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 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.