20 Taco Meat Recipes to Boost Your Taco Tuesday Game

What is a taco?

Tacos are a traditional Mexican dish. They consist of small, hand-sized wheat or corn tortillas with a filling. The tortilla is folded around the filling and eaten with the hands. Tacos are incredibly versatile – serve them with beef, pork, chicken, seafood, or vegetable fillings!

What to do with taco meat?

Many of these recipes, especially ground beef and slow-cooked taco meat recipes, can be made in bulk. Make double or triple recipes and then stow portions away in the freezer for quick and convenient meals at a later stage. Taco meat recipes are also often perfectly suited to fill burritos or served with nachos. Keep your mealtime repertoire interesting by serving the same recipe in several different ways!

Beef taco meat recipe ideas

Ground beef is a convenient protein source that is quick and easy to whip up for weeknight meals. It is easy to add plenty of flavor to your ground beef recipe with the traditional spices and flavors that are perfect for tacos: 

1. Fajita-style beef

“Fajita” refers to the cut of meat (Carne Asada or skirt steak) used initially to make this dish. The steak is cut against the grain and quickly grilled! The grilled beef is served on soft corn tortillas with grilled vegetables.

2. Slow-cooker chipotle beef and black bean chili

This beef and black bean chili recipe is made with red and green bell peppers as well as chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. This is a hearty taco meat recipe with a perfect balance of spice and smokiness.

3. Tacos de Matamoros

As the name denotes, this taco recipe hails from Matamoros in Mexico. Ground beef is fried with common Mexican spices, bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Serve with warm corn tortillas, shredded cheese, and chopped tomato.

4. Holly’s Texas brisket

For tacos with a Texan twist, try this slow-cooked brisket. A spice rub of onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, and chili gives the beef plenty of flavor!

5. Slow cooker Mexican beef

This Barbacoa-style beef has all the flavors that we know and love from street food. It is fabulous meat filling for tacos or burritos or as a topping for nachos. Just add fresh cilantro, chopped jalapeno pickles, and a squeeze of lime juice.

6. Southern beefy skillet

For a weeknight meal, this one-pot-wonder ground beef dish is a quick meat filling for tasty tacos. Plenty of vegetables are cooked with the ground beef in this recipe, so it is a nice balanced meal!

7. BBQ beef brisket

Brisket is so perfectly suited to slow-cooking and absorbing loads of delicious flavor from spices and broths. A bit of liquid smoke adds a more-ish smokehouse flavor. Serve this versatile BBQ beef recipe with tacos, sandwiches, burgers, or burritos!

8. Beef sirloin with smoky pepper sauce

This recipe uses only six ingredients and is ready in 30 minutes. Slice the steak into strips rather than cubes for the perfect, convenient recipe for quick weeknight tacos!

Delicious chicken taco meat recipes 

Chicken is the perfect vehicle for a variety of different spice and flavor combinations. Here are a few exciting ideas for chicken taco meat recipes:

1. Crispy fried chicken

To make this crispy chicken recipe, dip the chicken in buttermilk and flour before frying. Buttermilk acts as a tenderizer, so you can even leave your chicken pieces in the buttermilk for a few hours before the next steps. Add a tasty mix of spices to the cooking oil to coat the crispy chicken for extra flavor.

2. Pomegranate chicken

Use this pomegranate basting sauce to baste chicken breasts. Shred the cooked pomegranate to use as a sweet and tangy taco filling! Dress the tacos with coleslaw, lime dressing, and cilantro.

3. Pineapple-pesto chicken

A lovely fresh summer chicken taco recipe. Just swap out the wraps for corn tortillas. Add cilantro and chilies to the pesto sauce for more flavor!

4. Oven-baked chicken tenders

If you like your tacos with extra crunch, add a panko-crumb to your chicken strips. This basic recipe is a great one to add to your repertoire! The crumbing technique works well with many different kinds of meat.

5. Jerk chicken tacos

For a Caribbean-inspired taco meat recipe, try these jerk chicken tacos! A ready-made jerk spice gives these taco chicken strips a good flavor.

Tasty pork taco meat recipe ideas

The richness of pork meat lends itself well to pairings with the fresh condiments typically enjoyed with tacos! Try these 3 easy pork taco meat recipes:

1. Zesty carnitas

Pork shoulder is slow-cooked in orange juice with cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper for this recipe. Serve the shredded pork in taco shells with freshly sliced cabbage and a lime-infused sour cream!

2. Bacon breakfast

As far as taco meat recipes go, you do not get much easier than simply frying up some bacon. These bean and bacon tacos are perfect for a tasty weekend breakfast. With kale and beans, they are a healthy start to the day too! For extra flavor, you can fry the beans in adobo sauce.

3. Chili-rubbed pork

For a fuss-free pork taco meat recipe, roast pork tenderloin with this spicy chili rub! Once cooked, slice the roasted pork in thin slices and arrange in your tacos with condiments of your choice.

Seafood taco meat recipe ideas

Seafood is healthy and quick-cooking! Perfect for speedy weeknight meals:

1. Baja-style shrimp

Marinade your shrimp or other seafood in lime and chili before frying up for your fish tacos.

2. Chipotle shrimp

Shrimp is a fantastic protein for whipping up quick weeknight meals. For Mexican street food flavors, fry the shrimp with bacon and adobo chipotle chilies.

3. Quick fish taco meat

For a fuss-free quick fish taco, use frozen fish sticks.

4. Chili-baked salmon

Salmon is another super solution for a quick-cooking protein. For this taco meat recipe, the salmon is oven-baked with a sprinkling of salt and chili powder.

Taco meat recipe ingredients near me

Whether you are hosting a dinner party or stocking up on groceries for the week, shop via Instacart to make your life easier. Select your taco meat recipe ingredients from local and international retailers near you. A dedicated Instacart shopper will cruise the aisles on your behalf. They will get your order ready for collection or have it delivered to your door within 2 hours.

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