Classic Tacoswith iceberg lettuce and avocado salad
First featured as "Taco Night!" in the early days of our meal plan service, this fun recipe leads to a taco bar where everyone can build their own right at the dinner table. It's a classic dinner that we love as much today as we did when it was first featured in March 2014.
Ingredients
- Beef, ground and lean - 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, chopped
- Jalapenos (opt) - 2, diced
- Onions, medium - 1, diced
- Lettuce, small iceburg - 1/4 head, sliced
- Cilantro - 1/4 bunch, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Tomatoes, crushed - 3/4 cup
- Tomato paste - 1 Tbsp
- Taco shells - 8 (use soft tortillas if you prefer)
- Limes - 1/2, wedges
- Cheese, shredded white cheddar - 4 oz
- Yogurt, plain or Greek - 1/2 cup
- Salsa - 1/2 cup (choose your favorite)
- Lettuce, small iceburg - 1/4 head, sliced
- Paprika - 1/4 tsp
- Vinegar, red wine - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Brown sugar - 1/2 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 3 Tbsp ((like grapeseed, vegetable, or avocado))
- Avocados - 1, cubed
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Season meat - Combine beef with coriander, cumin, paprika, salt and chili powder. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Garlic / Jalapenos / Onions / Lettuce (for tacos and salad) / Cilantro- Prep as directed. Combine jalapenos and onions. Store remaining ingredients separately. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
Make
- Heat oven to 375F / 190C.
- Make vinaigrette by whisking together paprika, red wine vinegar, sugar and oil (the portion for the salad). Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil (the portion for the tacos) and then jalapenos and onions with a bit of salt to heated oil. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, ~1 minute.
- 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 some salt and pepper.
- Place taco shells on a sheet pan and bake in oven until warm and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Cube avocados and slice lime into wedges. Toss chopped iceberg lettuce and avocados with vinaigrette.
- Set out your taco bar: taco shells, meat filling, lettuce, cheese, yogurt, lime wedges, cilantro and salsa and let everyone assemble their own tacos. Enjoy with salad.
Reviews
This meal has 37 reviews
I made it for a crowd and it went over well! Keeping it as a favorite for a classic homemade taco meat! I got 85/15 meat and it definitely needed a little draining before adding the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. I added back extra seasoning that was drained off.
You can't go wrong with tacos!
Tacos were delicious!
OMG, so yummy, tasty, and delicious! The salad was the perfect partner for this dish. Definitely one of our favorites now.
Very good taste to the meat, although mine came out pretty greasy. The avocado salad was also yummy.
Really good taco meat - I used pork/veal which I like more than plain beef. Didn't make the salad as I can't eat avocado, so not sure what it was like...