Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos
I have to admit, I was well into my 20’s before I realized that you’re supposed to bake hard taco shells for a few minutes to toast the corn before filling and eating them. I guess I just never bothered to read the package before then, but I’m glad I finally did. A few minutes in the oven makes a world of difference in the taste of a hard taco shell. So, when I started to see people baking the entire taco, I had to wonder if the magic extended beyond just the shell. And let me tell you, after making these Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos, I can tell you that yes, yes it does. Baking will take your taco game to the next level.
Despite using some super fancy and expensive beef (oops) and the generous estimate of $0.10 per teaspoon that I use for spices, these baked tacos were still super affordable at $1.75 per two tacos. Using half beef and half black beans goes a long way toward keeping costs low and it adds a ton of fiber and other nutrients. I used my own homemade taco seasoning for the beef and bean mixture, but if you don’t have a well stocked spice cabinet you can just pick up an envelope of store bought taco seasoning. I kept my cold toppings simple, with just diced tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro, but sky’s the limit. You could add avocado, sour cream, green onions, pico de gallo, pineapple, taco sauce, or whatever your favorite taco toppings are. Have fun with it. :)
Looking for a vegetarian filling idea? Try these Lentil Tacos or Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos!
Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos
Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos
Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos are a fast and easy way to take Taco Tuesday to the next level and is the perfect last minute weeknight meal.
Ingredients
TACO SEASONING
- 1 Tbsp chili powder $0.30
- 1 tsp smoked paprika $0.10
- 1 tsp cumin $0.10
- 1/2 tsp oregano $0.05
- 1/4 tsp cayenne $0.03
- 1/2 tsp salt $0.02
- Freshly cracked pepper $0.03
TACOS
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil $0.04
- 1 yellow onion $0.37
- 2 cloves garlic $0.16
- 1/2 lb lean ground beef $3.90
- 15 oz can black beans $0.79
- 1 box 10 hard taco shells $1.00
- 1 cup (4oz.) shredded cheddar $1.20
- 1 tomato $0.49
- 1 jalapeño $0.06
- Handful fresh cilantro $0.13
Instructions
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In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the taco seasoning and set it aside (or use one envelope of store-bought taco seasoning).
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Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and cooking oil to a large skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent (about 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and prepared taco seasoning and continue to sauté until the beef is cooked through (another 5 minutes). Drain the can of black beans and then stir them into the seasoned beef.
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Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Arrange the taco shells in a casserole dish so they are all standing upright. If you do not have a dish that fits them snuggly enough to hold them up, use balled up aluminum foil to act as "book ends" to help hold the line of tacos upright.
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Fill the tacos with the beef and bean mixture. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over top. Bake the tacos in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the taco shells are golden brown on the edges.
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While the tacos are baking, dice the tomato, slice the jalapeño, and roughly chop the cilantro leaves. Sprinkle the diced tomato, jalapeño and cilantro over the tacos just before serving.
Step by Step Photos
Start by mixing up your homemade taco seasoning (if making your own–you can use a store bought blend instead). Stir together 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the taco seasoning aside.
Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add them to a large skillet along with 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
Add a 1/2 lb. lean ground beef and the prepared taco seasoning. Continue to sauté until the beef is cooked through (about 5 minutes).
Drain a 15oz. can of black beans, then stir them into the skillet. Begin to preheat your oven to 400ºF.
Line up the taco shells in a baking dish so that they are all standing upright. My box of taco shells had 10 shells, but I think I had enough filling for 12. I used a smallish 8×12″ baking dish, which allowed them to sit in the dish snuggly enough to hold them upright. If you don’t have a dish that this works well with, you can use balls of aluminum foil to act as book ends and help hold the shells up.
Top the tacos with 1 cup (or 4oz.) shredded cheese.
Bake the tacos in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the tacos become slightly golden brown. The total cooking time will depend on the type of shell you have, your oven, and other factors, so just keep an eye on them. The important part is that after baking they are all hot and toasty with melted cheese allll over ’em.
Finally, add your favorite cold taco toppings. I used one diced tomato, one sliced jalapeño, and a handful of chopped cilantro. Sour cream, avocados, taco sauce, pineapple, and pico de gallo, are all great choices.
Srsly, though. Tacos should not be confined to just Tuesdays. Tacos EVERY DAY. #teamtaco
I actually combined this recipe with your Spicy Baked Black Bean Nachos recipe and I love them as nachos! They’re such an easy go-to meal in my household and I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand for other meals.
