Crockpot Taco Meat – This taco meat makes dinner super simple! Only a handful of ingredients for delicious taco meat made right in the slow cooker and ready to go at supper time!
Be sure to try out our Classic Ground Beef Tacos too if you don’t have time for the slow cooker!
Whew, you guys! We just got back from our trip to Chicago really late on Sunday night. Ok, fine, it was 10:00.
BUT it felt soooo much later after a busy weekend and a long day of travel. Know what I mean?
We had a blast – it was the kiddos first time in Chicago and they absolutely loved everything about it.
Basically, we just did all the touristy stuff possible. We also ate A LOT of delicious food.
I was really hoping to take the kids to swim in Lake Michigan, but it was surprisingly cool while we were there!
Of course snap back to reality that it is actually July when we got back to Kansas and 100 degree, humid, sweaty weather.
Back to reality also means a heap and a half of laundry to do after our trip, and just getting caught up on everything work/life related in general.
So, here I was all sad on Monday because I had to cook dinner and I really just wanted one more slice of Chicago deep dish pizza.
No pizza for me.
That’s ok. This taco meat is delicious and saves my life when I really am just so busy that cooking is an afterthought.
And everyone in my house loves tacos, so no complaining, woohoo!
Let’s get down to taco meat business (taco meat business, what??) shall we?
I make two pounds of meat at a time. This gets the four of us two meals, so we usually do tacos one night, then another night during the week we can do burritos, nachos, taco salad – use your imagination!
I like my taco meat to have a little garlic flavor, hence the garlic powder. It’s not a requirement at all for this recipe if you want to leave it out and keep it even more simple.
I use the leanest ground beef I can get my hands on for this recipe. But, you’ll notice that the mixture is somewhat liquidy when it’s finished cooking because of the salsa.
That’s ok, just drain it in a colander, put it back in the crockpot on warm until you’re ready to eat. Just don’t rinse the meat or you’ll take all that tasty flavor away!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Crockpot Taco Meat
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Lean Ground Beef
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 Packages Taco Seasoning, About 4 Tablespoons
- 2 Cups Salsa
Instructions
- Place ground beef into slow cooker. Top with the taco seasoning, garlic powder, and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
- When the meat is finished cooking, drain any liquid from the crockpot and break up the beef as desired with a fork.
- Serve with your favorite taco shells, burrito shells, tortilla chips, and toppings!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you use frozen turkey? Or does it have to be thawed
Can I half everything to cook 1 pound of ground beef?
I only have a 2 qt crockpot (I live alone), that’ll be big enough right?
That should work 🙂
Yes that’s exactly what I do. I have a 3qt crockpot and jt comes out amazing. Best taco recipe I have ever found.
Great recipe! I substitute Picante sauce for salsa and it’s always a huge hit. Thanks!
What size crockpot did you use for this recipe? Wondering if it could be doubled in a 10qrt crockpot.
I used a 6 qt, so yes you could definitely double 🙂
Would you need to plan to cook it longer? Using this recipe for a big company meal on Tuesday 🙂
Stumbled upon this recipe while planning a taco bar for my daughter’s birthday. I had so many compliments on the meat! Thank you for this easy, tasty recipe!
I never thought to put salsa in the ground beef! It’s in the crockpot now! So excited for dinner later!
How will it stay good for in the crock pot?
Amazing! So juicy and delicious, very easy.
Can you round the ground meat first. Then put it in the crock pot. Can you use one pound of ground meat to make for less people.. Thank You
This is so good. Can you also do frozen meat?