Ground Beef Taco Meat
Seasoned ground beef taco meat made in your skillet in 30 minutes. Plus my hack on how I double my amount of grass-fed ground beef taco meat for just $1 using frozen cauliflower rice!
My hands down favorite food to eat out and cook at home is Mexican food. Not only is it delicious, but so many of the dishes are clean diet friendly.
One of my favorites to make, especially if I’m meal prepping on Sundays, is whole30 ground beef taco meat. It’s keto and paleo too! You can use it in so many ways!
Watch Ground Beef Taco Meat Hack Recipe Video
Note: You can also watch this recipe video on YouTube.
Healthy, Whole30 Authentic Taco Meat Recipe
This ground beef taco meat is going to taste exactly like what you get in the restaurant. Juicy, seasoned, and full of flavor. But healthier, and cheaper!
When making it at home, you can use organic 100% grass-fed ground beef, which has more minerals and vitamins. My ground beef is from ButcherBox, which I highly recommend. I cook the taco meat in avocado oil, rather than the refined vegetable oil restaurants use. And I use my homemade taco seasoning which is sugar free and free of any chemical preservatives and fillers.
How To Make Taco Meat
This is such a simple recipe to make, that is ready in 30 minutes.
To give it deep flavor, you want to start with caramelized onions. This will give the taco meat that subtle sweetness.
Next, add in your ground beef. Here is a little trick I do: rather than using 2 pounds ground beef, I use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound cauliflower rice. The cauliflower rice takes on the flavor and texture of ground beef when cooked. You cannot tell the difference. This cuts your cost of meat in half, adds in more vegetables, and stretches out the 1 pound of beef you’re using. You can always use 2 pounds of ground beef if you have enough on hand.
Finally, add in tomato paste, taco seasoning and water. The tomato paste gives it a deep, umami flavor, the taco seasoning gives it that great Mexican taste, and the water keeps the taco meat juicy.
Using Whole30 Ground Beef Taco Meat
The uses of this taco meat are endless!
Use it to make a burrito bowl, on a Mexican taco-less salad, in a lettuce cup taco, with scrambled eggs for a Mexican breakfast. I highly recommend serving it with my favorite whole30 fajita veggies. Pairs great with my whole30 cashew queso too. And of course guacamole!
These taco meat freezes beautifully as well. See recipe notes for freezer instructions.
Ground Beef Taco Meat Hack
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 12-ounce bag of frozen cauliflower rice
- 4 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add the avocado oil and onions, sauté the onions until soft and turning golden, stirring occasionally. About 5 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, and break up with a potato masher.
- When the ground beef is about half way cooked, add in the frozen cauliflower rice straight from frozen. The cauliflower rice will thaw, and add more moisture to the ground beef as it is thawing. Stir to combine and cook until the meat is cooked through and brown and the cauliflower rice is thawed and has absorbed all the moisture and flavor of the beef, stirring occasionally. About 10 minutes.
- Add the taco seasoning and tomato paste. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant and fully combined. About 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
- Will keep in an airtight container refrigerated for 5 days, or frozen for 6 months.
- See the Recipe Notes below for more tips, FAQ's and ingredient substitutions.
Notes
This post contains affiliate links, thanks for the love!
36 Comments on “Ground Beef Taco Meat”
Delicious!! I loved your taco seasoning!
Thank you
Your big images with the title on them are not pinnable. I tried this post and the post for the taco seasoning. Just wanted you to know. I didn’t want to pin the small images without the title on them.
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll look into this! You’re the BEST!
Literally couldn’t even taste the cauliflower. So freaking good. Ate this for a whole week in tacos, taco salads, quesadillas, etc. The taco seasoning is amazing and I loved her idea to pre-make a jar. I have one in my cabinet now. A super easy weekly staple!
I agree, you cannot taste the cauliflower at all and it adds so much nutrition to the dish Natalie. I love that you are enjoying the taco seasoning too. I always have a jar made up in my cabinet and I am glad you do too!
SUCH a great hack to add the cauli rice to the ground beef! Favorite ever.Â
SUCH a great hack to add the cauli rice to the ground beef! Favorite ever.Â
I know! Isn’t it a great way to sneak extra veggies into your taco meat Katie? I also love that it stretches out the ground beef. The boys sure have never noticed!Â
ok… I admit I had my doubts. I will say I can tell this isn’t *just* beef, but only when I eat a spoonful on its own. Even then, I couldn’t tell you what made it taste different if I didn’t already know it was cauliflower. When I served it over lettuce and added fajita peppers, lime juice, hot sauce, and green onion as toppings I couldn’t taste a difference at all! Smelled just like tacos from Del Taco ha ha.
