Ground Beef Baked Tacos

These Ground Beef Baked Tacos are the perfect way to prepare tacos for a crowd. Bake a batch of crispy and cheesy beef tacos and serve with a topping bar so everyone can add their own toppings.

I’ve watched this one turn into a weeknight staple for a lot of people. 114 ratings, 4.98 stars, and a comments section full of readers telling me their kids ask for them by name.

I like to serve them with pico de gallo, guacamole, shredded lettuce, lime wedges, and always a batch of my easy homemade pickled red onions.

Baked tacos that are like the perfect blend of taco and quesadilla

If you had asked me one month ago, “whats your favorite taco?”, I probably would NEVER say ground beef. They are sometimes dry and the toppings tend to fall out as you eat. These baked ground beef tacos completely change that for me.

First, cook the ground beef taco meat with simple seasonings and tomato paste. The result is a moist, but not too wet taco meat that is perfect for the baked tacos.

Then, bake the ground beef in a small street taco shell with lots of shredded cheese until the outside is crispy perfection. Once they are finished you can open them up and add the toppings inside or just layer toppings on top and enjoy with a fork and knife.

Build a Taco Bar

The reason I make these for a crowd is that the hot part is finished all at once, so everything else is just bowls on the counter. Bake the tacos, set out the toppings, and let people build their own.

What I put out:

• Shredded lettuce or thinly sliced cabbage, for crunch
• Diced tomatoes or pico de gallo
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt
• Sliced avocado or guacamole
• Easy pickled red onions — the one that makes the plate look like you tried
• Pickled jalapeños, sliced black olives, chopped cilantro, lime wedges
• Hot sauce and copycat chipotle vinaigrette for drizzling

How much to plan: about 3 tacos per person, plus a small handful of each topping. For 8 people that’s two batches of tacos and roughly 2 cups each of the main toppings.

What to prep ahead: the pickled onions keep for weeks and get better after a day. Chop the lettuce, tomatoes and cilantro that morning and keep them covered in the fridge. Make the seasoned beef up to 3 days ahead. On the day, all that’s left is assembling the tacos and baking.

What ingredients will I need to make these simple beef tacos?

You will be amazed at how easy it is to make these baked tacos with just a few simple ingredients. Feel free to put your own spin on this recipe!

• Ground beef – I like to use a 90/10 ground beef so that there is still a little fat for flavor, but not too much fat. If you are a vegetarian, feel free to use some crumbled tofu, vegan refried beans, tempeh in place of the ground beef. For another great vegetarian option, try these black bean baked tacos.
• Taco seasoning blend – make a homemade taco seasoning with salt, black pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper powder. This blend of spices and seasonings is so good that I use it any time I make homemade tacos. You can add any additional seasonings you enjoy like dried oregano and onion powder. You can also save time by using a taco seasoning packet. Add extra spice to these tacos by layering sliced jalapeños or pickled jalapeños in with the ground beef and cheese before baking.
• Tomato paste – add a little tomato paste and water in with the seasoning blend to really make the flavor of the taco meat pop.
• Shredded Mexican cheese blend – I like to use a shredded cheese blend, but you can also use just one cheese like a sharp cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese.
• Street taco size white corn tortillas – the corn tortillas are soft enough to fold in half and then the edges get delightfully crispy when the tacos are baked.

Making These with Hard Taco Shells

My version uses soft corn tortillas folded in half, which is what gives you that crisp-edged, melty, quesadilla-like taco. But if you’re feeding a crowd and want the classic stand-up taco everyone recognizes, this works beautifully with hard shells too.

Use the flat-bottomed stand-up shells rather than the traditional curved ones — they sit upright on their own, so you can fill a whole pan without anything tipping over.

1. Make the seasoned beef exactly as written.
2. Stand the shells upright in a 9×13 baking dish, packed snugly against each other so they hold each other up.
3. Spoon the beef into each shell, then top with the shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the edges of the shells are toasted.
5. Add cold toppings after baking, not before.

What’s different: hard shells don’t get the chewy-crisp edge that a folded corn tortilla does, and you lose the cheese that crisps against the pan. What you gain is a tray of twelve tacos that goes straight from oven to table with no folding and no second batch. One batch of beef fills about 12 hard shells, same as the soft version.

How to make Ground beef Baked Tacos 🌮

Step 1: Preheat oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix taco seasoning blend together in a small bowl.

Step 2: Brown ground beef in a skillet, season with the seasoning blend and then mix in a tomato paste and water mixture.

Step 3: Arrange 6 corn tortillas at a time on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread shredded cheese all over the tortilla and taco meat over half of the cheese. Bake until the cheese melts.

Step 4: After the cheese melts for the baked tacos, take the sheet pan out of the oven, fold the tacos in half and bake again for just a few minutes. I like to serve them with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

Ground Beef Tacos FAQs

Storage, Reheating and Freezing

To keep the tacos warm as you are serving them, transfer them to a baking dish and cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Allow the tacos to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container in the fridge. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven, toaster oven or air fryer at 250F until just warmed through – about 15 minutes.

You can also freeze these baked tacos to save them for longer. Wrap in foil first and then place in a plastic freezer friendly bag. Keep frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat crisp, bake on the foil at 250°F for about 15 minutes. For soft shells, microwave under a damp paper towel for 2 to 3 minutes.