If you want to take your Taco Tuesday to the next level, try baking your tacos! Yes, I said baking them. These Baked Beef Tacos are one of my favorite fast and easy weeknight meals. Their crunchy, toasty shells, melted cheese, and liberally seasoned beef and black bean filling always have me coming back for more. …And more. 😅
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Why Bake Tacos?
Baking your tacos toasts the corn shells, makes sure the filling is nice and hot, and the cheese perfectly melted. Toasting hard taco shells is an often overlooked step in the taco making process, but makes a huge difference in the flavor of the taco shell.
I have to admit, I was well into my 20’s before I realized that you’re supposed to bake hard taco shells for a few minutes to toast the corn before filling and eating them. I guess I just never bothered to read the package before then, but I’m glad I finally did. So don’t feel bad if you’ve never done this before!
But baking the whole taco really takes these beef and black bean tacos to the next level.
Do the Baked Beef Tacos Stay Crunchy?
Yes, the taco shells stay crunchy! That is, if you use a lean ground beef, or make sure to drain the fat well when using a higher fat content beef. If the beef and bean mixture has too much oil, the oil will saturate the shells and make them soften. Also make sure to drain the beans well.
Can I Use Store Bought Taco Seasoning?
Yes. I used my own homemade taco seasoning for these baked beef and black bean tacos, but if you don’t have a well stocked spice cabinet you can just pick up one packet of store bought taco seasoning.
Can I Make These Baked Tacos Vegetarian?
Sure! try using an extra can of black beans in place of the ground beef, or try the filling from my Lentil Tacos or Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos!
Baked Beef Tacos
Servings 5 (2 tacos each)Ingredients
TACO SEASONING
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
TACOS
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (93% lean or higher)* ($3.90)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.79)
- 1 box hard taco shells (10 shells) ($1.00)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar (4oz.) ($1.20)
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
- 1 tomato ($0.49)
- 1 jalapeño ($0.06)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro ($0.13)
- 1/4 cup sour cream ($0.11)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the taco seasoning, then set the seasoning aside (or use one envelope of store-bought taco seasoning). Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and cooking oil to a large skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and prepared taco seasoning and continue to sauté until the beef is cooked through (another 5 minutes).
- Arrange the taco shells in a casserole dish so they are all standing upright. If you do not have a dish that fits them snuggly enough to hold them up, use balled up aluminum foil to act as "book ends" to help hold the line of tacos upright.
- Drain the can of black beans well, but do not rinse them. A little sauciness helps keep the beef mixture moist.Stir the beans into the seasoned beef and allow them to heat through.
- Fill the tacos with the beef and bean mixture. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over top. Bake the tacos in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the taco shells are golden brown on the edges.
- While the tacos are baking, dice the tomato, slice the jalapeño, and roughly chop the cilantro leaves. Sprinkle the diced tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro over the tacos, and add a dollop of sour cream just before serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Measuring Cups Spoons
- Glass Casserole Dish
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Baked Tacos – Step by Step Photos
Start by mixing up your homemade taco seasoning (or use a store bought blend instead). Stir together 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the taco seasoning aside. Begin to preheat your oven to 400ºF.
Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add them to a large skillet along with 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add a 1/2 lb. lean ground beef and the prepared taco seasoning to the skillet. Continue to sauté until the beef is cooked through (about 5 minutes). If you are using a higher fat content beef, add the beef alone first and cook until browned, then drain the excess fat. Add the taco seasoning after draining and cook for one minute more.
Drain a 15oz. can of black beans well, then stir them into the skillet. I did not rinse the beans because the little bit of starchy coating they had helps keep the beef mixture moist.
Line up the taco shells in a baking dish so that they are all standing upright. My box of taco shells had 10 shells, but I think I had enough filling for 12. I used a smallish 8×12″ glass baking dish, which allowed them to sit in the dish snuggly enough to hold them upright. If you don’t have a dish that this works well with, you can use balls of aluminum foil to act as book ends and help hold the shells up.
Divide the beef and bean mixture between the taco shells, then top the tacos with 1 cup (or 4oz.) shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake the beef tacos in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the tacos become slightly golden brown. See those browned edges? That’s the FLAVOR. The total cooking time will depend on the type of shell you have, your oven, and other factors, so just keep an eye on them. The important part is that after baking they are all hot and toasty with melted cheese allll over ’em.
