Beef and Bean Taco Meat
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This Beef and Bean Taco Meat is a healthy-ish, budget-friendly way to stretch one pound of ground beef into an easy family dinner. It’s made with ground beef, beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. It’s picky kid approved, freezer friendly, and perfect for tacos, burritos, taco salads, nachos, enchiladas, or quick meal prep.
Why you’ll love Beef and Bean Taco Meat
- Budget-friendly: It stretches one pound of ground beef with beans, so you get more servings without much extra cost.
- Family-friendly: The flavor is mild, cozy, and easy to adjust for picky eaters.
- Freezer friendly: Make a double batch and freeze half for busy nights.
- Easy to use all week: Spoon it into tacos, burritos, taco salads, nachos, enchiladas, bowls, or crunchwraps.
Hope you love it,
-Star
I love bulking up a pound of ground beef for Taco Night with black beans or pinto beans. Beans are such a healthy and filling protein. The flavor of this meat mixture also happens to be out of this world yummy and you can find me eating it warmed up in a bowl with a little cheese on top all by itself for leftovers. It’s a delicious filling for tacos, burritos, taquitos, enchiladas, or plop it on top of a bed of lettuce for the best taco salad ever! Having it ready to go in the freezer for my favorite Taco Bell Crunchwraps or Homemade Taco Pizza is a lifesaver too!
When I’m not using this for tacos, bowls, or nachos, I love having easy ground beef dinners in my back pocket too, like my Homemade Hamburger Helper or Taco Rice! It’s another family friendly way to turn simple ingredients into a cozy weeknight dinner.
Let’s make some Beef and Bean Taco meat!
First off, you’re gonna grab some spices. It might seem like a lot, but more than likely you’ll have these all on hand. 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on spice preference). Stir them all together and set aside. If you’d rather use a good ol’ packet of taco seasoning or your own blend of taco spices that will work too!
Tip for chili powder: Chili powder comes in a number of different brands and varieties and it may be spicy! I have multiple ones on hand, but when I’m using it for a recipe that I know my four year old daughter will eat I stick to McCormick. It’s mild in spice, but still full of flavor. If you’re unsure about the one you have, give it a taste! If you think it’s spicy add it into the taco and bean mixture separately just a little at a time.
In a large skillet over medium heat add ground beef and beans. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt. While they’re cooking break up with a spatula. You can also use one of these super handy dandy “meat choppers“. (pictured above)
Continue to cook until the meat is browned and beans are smooshed down a bit.
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You can totally use ground turkey or chicken in this too. I also switch up between using black beans, pinto beans, and even canned refried beans. This recipe is very easy to make substitutions with!
When the meat is cooked add the spice mixture to the meat and stir to combine. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes.
Now, add about 1/2 cup tomato sauce along with 1/2 cup water (or an 8 oz can) If you don’t have tomato sauce on hand. That’s fine! Use diced tomatoes if you’d like and break them down with a spatula. No tomatoes at all? Just add a lil extra water. Cook it all together and simmer for about 10-15 minutes occasionally stirring.
And here we are! All done and ready to eat.
Tacos are number one in my heart so grab a shell (flour or corn!) pile in some of the meat and bean mixture.
Dress’m up or down however you like. My favorite beef taco is just with a little lettuce, cheese, and taco sauce. Kind of boring, but it’s how I’ve eaten them since I was a kid so I enjoy’m that way. There’s no rules with a taco though pile on the chopped tomatoes, cilantro, onions, and/or avocado because there’s no wrong way in my world.
Storage and Freezing
Store leftover Beef and Bean Taco Meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To freeze, let the taco meat cool completely, then add it to a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in a skillet or microwave until warm.
If the mixture seems a little dry after reheating, add a small splash of water or broth and stir until it loosens back up.
Beef and Bean Taco Meat
Ingredients
Beef and Bean Taco Meat
- 1 lb lean ground beef (I use 93/7) ground turkey or chicken will work too
- 1 15 oz can black or pinto beans about 1-1½ cups total if using homemade beans
- homemade taco seasoning (ingredients below) OR a packet of taco seasoning will work
- 8 oz can tomato sauce or about ½ cup
- ½ cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Taco Seasoning
- 2 tsp chili powder *see notes
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt reduce by half if using regular table salt or fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper more or less depending on spice level preference (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium-high heat add ground beef and black beans and sprinkle with some salt. Break up the meat and beans while cooking.
