Classic Tacos!with iceberg lettuce and avocado salad
Who doesn't love a classic taco night? This taco bar is a fun dinner that everyone will love and shows you that homemade is way better than what you find out at restaurants.
Smarts: Don't be afraid of digging into your spice drawer. Coriander, cumin, paprika, and chili powder are classic Latin spices - use them wherever you want to add some Latin flava.
Ingredients
- Lean ground beef - 1 lb
- Coriander - 3/4 tsp
- Cumin - 1/2 tsp
- Paprika - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Chili powder - 1/4 tsp
- Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
- Jalapenos - 2, diced
- Onions - 1, diced
- Iceberg lettuce - 1/4 head, sliced
- Cheese (opt) - 2 oz, grated ((Like cheddar, Monterey, Colby))
- Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp
- Crushed tomatoes - 3/4 cup
- Tomato paste - 1 Tbsp
- Lime - 1/2, sliced into wedges
- Taco shells - 8 ((Use smaller tortillas if you prefer))
- Sour cream (opt) - 1/2 cup
- Salsa - 1/2 cup ((Pick a tub of your favorite salsa.))
- Iceberg lettuce - 1/4 head, sliced
- Avocado - 1, cubed
- Paprika - 1/4 tsp
- Red wine vinegar - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Brown sugar - 1/2 tsp
- Cooking oil - 3 Tbsp ((like grapeseed, vegetable, or avocado))
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Ground meat - Season with coriander, cumin, paprika, salt, and chili powder. (Can be done up to 1 day ahead).
- Garlic / Jalapenos / Onions / Lettuce / Cheese - Prep as directed. For jalapenos, the fewer seeds you use, the less spicy the taco filling will be. Just wash your hands thoroughly after touching seeds. If you’re also making Thursday’s dinner, you can grate some cheese for your breakfast burritos too. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
Make
- Make vinaigrette (double if you’re making Thursday’s dinner) by whisking together paprika, red wine vinegar, sugar, and oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then garlic, jalapenos, onions, and a bit of salt to heated oil. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes.
- Next add in ground meat and break up with a wooden spoon. Saute until broken up into smaller pieces, 4 to 6 minutes. Add in crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until meat is cooked through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and any of the spices.
- Cube avocado and slice lime into wedges. Toss chopped iceberg lettuce and avocado with vinaigrette for salad (reserve half for Thursday if you doubled). Spread out your taco bar: taco shells, meat filling, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, and salsa and let everyone assemble their own tacos and enjoy with salad. You’ll be using sour cream and salsa later on in the week, so make sure to not eat it all!
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Reviews
This meal has 76 reviews
Good but nothing special. Skipped the salad and used the avocado on the tacos.
Nothing Special, tasty but ordinary
Loved these tacos! What a difference it makes to use real ingredients instead of those packets of seasoning. We didn't make the side salad. Instead used the avcado and lime juice as an additional taco toppings. Wow, really great!!
I'll need to make this again and properly season the ground beef. We though the meat was a bit bland, but perhaps it was operator error? The avocado and lettuce salad were incredible!
Very tasty! I opted out of the optionals because I current can not have any dairy (cheese, sour cream, etc.). But it was still delicious. I've made this twice already.
Used extra cheese. Topped tacos with tomatoes and hot sauce. Would add extra veggie toppings next time.