Finally, add your favorite cold toppings to your baked beef tacos. I used one diced tomato, one sliced jalapeño, a handful of chopped cilantro, and a little sour cream. Avocados, taco sauce, pineapple, and pico de gallo, would also be awesome!
Seriously, though. Tacos should not be confined to just Tuesdays. Tacos EVERY DAY. #teamtaco (P.S. try topping your tacos with some homemade Pico de Gallo!)
I have read that putting some cheese in the bottom helps because the meat or beans helps it melt so it kind of protects the bottom of the shell. Baking the shells before eating makes sense now.
Great for meal prep. The filling freezes well and it’s easy to save in meal-sized portions. If you don’t have access to an oven when it’s time to eat, the filling works really well in a taco salad too.
Make these all the time! I usually prefer no meat in my tacos so I lightly mash my beans and proceed with the filling for others. Easy for meal prep and I also use for tostados but reduce cooking time a bit.
Another winner from Budget Bytes! Adjusted some of the quantities to what I had on hand, but otherwise made as written. I’m going to be having these as lunch the rest of the week, so I baked tacos just for dinner and refrigerated the rest of it to be added to tacos and baked with cheese as needed.
These also work great as taquitos! I do everything the same but roll the filling up in soft corn tortillas and then toss them in the air fryer.
Delicious!!! I will make tacos like this going forward!
I was not expecting these to be as delicious as they were! I plan on making these on a regular basis.
I love how easy this recipe is to make for a big group. I usually double it and it makes one pound of ground beef go a long way!
I was well into my 60’s when one of my family members laughed because I didn’t know to bake the taco shells before filling. Now I burn them half the time but they are still delicious.
You’re not alone Gail!
your Instagram post where you said that hard shell tacos are basically just nachos convinced me to try these and I’m so glad I did! these are in the regular rotation now!
Hahah, I almost forgot about that! I’m glad you liked them. :)
So good. So easy! I really appreciated a couple of comments that suggested refrigerating or freezing extra filling. It’s just me and it makes a lot. I ate it twice this week and the rest is in the freezer. This one is definitely going into a regular rotation for me.
These are an easy and yummy go-to in my house. My partner will eat an entire tray of these if left to his own devices.
I use TVP or other ground meat substitute with no issues. I’ve also skipped the TVP and doubled the beans with no issues.
I made these tonight. Would have never thought about baking the tacos, but doing so made them feel so much more special, like real homemade. Would definitely make these again. They were so easy and delicious!
I had a hard to keeping roommates from stealing bites of taco meat before I had a chance to put it in the shells!
Fast easy and delish. Deserves MORE than five stars.
Easy to make and delicious. We had them with the easy taco rice and they were both finished right about the same time. We had limes in the house, so we did squeeze little juice on top. Yummy!
Literally eating them right now! Delicious. Easy recipe, little clean up.
We have made this just about every week and it’s the best taco recipe we’ve had! The only thing I do differently is I add the black beans at the bottom of the taco shell instead of mixing it in with the ground beef (it was initially an accident because I didn’t read the directions well but now that’s how we prefer them). Thanks again Beth for an awesome and easy recipe that my husband and 2 young kids LOVE.
This is such an easy and tasty recipe! We’ll be making it again soon.
Another excellent, tasty, and easy meal from Beth of Budget Bytes! This was fun, delicious and, of course, inexpensive. :) There is something so attractive about the look of this dinner, and then it was equally good to eat. I think there is also scope for imagination, too, lots of others things to add or sub. We made Beths’ corn salad to go with. The whole family liked this meal and want it to come around again, soon.
I made these before I had surgery for an ileostomy (colostomy of the small colon) and they were fantastic. Since having an ileostomy I can’t digest anything fibrous or gassy so I can’t have the black beans or any other bean equivalent. I’m usually pretty good at coming up with substitutes but I can’t really think of anything that would fit in this recipe. I might just have to do all beef unless you can think of anything clever!
Uh so I had no idea to put are supposed to bake hard shells, but it says it right on my box 😜😜😜 any way these were great and will definitely be making again.
