If you wish every day were Taco Tuesday like we do, you came to the right place. Thanks to Nicole McLaughlin’s latest roundup of recipes, any night is the perfect night for these festive favorites. Since Nicole places tacos in her “top five favorite foods of all time,” she’s giving us five of the easiest and best beef taco recipes to come back to again and again.
Starting with homemade taco seasoning to make the best saucy taco meat for tortillas, chips, salads, and so much more, and ending with a refreshing Italian Cherry Margarita, Nicole walks us through how to elevate taco night way beyond a boring Tuesday. “Buckle up.”
Crispy Fried Ground Beef Tacos
Peyton Beckwith
“These are about to be the best simple beef tacos you’ve ever had…Indulgent but 1,000 percent worth it,” ensures Nicole. And we’re sold. The secret here is to fry a soft tortilla with cheese and taco meat in a skillet until melty, crispy, and gooey. Layer in shredded lettuce, cilantro, and salsa, as Nicole does, or customize them to your liking. But don’t skip the bonus recipe dip here.
Liven up sour cream with Mexican hot sauce and lime to taste, and get dunking for the “perfect bite.”
Smashed Big Mac Tacos
fabeveryday
“Satisfy your burger craving with this,” Nicole encourages. Break out the Blackstone and take a quick break from the usual taco meat for these viral Smashed Big Mac Tacos Nicole has been making on repeat. As the name suggests, flour tortillas are smashed over a handful of meat to get those delicious “crispy bits.” Topped with cheese, burger sauce, lettuce, and onion? “Flavor all around.”
Quesabirria Tacos
Jake Sternquist / Food Styling: Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling: Gabriel Greco
What’s more convenient than a slow cooker meal you can set and forget? Nicole promised easy, after all. “These are one of the greatest inventions,” she adds. The full recipe is somewhat involved, so Nicole’s shortcut here is to use a store-bought “Birria Bomb” to create the signature saucy goodness. Simply toss chuck meat into the slow cooker with the flavor bomb, onion, cilantro, and water, and “trust the process.” After a six-hour stew, corn tortillas get dipped into the cooking liquid and then fried with meat and cheese. One bite left her “speechless.”
Easy Beef Sheet Pan Tacos
Peyton Beckwith
“Sheet pan is the solution,” Nicole remarks. High-temperature roasting makes these beef and bean tacos crisp and golden—and perfect for a crowd. “The crispy edges are the best part.” Top with your favorite taco toppings or dip into salsa. Nicole calls these “perfection.”
Rotel Tacos
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Rotel Tacos are so good, we should all be planning a taco party around this recipe—a “creamy, beefy tomato mixture that we all know and love, just in a crunchy taco shell with whatever toppings you want,” Nicole shares. “Keep this [filling] in the crock pot, and then all you really need is a stack of shells.” Dinner is served.
“No more boring tacos,” thanks to Nicole.
Dining and Cooking