Easy Oven Baked Tacos made with ground beef and lots of cheese in hard taco shells are perfect for a quick family dinner or when you need to feed a crowd.
Raise your hand if you grew up with ground beef tacos in hard taco shells! Now, raise your hand if you hated when the filling fell out whenever you took a bite!
I’m looking at so many of you now, friends. Good times!
Street tacos in soft tortillas are in now, and we love making tacos made with salsa chicken, pork carnitas and shredded beef. But, I had the biggest craving for ground beef tacos the other day, and I just had to make some for dinner.
My pickiest eater absolutely hates the mess, so I made baked beef tacos, instead. Voila — the filling stays in the shell, my kids are happy, and Mom wins again!
How to Make Ground Beef Tacos in the Oven
The best thing about tacos made with ground beef is they are super quick and easy. I usually make taco meat in my Instant Pot, but when when you’re making these tacos, you want the meat as dry as possible.
Just brown your ground beef on the stove, add homemade taco seasoning or your favorite mix and some water, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Place the shells next to each other in a baking dish. Then, add some cheese, and your taco meat.
Adding cheese to the bottoms of the shells prevents them from getting soggy. We tried it and without the cheese on the bottom, and the tacos were so much better with it!
Next, add more shredded cheese over the meat. It’s going to melt down quite a bit in the oven, so don’t be shy here!
Pop the shells into the oven, and bake! You only need to bake the tacos until the cheese melts and the shells are golden brown around the edges.
In only a few minutes, you’ve got cheesy ground beef tacos. Add your favorite toppings, and watch them disappear.
Taco Topping Ideas
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Oven Baked Tacos Recipe
Easy Oven Baked Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small onion chopped, optional
- 1 jalapeño peppers finely chopped, optional
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- taco seasoning 1 packet or 3 tablespoons homemade
- 1 cup water
- 12 taco shells
- shredded cheese Mexican blend or cheddar
- toppings
Instructions
- Sauté onions and jalapeños in oil over medium heat until slightly soft
- add ground beef, and cook until no longer pink, drain grease if needed
- Add taco seasoning and water, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat
- Place taco shells next to each other in 13 x 9 baking dish
- fill shells with a little shredded cheese, then cooked ground beef
- Top with more shredded cheese
- Bake for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and shells are lightly browned
Notes
Nutrition
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You said tacos?! Yes, please! These are perfect!
I love making these tacos in bulk; so great for feeding a crowd or tacos lovers like my family! These were great; easily a new favorite recipe!
SO happy to hear this! Thanks, Sara!
My family loved this!! I can’t wait to make it again!
I’m so glad you liked them, Beti. Thanks so much!
We love tacos! This sounds SO delicious!
Perfect for Taco Tuesday! I cannot wait to eat these!
My husband made this last night and they were so delicious! He loved how easy everything was to put together!
They are super easy! Thanks, Kerri — glad you all liked them!
These look so delicious and tasty! I’m bookmarking this for dinner! Can’t wait!!
Let me know how you like it, Beth!