I just made this recipe and it was a hit! My husband and I didn’t understand at first what the big deal would be – we heat our taco shells in the oven anyway – but this was great! We only made four tacos because it’s just the two of us, and we froze the rest of the filling for a quick meal later. Changes we made: used venison instead of beef, omitted the cilantro because my husband detests it, and put a layer of cheese at the bottom of the shells before adding the meat/bean filling. I think that helped keep the shells intact also. Thanks for the recipe!
Love this Tess! I swap venison too :)
Good isea for some chhese on the bottom tokeepthe shell from cracking.
Thanks.
I plan to use premade taco seasoning from a Costco sized container, how much should I use?
Thanks ❤️
Probably about 2 Tbsp, although I don’t know how much salt is in your taco seasoning, so if it contains a lot of salt that might end up over salting the mix.
How have I forgotten about this gem of a recipe?!?!?! I made them again tonight after way to long. So good! The cool part is for my large family standing the shells up and quickly spooning the filling in and then cheese and into the oven seemed to actually save time from trying to stand each taco individually to fill for all 6 people. I also noticed the shell doesn’t break as easy but they are still crispy.
These are a weekly staple in my house too Sharesa!
Made these for dinner and all 4 of my kids LOVED them!! This will be in high rotation from now on as it is very rare I find a meal 4/4 kids will eat!
Hooray! That’s a huge win!
At first I thought, what’s the big deal with baked tacos??
Tried them out. OMG. You are right Beth, this takes tacos to a whole new level.
I now crave baked tacos. Can’t go back to regular tacos.
Just love the velvety beef/bean mixture, the crunchiness of the top of the taco shell and the somewhat soggy bottoms, the melted cheese, and the cold, fresh toppings. And it looks so pretty when served!
So glad you loved them! I crave them all the time now, too. :P
So good and easy! Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi There! Gosh, so long since I’ve had tacos! I cruised through your recipe and found I had everything on hand except the ground beef. Going to use Maui onion instead of yellow onion. We have an herb garden down behind the condo, so I’ll grab a small bunch of cilantro. Love cilantro!! So this will be on the docket for tomorrow’s dinner. Thanks for sharing! I’ll be back.
Aloha, Nancy On Maui
I made these for dinner tonight, and I really liked the seasonings. I’ve been looking for a good homemade taco seasoning recipe for ages, and this one was perfect. :)
This was a great recipe and very delicious. I used leftover pot roast and shredded the meat instead of the ground beef.
This recipe has been a great crowd pleaser but is also nice for dinner for 2 – half the tacos now and then the taco filling mix is ready for half the tacos later or as a topper for lunch salad.
Another easy crowd pleaser was turning the sour cream into Lime Crema by adding the juice and zest of one lime and 2 minced garlic cloves to 8 oz of sour cream. Boom.
ooh that lime crema sounds fantastic!
My sister and I have made the Beef and Black Bean Tacos plenty of times!! We would use Spicy Nacho flavored taco shells, Cheese flavored taco shells, and we would use Ground Turkey instead of Ground Beef for the filling. Regardless of what kind of shells and filling we would use, these tacos are the bomb dot com. 😋😋
Made these tonight but my taco shells tasted stale. I made sure the filling was dry to avoid it making the shells soggy. Followed the recipe as stated What could have went wrong? Aside from that everything was great. Meat/beans were very good. Just wished my taco shell was crunchy.
Fantastic for game night! We tripled it. Thanks!!
I was searching recipes for a school project on anemia. I need to cook I recipe for a friend with iron in it. This one came up. Do you have a nutritional chart about it or recipe analysis somewhere?
No, I’m sorry, I do not have the nutritional info.
Never baked tacos until tonight. These turned out great. I actually found shells with a flat bottom so no need to prop them up in the pan. No problem with sogginess at all. I’ll make these again, maybe all beef or with half the recommended amount of beans. Easy!
Oh my this is happening in my kitchen ASAP! I am not sure how I missed this recipe originally since I have been following your website for years!?! Thank you for reposting it so I was able to find it!
We make these once a week in my house! When we are short on time we skip the baking step (but I try not to because they’re soooo good with the melted cheese). I also love that we get more beans & veggies with this recipe instead of just ground beef like regular tacos, and we save $$ by making the taco seasoning with your directions instead of getting store bought. Thank you, Beth!
We made these yesterday and they were so good!