- When the meat has browned add in the taco seasnoing and stir to coat. Let it cook for a couple minutes then add in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil while stirring and then simmer for about 10-15 minutes to let the flavors really get to know each other.
- When the meat is done then add it as a delicious filling to tacos, burritos, taquitos, enchiladas or throw it on top of some nachos or a salad! Enjoy.
EASY, DELICIOUS & VERSITILE! I made a double batch using 5 Tbl of taco seasoning. I might try 6 Tbl next double batch. We had burritos for lunch today. Tomorrow I am mixing some with cooked brown rice and a little sweet corn to stuff bell peppers and we’ll still have enough to freeze for another day. I’ve made beef tacos and I’ve made black bean tacos but I’ve never thought of combining the two. Brilliant! The delicious taste of the beef and the health benefits and economy of the beans!
This was great! My husband tweaked this a bit by adding onions and bell pepper and a tiny bit of tequila diluted with some water into the mixture. For a healthier meal, we served this over Japanese sweet potatoes. So tasty!!!
Yum, love adding some extra veggies!
This is a yummy filling for burritos, tacos or on top of lettuce. Thank you!
Made this for the first time tonight and it was great! We really like the level of spice and it was very quick and easy to make!
Hi Amy! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this one. I appreciate you stopping back to leave a review and comment! Thank you so much -Star
Oh my gosh was this delicious! The meat was so flavorful. I used your taco seasoning recipe and followed everything as listed. The one exception was that I had 1 1/3 lbs ground beef. I can rarely fine one pound. I will use this as my new favorite taco meat recipe. I made mine into a bowl with some brown rice, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. Thanks for the great recipe.
I mean, I never leave reviews. And, for tacos?! But I just needed to put in writing that I’ll never make taco meat any other way! This recipe is fantastic. Mashing the black beans just does something for the texture/consistency that puts it over the top!
Hi Kim! I appreciate it so much when someone takes a moment to come back and leave a review! So happy you love this taco meat too- its a serious staple around here!
Very good, & worth making your own seasoning. So simple but so yummy
Hi Joan, I’m so happy you loved it! Thanks for letting me know!
Hey Star……a question. I’m doing an old style WW (Points PLus) because for me it works best. I have my little calculator to figure in the nutritional value of recipes and my little machine gives me the points per serving. So my question is this……if you don’t list a certain thing, like for instance this one, you don’t list the fiber, does that mean there is no fiber in this recipe? Without the fiber, it’s 4 points for me. Wasn’t sure because I thought beans had fiber in them. Thank you so much any info you can give me Star…..keep up with the amazing recipes!!
It says 3.5 g dietary Fibre per 1/2cup serving… if I am wrong reading it, pls let me know.
Notes
Makes 3 and 1/2 cups. Serving 1/2 cup.
160 calories | 5g fat, 2g saturated fat, 311g sodium, 11g carbohydrates, 3.5g dietary fiber, 7g net carbs, 1g sugar, 0g added sugar, 0g added sugar, 0g
Hi, making this for dinner. Do I drain the beans?
Yep!
I make this at least once a month and every time my husband says it’s better than the last. I love this recipe and it’s so dang easy! Never stop creating Star! You are such an inspiration!!!
Ohhh thank you so much for your kindness, Kealy!!
Because I trust that every recipe of yours is going to be a keeper, I doubled this recipe, for some quick dinners out-of-the-freezer-in-a-hurry…It did not disappoint! Don’t know what took me so long to try it, but it is now my new favorite! Trust me..it is FULL of flavor and awesomely delicious! And thanks for the Green, Blue and Purple points info!
We had this yesterday and it was the most delicious meal ever. We put some corn tortillas in the oven and had crunchy tacos. Yum!!!
Love this! Star’s taco seasoning is the best!