Today I'm sharing one of my favorite quick and easy recipes-- Mexican Style Ground Beef. It's the recipe I reach for most often when we're making ground beef tacos or burritos. It's full of flavor, saucy, and not much harder than reaching for the taco seasoning. 
Mexican Style Ground Beef
If you're tired of reaching for the Costco-sized container of taco seasoning every time you want Mexican ground beef for tacos, enchiladas, or nachos, you have to try this recipe!
I know I'm guilty of going the easy route, too, but this recipe is really not that much harder than stirring in premade seasoning. It is perfect for a myriad of Mexican ground beef recipes and tastes so much better than anything you can shake out of a canister.
How to Season Mexican Ground Beef
My Mexican style ground beef recipe uses green enchilada sauce, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and dried onion. If you like it on the spicy side, feel free to add a bit of cayenne or ground chipotle chili powder.
Cooking Tips for Restaurant Style Taco Meat
Ever wonder why some taco meat found at restaurants or in chili is ground SUPER fine and how they get it that way? That is the result of actually boiling the hamburger first. This method of cooking brings the temperature of the meat up slowly and prevents it from clumping, keeping it finely ground.
If you'd like to try this method with this recipe, place the beef in a deep pan and add enough cold water to cover the meat. Slowly bring the pan to a boil, stirring often to separate the meat into small crumbles. Once it's to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the meat is brown and fully cooked.
At this point, you'll drain off the water and add the remaining ingredients to the meat, following the recipe card below.
Other Mexican Inspired Recipes You Might Like
- Baked Crunchy Tacos-- Easy for a Crowd
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken and Sour Cream Enchilada Skillet
- Black Bean & Chicken Enchilada Skillet
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce
- Chicken Tortilla Soup ( Slow Cooker)
- Chile Colorado Beef Burritos
Tools Used In Making This Mexican Style Ground Beef
- Lodge 10" Cast Iron Skillet: Cast Iron Skillets are your BEST friend and are totally underrated. Cast iron retains heat really well and allows you to get that irresistible sear on steaks and other meats you can usually only get at a restaurant. Pair this with the fact that they are CHEAP it's a no-brainer.
- Chop Stir: This strange little tool makes short work of browning ground meat with its odd shape that allows it to crumble the meat quickly as it cooks.
Watch Me Make this Ground Beef Taco Recipe
Mexican Style Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 10 ounces green enchilada sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced dried onion
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brown and crumble ground beef until no longer pink. Drain excess fat.
- Return meat to pan and add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Let simmer for 5-6 minutes over medium-high heat or until most of the liquid is absorbed and it’s the consistency you like—for instance, I like my taco meat a bit drier than I do for making nachos or enchiladas with.
Nutrition Facts
Life hack: Shape a piece of aluminum foil to fit like a cup in/over your sink's drain. Pour hot grease into foil- as it cools it becomes solid and just throw it away!
I love this idea! I had never heard of boiling meat. When you drain it do you pour it down the sink grease and all? I usually avoid putting grease down the sink for fear of clogging, but maybe the water dilutes it enough?
Life hack: Shape a piece of aluminum foil to fit like a cup in/over your sink's drain. Pour hot grease into foil- as it cools it becomes solid and just throw it away!
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I tried this sauce on turkey meatballs last night and served them to my very picky children and their even pickier cousins. What a HUGE hit! I cannot thank you enough – you’ve added a new staple to their diets …
Finally! The perfect taco recipe. Thank You,
Great on Nachos!!
This looks so good! I knew I wanted to do Mexican today, but didn't have any new ideas. I don't have green sauce in a can, but have green chilies and alot of spices. I don't mind more steps. Have you ever made the sauce from scratch?
Made this last night. It was delicious! Thank you!
just to clarify, does this recipe use red or green enchilada sauce? the recipe reads green, but the link attached to the green enchilada sauce is a recipe for the red kind.
Yes, I use green enchilada sauce. My recipe card sometimes pulls links incorrectly. Sorry. Thanks for checking!
thanks! im going to make this after my next shopping trip 🙂
Thanks for the tip on draining ground beef. That’s the part I hate about cooking bulk amounts of ground beef and I never thought of lining a bowl to catch the grease