I used “taco tubs” instead of the taco shells called for in this recipe. So much easier to fill, bake and eat :) If you don’t know what “taco tubs” are they are just like the shells in this recipe, but instead of that round/folded shape they are rectangular with a flat bottom so that they can stand without falling over. (Kind of like “stand and stuff” tortillas if you have those, but rectangular instead of oval and crunchy like nacho chips.)
I had no problems at all with them being soggy. But then my beef/bean mixture was pretty dry to begin with. Something I made sure to compensate for with loads of sour cream when serving ;)
I actually combined this recipe with your Spicy Baked Black Bean Nachos recipe and I love them as nachos! They’re such an easy go-to meal in my household and I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand for other meals.
I love this recipe! But I’m wondering about adapting it to a kitchen that doesn’t have an oven. Do you think it would work to “bake” the tacos in a toaster oven?
Probably! Most toaster ovens are just like mini ovens. :)
The filling was really good, although could have used a little more salt. I used 3/4 lb ground meat (92% lean). I made the filling ahead on Sunday so it would be ready during the week, and then just popped it in the micro for a minute to take some of the chill off.
Personally, I would NOT do this method of baking the tacos again. I found it very tricky to get the taco shells to stand up for stuffing, even when nestled closely together. Maybe the stand and stuff style would work better for that, but my taco shells were fairly soggy anyhow, so we don’t plan on using this method again. It didn’t seem like the flavor of the actual taco was any better than it would have been just heating up the shells.
Loved the recipe! I didn’t have any problems with the shells becoming too moist. They crisped up nicely (which I also missed the step of baking them in the past, but i don;t generally prefer had tacos–maybe that’s why). There were great! I added extra meat since we had a bunch and they still came out fine. I added more seasoning to make up for it. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Tonight is the second night this week we’ve made this, and it’s only Tuesday…so, definitely a big hit! It’s phenomenal all around. The only change we made was to add roasted poblano peppers to the filling. It’s a little more prep, but this recipe is already so easy that it’s not really an issue. We (re: my boyfriend) roast the peppers whole at 450 ish until they’re moderately black and blistered, remove and cover them with a dish to steam them in order to loosen the skin, then remove the skin and seeds and dice them up. Easy (if a bit messy) addition to a wonderful recipe!
Hey Beth, I’m going to try them again tonight. Cross your fingers… But now i have another question… do you think I could prepare the whole meat/garlic/onion/black bean mixture and freeze what I don’t use? (My kids don’t eat very much and I find these are soggy the next day if you put them in the fridge.) I thought I could prepare exactly what we need, then freeze the filling and make fresh ones next week. I just didn’t know if you can freeze the black beans together with the meat….
I bet you could freeze the filling!
So, in case anyone is wondering… I solved my soggy taco problem. I hadn’t properly drained my can of black beans. I drained it quickly using the can lid but that left too much liquid. So i dumped it into a colander and got all the liquid out. Voila… perfect crispy tacos! Oh and I haven’t tried freezing the filling yet, as we ate the leftovers a few days later. But I’m definitely going to try that next time.
Aha!! I’m so glad you figured it out! :D
These are ridculously good. I ate more than I would like to say….. My kids LOVED them.
So I’ve been making these for awhile now and my family really loves them. However, the last couple of times I’ve made them the bottoms of the taco shells turned out out too soft and then tore open when we ate them. I can’t figure out why because I can’t find any change I’ve made since the first few times I made them…. Has anyone else had this problem? Your recipe doesn’t say to drain the beef mixture before adding the beans…. Is this something you do? Help!
If you use a higher fat content beef you may want to drain off any excess fat first. But it sounds like water is causing the problem rather than fat. I would just make sure the beef and bean mixture is fairly dry before filling the shells (cook a little longer if it’s watery). Also, make sure they don’t sit filled for long before placing them in the oven? If they sit for a while maybe the shells are absorbing moisture and getting soft.
Thanks, Beth. I will definitely drain the beef next time to see if it makes a difference. Also, maybe I’ll cook the mixture longer like you suggested. I too thought that maybe it was because I let them sit half an hour before I cooked them, but the next time I popped them right in the oven and the same thing happened.
That is just so strange! I’m stumped!
I had this problem too. Total bust!
