medium heat until all the pink is gone from the bits of meat. You must keep working the meat or it will clump up in large chunks that won't work for your tacos.

when the pink is gone, drain the fat from the meat, leaving the meat in the skillet. Add the taco seasoning and whatever else the packet calls for. Cook it as directed, and remove from heat so it doesn't burn.

Depending on how much fat is in your beef you won't need to add oil. If you use 80/20 you won't need any but anything more then 90% lean beef you might. I usually brown off the beef and crumble it until its mostly browned off and move it too the sides of the pan which usually takes around 7 or 8 minutes. Then I add some cumin cheyanne garlic minced onions salt and pepper. Then let the onions soften for a few minutes and mix in the beef.

Forget taco seasoning - it's awful stuff. It is so easy to make taco filling and more than likely, you have all the necessary spices on hand.

Brown beef, or ground pork (or a combination of both). If there's a lot of fat, drain most of it off. Add and saute diced onions, and then the seasonings to taste:

Chili powder, cumin, (those first two are a must) garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Other things you can add: chipotle powder (or fresh), tabasco, jalapenos or other hot peppers (if you like a lot of spice). Sometimes I stir in a little tomato sauce, sometimes I also add chopped green peppers (sauteed with the meat and onions). Just please use your own spices ... those mixes are a waste of money and not nearly as tasty as making up your own blends.

Also - if you do a search on YouTube, there are many videos for making tacos - check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGaAAI3aAUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcSeCALWHm8

You dont need oil, just put it in the skillet. You may wanna season it too and you should cook it till it isnt pink anymore. About 15-20 min