I love this recipe! But I’m wondering about adapting it to a kitchen that doesn’t have an oven. Do you think it would work to “bake” the tacos in a toaster oven?
Probably! Most toaster ovens are just like mini ovens. :)
The filling was really good, although could have used a little more salt. I used 3/4 lb ground meat (92% lean). I made the filling ahead on Sunday so it would be ready during the week, and then just popped it in the micro for a minute to take some of the chill off.
Personally, I would NOT do this method of baking the tacos again. I found it very tricky to get the taco shells to stand up for stuffing, even when nestled closely together. Maybe the stand and stuff style would work better for that, but my taco shells were fairly soggy anyhow, so we don’t plan on using this method again. It didn’t seem like the flavor of the actual taco was any better than it would have been just heating up the shells.
Loved the recipe! I didn’t have any problems with the shells becoming too moist. They crisped up nicely (which I also missed the step of baking them in the past, but i don;t generally prefer had tacos–maybe that’s why). There were great! I added extra meat since we had a bunch and they still came out fine. I added more seasoning to make up for it. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Tonight is the second night this week we’ve made this, and it’s only Tuesday…so, definitely a big hit! It’s phenomenal all around. The only change we made was to add roasted poblano peppers to the filling. It’s a little more prep, but this recipe is already so easy that it’s not really an issue. We (re: my boyfriend) roast the peppers whole at 450 ish until they’re moderately black and blistered, remove and cover them with a dish to steam them in order to loosen the skin, then remove the skin and seeds and dice them up. Easy (if a bit messy) addition to a wonderful recipe!
Hey Beth, I’m going to try them again tonight. Cross your fingers… But now i have another question… do you think I could prepare the whole meat/garlic/onion/black bean mixture and freeze what I don’t use? (My kids don’t eat very much and I find these are soggy the next day if you put them in the fridge.) I thought I could prepare exactly what we need, then freeze the filling and make fresh ones next week. I just didn’t know if you can freeze the black beans together with the meat….
I bet you could freeze the filling!
So, in case anyone is wondering… I solved my soggy taco problem. I hadn’t properly drained my can of black beans. I drained it quickly using the can lid but that left too much liquid. So i dumped it into a colander and got all the liquid out. Voila… perfect crispy tacos! Oh and I haven’t tried freezing the filling yet, as we ate the leftovers a few days later. But I’m definitely going to try that next time.
Aha!! I’m so glad you figured it out! :D
These are ridculously good. I ate more than I would like to say….. My kids LOVED them.
So I’ve been making these for awhile now and my family really loves them. However, the last couple of times I’ve made them the bottoms of the taco shells turned out out too soft and then tore open when we ate them. I can’t figure out why because I can’t find any change I’ve made since the first few times I made them…. Has anyone else had this problem? Your recipe doesn’t say to drain the beef mixture before adding the beans…. Is this something you do? Help!
If you use a higher fat content beef you may want to drain off any excess fat first. But it sounds like water is causing the problem rather than fat. I would just make sure the beef and bean mixture is fairly dry before filling the shells (cook a little longer if it’s watery). Also, make sure they don’t sit filled for long before placing them in the oven? If they sit for a while maybe the shells are absorbing moisture and getting soft.
Thanks, Beth. I will definitely drain the beef next time to see if it makes a difference. Also, maybe I’ll cook the mixture longer like you suggested. I too thought that maybe it was because I let them sit half an hour before I cooked them, but the next time I popped them right in the oven and the same thing happened.
That is just so strange! I’m stumped!
I had this problem too. Total bust!
Oh. My. Gosh. The Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos are absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! I had more than enough filling to fill twelve tacos instead of ten, so I can have left overs for the next few days. I served the tacos with homemade pico de gallo and Spanish rice. Thank you so much for this phenomenal recipe, Beth!!! :-)
So glad you loved them!!
“It’s raining tacos” is my new favorite song. Long live taco Tuesday! Baked tacos are worthy of their own song. I followed the recipe exactly until the very end when instead of sprinkling with cilantro, I added a dollop of guacamole. The whole thing equals taco heaven. Thanks for sharing all these obvious, but somehow not so obvious, tips with us harried , non-package-reading, hungry folks Beth. Those 8 minutes in the oven makes such a huge delicious difference.