Hi Jill & Beth, I haven’t tried these yet but they sound delicious… I just spotted the recipe & like to read the comments. One thing I learned from my mother is to drain ground meat [turkey, beef, etc.] in a strainer/colander to get all the fat & water out, even with lean ground meat. The meat then soaks up all the delicious seasonings you will be adding to it. Hope that might help you if you’re still making tacos. Its something our family never gets tired if!
Oh. My. Gosh. The Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos are absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! I had more than enough filling to fill twelve tacos instead of ten, so I can have left overs for the next few days. I served the tacos with homemade pico de gallo and Spanish rice. Thank you so much for this phenomenal recipe, Beth!!! :-)
So glad you loved them!!
“It’s raining tacos” is my new favorite song. Long live taco Tuesday! Baked tacos are worthy of their own song. I followed the recipe exactly until the very end when instead of sprinkling with cilantro, I added a dollop of guacamole. The whole thing equals taco heaven. Thanks for sharing all these obvious, but somehow not so obvious, tips with us harried , non-package-reading, hungry folks Beth. Those 8 minutes in the oven makes such a huge delicious difference.
These look great and I plan to make them tonight! Is it Ok to use regular paprika? I have that but don’t have smoked paprika?
Yes, it just won’t have a smoky flavor like you get with the smoked paprika.
I made this for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, when I opened the box of taco shells, they were all broken. So, instead of filling the tacos and baking as per the recipe, I heated the crumbled tacos separately, let the cheese melt over the beef/bean mixture on the stove, and let everyone assemble their own plate at the table. They were nonetheless delicious and I will definitely make them again. I served this with quinoa and salad.
The best part of making these tacos was that … everyone got to eat at the same time! Usually I spread it all out on the counter and everyone makes their own, at their own pace, and I am left cleaning up! These were ready pronto and great too! (I did sub ground turkey for beef.)
what about hardening soft shell corn tortillas and then continuing with recipe?
I suppose that would work as long as they don’t brown while you’re hardening them?
Wow, this is amazing. I haven’t made tacos at home in 15 years. With kids my food was always cold and everyone else was done by the time I got to eat. I love the bean / meat combo. I used ground turkey twice now and it works great.
Thank you for another great recipe!!
I went to make this last night and realized the ground beef I was planning on using had gone questionable. I had some frozen Tilapia fillets and used them as a quick substitute, dicing them and adding them just as you would the beef. It turned out delicious, and the leftover fish and bean mixture is a great lunch with a little lettuce, tomato, and ranch!
So looking forward to trying this recipe this week! I’ve been drooling over it on my Pinterest board for long enough. :-)
Question: I’ve never used pre-made hard shells for tacos before and didn’t know you should warm them in the oven before use, either. Do you need to put them in the oven (by themselves) before filling with fixings and popping them back in to melt the cheese, or just put them in the oven one time with all the fixings inside?
I just put them in the oven one time after they were already filled. :)
I made these a few weeks ago and we loved them! (I knew to warm taco shells, who knew it was a thing NOT to know!) Made them again tonight using 1lb ground turkey, 2C black beans (that I did in the Instant Pot, fabulous beans!) and added a can of diced green chiles in. I’m going to freeze half for later, delicious stuff and my husband asked “Can we have these again tomorrow night??” lol Winner, winner, taco dinner. ;)
These tacos came out ridiculously delicious. I’ve never made tacos this good in my entire life! I love black beans and for some reason never thought to put them in with my hard shell tacos. I used ground turkey instead of beef because I already had a half pound in my freezer and I don’t usually choose ground turkey over beef in tacos but this time I barely could tell the difference! I added jalapeños, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, taco sauce and sour cream. I skipped the cilantro because I think it’s such a pain to rip and cut. I will definitely be making tacos more often!
I forgot to add that I decided to get those new stand and stuff hard taco shells with the flat bottom. It made assembling and eating the tacos so much easier! I highly recommend it.
Yum, five stars. I’m another one who didn’t know you were supposed to toast the damn shells, second generation cause my mother never did either!
My mother didn’t either!! Hahahah. And I never bothered to read the box because they looked ready to use… :P
I didn’t know either because my mom never made tacos! I also never read the box but I never had an issue either!
I made these tonight and they are SO GOOD!!! My family (even kids) loved them. I don’t ever think I can eat un-bakrd tacos again…I will just be let down. :)
Ooh another goodie. Quick and simple enough to make on a weeknight. I only served it with sour cream because this wuss thought it was spicy enough without jalapeños.
