Name: Best Taco Meat Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef (or turkey); 1 to 2 teaspoons avocado oil (for cooking); 1 tbsp chili or taco seasoning; 1 cup sugar-free salsa; sea salt (to taste)

The best taco meat recipe to use with ground beef or ground turkey. It's so simple with just 3 pantry ingredients and takes only 15 minutes from start to finish. The whole family will love this healthy version of taco meat for taco Tuesday!

You won't believe how quick and easy this taco meat recipe is. I use a couple of my favorite quick-cooking hacks to add all the flavor without spending time prepping and chopping vegetables or pulling together a long complicated list of ingredients.

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What you'll need

This taco meat recipe uses just 3 pantry ingredients you probably already have.

The first is ground meat. Ground beef is the classic (I always have this grass-fed ground beef in the freezer). But this recipe works just as well with ground turkey or chicken.

Ground meat is such a great staple to keep stocked in your kitchen because it's can be used for so many different meals. It's quick-cooking and budget-friendly.

The second ingredient is taco seasoning. Whatever you do, don't use one of those packets of taco seasoning. They're usually full of processed food additives, corn starch, sugar, and anti-caking agents.

And don't let the words "spices" and "natural flavor" on the ingredient list fool you. They use those terms so they don't have to disclose the actual ingredients.

I use my homemade chili & taco seasoning blend. It has sweet and hot smoked paprika, cumin, garlic, and oregano. It takes just a few minutes to make a batch and I use it for everything from fish blackening to pulled pork rub to crockpot chili.

And the last ingredient is one of my favorite fast cooking hacks---jarred salsa as an ingredient. It adds tons of flavors in one easy step. I use it in my salsa chicken and easy meatloaf recipes.

Just be sure to get a clean salsa without sugar or chemical additives. The ingredients should all be recognizable---tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, salt, etc.

Putting it together

You'll need a large skillet (non-toxic options here) and a wooden spatula.

Brown the meat in a little avocado oil with the taco seasoning, breaking it up with as you cook it.

Stir in the salsa the last few minutes of cooking. That's it.

How to serve it

Hard taco shells, soft tortillas, lettuce wraps---the choices are endless. Here are a few of my favorites:

Grain-free taco shells - these paleo and gluten-free hard taco shells are made with just cassava flour, avocado oil, chia seeds, and sesame seeds! Be sure to heat them for 5 minutes in the oven to crisp them up before serving
Keto tortillas - use these keto wraps to substitute for soft tortillas
Paleo tortillas - I've tried many versions of paleo tortillas and this cassava flour version tastes the best. They also make great tortilla strips for tortilla chicken soup!
Lettuce wraps are the simplest gluten-free, low carb swap. Use lettuce with large leaves, like bibb or iceberg, to make your tacos.
Or make nachos - just load up these paleo tortilla chips with all your taco fixings!

The topping options are limited only by your imagination. From guacamole, jalepenos, and cilantro to shredded lettuce, cheese (or dairy-free cheese), salsa, and hot sauce---set up a taco bar and let everyone make their favorite combination!

More easy ground beef, turkey, and pork recipes you'll love: