Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Ground Beef Tacos

Do you like Mexican cuisine? How about a delicious meal that can be put together easily that you and your family can enjoy? The Mexican here in the US will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo on May 5th so I am featuring one of their dish here. You can read more about Cinco de Mayo here. These spicy beef tacos combined with some fresh toppings is a much healthier version than the one you get from the fast food joints or restaurants. I think this will be great for a party as your guest can top up their tacos with whatever toppings they prefer. Another dish that will go great with your party will be Chicken Fajitas.

Ingredients for Beef Tacos:

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 large onion – cut into small cubes
3 cloves garlic – chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper (you can put less)
1 can 14 oz crushed tomato
½ cup beef stock or water
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp vinegar



Toppings for the Tacos:

Taco shells
Guacamole
Chopped fresh tomatoes
Lime wedges
Shredded lettuce
Chopped cilantro
Grated cheese
Hot Sauce and sour cream (optional)


1. In a skillet over medium heat, heat the 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and sauté until softened and lightly brown. Stir in the garlic and spices. Cook until fragrant.
2. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, to break up the meat.
3. Stir in the tomato, stock, vinegar, and sugar. Simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.
4. Spoon the meat mixture into the taco shells and top with cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, lettuce, sour cream and hot sauce.

Note: Stay tune for my shredded beef soft tacos which I will post it up soon.

18 comments:

My Little Space said...

Gert, the taco spices still sitting in my pantry. haha... I just used the szechuan peppercorn mixed spices in my roasted chicken today. Very flavourful & spicy! Did you mix those spices your own? Don't worry! I'll plan my taco meal soon. Probably have to go without the taco shells! Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. I'll keep this in mind.
Have a great day.
Cheers, Kristy

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if I can find this type of taco shells here. I have to look for it at Cold Storage. Great suggestion. This will be great for party.

Sue

mycookinghut said...

Looks very colourful and appetising! Feels very summery too!

Anonymous said...

Do you mind me asking why you add vinegar and what does it do to help the dish? I love learning about chemistry of cooking. Thx.

Cuisine Paradise said...

These sure look great and appetising with it's colourful combination of ingredients. Now I can do away with rice and have come of these for busy weekday nights meal :)

Anonymous said...

Actually, most non-Mexicans in the U.S. celebrate this holiday more than Mexicans do.

Nevertheless, these tacos look great. What a great Tex-Mex meal.

Shereen said...

One of my lazy meals I prepare when I'm in a lazy mode..hehehe...but actually, more work to do..chopping,grating etc.Bodohkan I ni?But I like to do these type of meals so that I don't have to injure my brain as to what to give J for his lunch at school the next day.Your post remind me to have this tacos again one of these days...I tengah malas ni!!

Bits said...

Healthy and awesome tacos! Love it!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Looks great, suitable for party.

Jeannie said...

Looks healthy and delicious!

ann low said...

Mmm...looks so delicious and healthy! My boys sure love it!

Chasing Food Dreams said...

oh.. how I miss Tacos... :(

Yours look so irresistible!! Have to learn to make this soon but my family dont eat beef, maybe I ll try with pork? :)

My Asian Kitchen said...

wow!! look like a luxury Cinco de Mayo feast!! I bought a pack of soft tako skin from BJ's..when I open it I realized it's have more than 40 pieces!! so I pan fried the skin to make hard tako and make sandwich cold cut! can't think of other things to do..

Noob Cook said...

I love tacos! your fillings are so generous :)

ICook4Fun said...

Kristy, I hope you make some tacos with the spices. Yea I like the szechuan peppercorn mixed spices too. No, actually a company sent me that szechuan mixed spices to tried out so I gave some to you :)

Sue, I think you should be able to get them at JJ or Cold Storage.

Leemei, yes this is great for summer. I plan to make this again for our summer BBQ get together with our neighbors.

Anon, vinegar is added to this dish to just to give the dish to give it bit of tang. You can always omit it.

Ellena, you are right. The non-Mexican celebrate this holiday more than the Mexicans :)

Shereen, ya there are quite a bit of work preparing the toppings. I too like this kind of meals.

Bits of Taste, yes it is.

LCOM, thanks

ICook4Fun said...

Jeannie, thank you.

Ann, kids like this type of meal :)

Food Dreams, yes you can always use other type of meat for this but the taste will be different though.

Lesley, you can always cut it up, brush it with some some butter, sprinkle on some sugar and cinnamon powder and make chips out of it. They actually taste really good.

Noobcook, ha ha.. I like to load it up with fillings on my tacos :)

Unknown said...

Love it absolutely! Love the bright colours, spicy & appetising fillings.

Reen Tart Nenas said...

owh, kena cuba nie :)