I posted a few weeks ago my attempt at homemade “carne asada street tacos” but made with ground beef. I crave tacos on the daily but they are so expensive around me and I’m trying my best to replicate them as cheap as possible at home. I received lots of great tips from everyone to improve and so I tried it again!
Main difference this time: I toasted the tortillas with a few drops of oil instead of just dry, I toasted the spices before adding them to the ground beef (never even thought that was an option) and I added frozen corn to the beef at the end to stretch it more. I was going to try using textured soy protein but the grocery store didn’t have it.
Overall, I found that I definitely prefer using oil for the tortillas because it adds a nice crisp. As for toasting the spices beforehand, my partner said these were the best tacos I’ve made so I’m guessing it helped bring the flavor out more – I just couldn’t personally tell! And adding the corn was a nice touch. It takes away from the “street taco” idea for sure but I do love corn and the crunchiness/sweetness was a nice touch, definitely worth it if you want to stretch the protein and go even cheaper. Overall, I paid $21.52 for 24 tacos so we’re averaging about 89 cents a taco. 24 tacos for just over $21! My bank account is stoked & my tummy is happy.
Next time I’ll try making my own tortillas and making my own salsa. Otherwise, please send any more tips and tricks my way! I want to make the cheapest tacos possible that taste as good as the real thing ✨
by larapeaches
2 Comments
Ingredients:
1 diced white onion
1 bunch chopped Cilantro
2 limes
2 lbs Ground beef
1 pack corn tortillas
1 can pickled jalapeños (optional)
1 pack frozen corn
Soy sauce (to taste, if you have it)
Spices (to taste – I used whatever I had: paprika, chili powder, garlic powder & coriander. I would have used cumin but I don’t have any on hand!)
Instructions:
Brown ground beef on medium high heat, toast spices separately on medium heat until fragrant and add them in when the beef is almost done, along with some soy sauce if you have it (I also added some of the juice from the can of jalapeños). Then add frozen corn – I used almost the whole bag. It should defrost within a few minutes.
Add a few drops of oil to a pan on medium high heat, toast the tortillas for a minute or so until lightly browned. I lightly toasted both sides but my understanding is one side will do the trick. Add beef mixture to the tortillas & top them with onion & cilantro – I like to mix these ingredients beforehand to make a better balance. Voila!
If you have a gas stove, I lightly blacken my tortillas directly on the fire. It’s an entirely different flavor than browned with oil.