Delicious! Only changes we made were doubling the cayenne and we (accidentally) added a whole pound of beef. This recipe came together really quickly and we will definitely make again. Thank you Beth for another great recipe.
I didn’t rate the recipe because I did make two changes. I added a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, which was something I saw on a Trader Joe’s packaged taco seasoning and I also left out the cayenne. My 5 and 7 year kids LOVED them. In fact, my 7 year, who normally won’t eat black beans, ate one and asked for a second! I will definitely make these again. Thanks for a wonderful recipe. I bet it is delicious exactly as shown in your original recipe.
Simple and delicious!!
Way better than the standard taco!
I was so excited to see this recipe! Thank you, Beth! I immediately got the ingredients and made it for dinner that night. I thought it was excellent! I had doubled the bean/meat/seasoning mixture so I could have it for a second dinner. For the second dinner, I stirred in some frozen corn (before baking but after the meat/beans were together), and served it with sour cream. I loved it even more the second night because I like the sweetness of the corn and the coolness of the sour cream with the salty/squishy/warm meat combination. All those textures and temperatures made it so interesting to eat.
On taco night, by the time I get everyone’s dinner together mine’s cold. I never thought to bake them. Thank you! Now I’ll finally have hot tacos =o)
I totally agree with this! I never thought to batch bake tacos! We usually do taco bowls (just served with chips, not in the tortilla bowls) and mine is usually cold by the time I fix up everyone else’s.
wow I can not believe you guys do not know that you have to bake the taco shells before using it shows on the taco package you have to do so
I think Sarah and the others are referring to the assembling of the tacos and baking them with everything altogether.
Some years back I got tired of messy tacos that break when you’re trying to eat them, so I started to build a little taco casserole on my plate instead. Broken up taco shells mixed up with all the fixin’s. To this day that’s how I eat tacos. I got my boyfriend to start doing it to!
LOL, I totally used to do that, too! Forget trying to hold them together while eating, just break them up before you even start and eat it like a taco salad. ;)
I make a similar taco seasoning but I use Ancho chili powder and New Mexico Chili powder (1/2 Tblsp each). The grocery store I use here in Houston has fresh spices that you can bag. The Ancho has a nice deep flavor to it. I also use the same combination when making your enchilada sauce recipe.
I had no idea that hard taco shells were supposed to be warmed/toasted! =0
Those are some seriously dream looking taco’s! I’ll sub the beef but will definitely be making these! One way we make taco’s go further is to heat some refried beans, spread it on a soft tortilla and put the taco in that – like a double decker. SUPER filling and then it doesn’t matter if the taco shell breaks!
Oooooh double decker!! I like! :D
These look so good! I wonder if I could prepare them ahead of time and bake just before serving. Maybe the shells would get soggy.
I feel like that might work. The beef/bean mixture wasn’t really that wet. BUT there is a lot more moisture in refrigerator air than you might think, so that might affect the taco shells and make them seem kind of “stale”.
This recipe for Beef and Black Bean tacos looks awesome! We will be making it this weekend. I do have a question about the filling. I am planning on making this as a dish for a family bbq, and I was curious if I can make the filling ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until just before I bake the tacos? It would save time and make these tacos something I could prepare in larger batches. :)
I would think that would be okay! You might have to bake a bit longer, though. You can try baking covered with foil for 5-7 minutes, then remove the foil, top with cheese, and bake for another 5-7 to toast the shells and melt the cheese.
I’m 52, and I didn’t know you were supposed to bake hard shell tacos. Thanks, Beth!
Oh god yes these are like handheld nachos! BRILLIANT.
Most definitely had a little bit of beef and a can of beans that I needed to use, perfect timing! Recipe looks great, going to give it a try tonight.
We always use the fresh, non-formed corn tortillas but do basically the same thing- just bake them flat like little tostada. They never get all the way hard so you can still bend them and eat them like a normal taco.
I heat the taco shells in the microwave. Who wants to heat up the oven (and kitchen) for a taco shell?
It’s not just heating the shell up, it’s actually toasting the corn. It’s the same difference between microwaving a bagel vs. putting it in the toaster. Warming vs. toasting.
I use soy or seitan crumbles for my tacos, sometimes adding black beans or lentils. Baking the tacos with their filling is a great idea!