So delicious! What a great way to add veggies in without having to prepare an extra side dish. I did double the amount of tomato paste, but that’s just because I didn’t have tomatoes lying around to add as a topping. I’ll definitely be making this one again :)
I am so happy you liked my taco meat Carolyn! I agree, it is such a delicious way to add veggies to your protein. I love that it tasted like Del Taco! Yum! Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
I finally tried the cauliflower hack last night- omg it worked! It added a nice texture to the beef mix, and my kids had NO idea but kept saying how good dinner was 😂🙃 Thanks for another hit!
Yeah! I am so glad you tried my taco meat hack by adding cauliflower Lindsay. I love that your kids didn’t even notice and really enjoyed their dinner. That is definitely a win, win!Â
I made this for our taco night and my husband even loved it!! He was skeptical at first but said he couldn’t tell a difference. I love that it makes the dish go a little further while adding more nutrients!Â
I am so happy you liked my taco meat Michelle. Even better that it was hubby approved. I think it is the perfect way to add extra nutrition while stretching your food budget. These days, we can all appreciate that!
Adding the cauliflower rice to stretch the meat is genius!  Our pickiest eater ate it it and didn’t even notice!Â
I am so glad you liked my taco meat hack Charity! You know I have cooked this for countless people and no one has ever figured it out! It is such a fantastic way to add flavor and nutrition to the meat. Not to mention stretching the dollar which we could all use these days! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
Soooooo good! Â Love the cauli-rice hack! Â
Isn’t it amazing how you can hide the cauliflower in the taco meat Debbie? It adds so much nutrition and really enhances the flavor! So glad you liked it!
I love this way to get extra veggies and stretch out the meal. I made this last night and it was a hit. No one even noticed that there was cauliflower rice mixed in! Amazing!! Thank you so much, Natalie!
~Sabrina
I am so glad you liked my taco meat Sabrina! I just love that you made it and no one knew it was veggie packed! That’s a win for sure!
I was totally onboard after I saw insta stories. But then I was hesitant during cooking because I hate the taste of raw riced cauliflower and didn’t see it coming together. But then I served it up with siete taco shells and WOW! The meat tastes juicy and delicious. Perfect consistency.
I used turkey instead of beef and also cooked the cauliflower from frozen with the onions before the meat.
It’s SO yummy! Thank you!Â
Yeah! I am so glad you liked my taco meat with riced cauliflower Caitlin! I too was a skeptic, but was thrilled with the final results. Such a great way to add extra nutrition to your taco meat.
This is so delicious! The onions really add a sweetness that I loved! Yum! I ate this over a baked sweet potato. Another great recipe!
I am so happy you liked my taco meat Dara. I also love how the cooked onions add such a sweet, delicious flavor. Serving this over a baked sweet potato is a fantastic idea.
You’re brilliant! This is SUCH an amazing way to get extra veggies in — especially for my husband who tells me he doesn’t like cauliflower. I never would have thought to do this! YUM!
I am so glad you like my taco meat Heather! Isn’t it the best way to get extra veggies in your diet. I am so glad even your hubby liked it, especially since he doesn’t like cauliflower. That is fantastic!
This is genius and SO delicious. My family actually prefers our tacos with cauliflower now. I’ll never make it again without it.Â
I am so glad your family prefers taco meat with cauliflower. It is such a great way to get extra veggies in your diet, plus I agree – it tastes better!
My family never knows the difference when I add the cauli rice. Such a great way to just get in a bit more veggies without compromising any of the flavor.
It’s such a tasty way to add extra veggies and nutrition to your family’s meals. It’s a win-win for everyone!
So good! I am not a fan of cauliflower at all and I couldn’t even taste it in this. Very very good and tastes exactly like regular taco meat!
This just made me SO HAPPY to read! Thank you Nina! Great way to sneak in veggies and stretch the taco meat. You are so kind to take the time to let me know!
I love tacos!!! This will be made this week!! Thanks Nat! You are awesome girl! I still need to make a first order from butcher block…can you do a repeat on your usual order?
Thanks Barbara! Hope you love them as much as I do! You will LOVE ButcherBox! The small box would be perfect for you. Yes, it will automatically repeat your order every month, unless you go in and change it. Takes a lot of the thinking out if you want the same cuts over and over.
So happy to hear this is freezable!
Thank you Mariana! It freezes great!