These oven baked tacos stuff what I’ve dubbed the best taco meat ever and cheese into 15 corn tortillas for a perfect crowd-pleasing dinner or meal prep recipe. They’re super easy to make, and the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to freeze some for later.
Each oven baked taco has 11 grams of protein, 10 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat, and 3 Smart Points. So load up!
Ingredients for the Best Taco Meat Ever
I make A LOT of Tex-Mex recipes, but I feel confident saying this is one of the most flavorful ground beef mixtures I’ve ever made. Here’s what you’ll need (I’ll touch on modifications below):
- ground beef, diced onion, minced garlic
- salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chipotle chili powder (or chopped chipotles like in my ground turkey taco meat)
- red enchilada sauce
That’s it! Throw the onion, garlic, and beef in a pan to cook before stirring in the spices and sauce.
And you’re good to go.
Update: If you love this beef mixture and want other uses, my taco meal prep bowls combine this beef with diced chiles and a load of veggies for a super high volume meal.
How to Make the Oven Baked Tacos
If you’ve made my baked chicken tacos, these beef tacos use the same tortillas and baking method. It’s crazy simple.
Microwave extra thin corn tortillas so they’re foldable, fill half of every tortilla with cheese-beef-cheese, fold and cover with a second baking sheet to press close, and bake.
Like I mentioned in my cheesy beef baked taquitos recipe, if you have trouble folding the tortillas, or they crack during folding, heat them a bit longer! You want them nearly too hot to handle.
Bada-bing-bada-boom. Extra crispy, cheesy, beefy tacos in bulk.
Modifying Your Oven Baked Tacos
I’ll quickly run through a few ingredient questions. If I miss something, drop your question in a comment below.
The Taco Meat
Like I mentioned above, the onions cook down and are barely noticeable in the finished product. But if you have an extra picky eater, a FODMAP sensitivity, or any other reason to avoid onions, leave ’em out. The taco meat will survive.
You can definitely use ground turkey or chicken in place of beef. But be sure to match the fat content if possible. Or if you use a fattier cut of meat, you might drain some fat away before adding the spices and enchilada sauce. Too much fat will likely make the bottom of your tortillas soggy or run out during baking.
You can also use other protein options like my Mexican shredded beef or chicken.
Cheese
I love the melty-ness of mozzarella and the sharpness of cheddar, but you could go with any type of cheese in your oven baked tacos. Monterey jack would be the obvious choice to replace both cheeses.
It’s also worth mentioning, these tacos are extra cheesy. If you wanted to save a bit of fat, calories, and Smart Points, you could reduce the amount of cheese used. Just be sure to get some on both sides of the meat to fully seal the tacos.
Tortillas
If you wanted to use regular corn tortillas to make larger oven baked tacos or even flour tortillas, both should work fine. Though you’ll likely need to modify the bake time.
As an estimate, I’d guess a thicker tortilla might take an extra 5 minutes. But don’t quote me on that.
Reheating Your Oven Baked Tacos
If you’re going from the refrigerator, reheating the tacos in an oven or air fryer at 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes should do the trick. Just be sure not to burn the shells.
For frozen, you can thaw at room temp or overnight before using the same instructions above. Or you can try reheating them wrapped in foil at a lower temp. That way they warm throughout without burning on the outside.
Time will also vary based on how many you reheat and once. I pop two in the air fryer for about 3 minutes and think they’re even better reheated than fresh.
If you’re curious about my air fryer recommendation or any other tools or products I use, I have an Amazon list with everything in one place.
Creamy Salsa Dip
Update: I totally forgot to include the recipe for the creamy salsa dip! It’s basically the same thing I used for my copycat Cheesy Gordita Crunch recipe—a 2:1 ratio of fat free Greek yogurt to salsa. You can also use more of the enchilada sauce or hot sauce like I did in my black bean and corn quesadillas recipe.
In this case, I used 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup salsa with a tablespoon or two of diced pickled jalapeño peppers.
You can get creative with different styles of salsa or additional ingredients. If you wanted to make your own salsa and freshen things up, check out the mango salsa from my chipotle bbq chicken tacos and the pineapple salsa from my shredded pork tacos recipes.
And to take your game to the next level, combine some fresh tomatillos, salsa verde, pickled jalapeño peppers, and cilantro with Greek yogurt and ranch seasoning. See my creamy jalapeño ranch dip for precise measurements.
Okay, I think that’s all ya need to know. These tacos are one of the most re-created recipes from my blog so if you have questions, I guarantee you can find hundreds of posts about them in my free Facebook group. And when you try these oven baked tacos, be sure to let me know what you think!
The Best Oven Baked Tacos
Ingredients
Taco Meat
- 1 lb Ground Beef, 96/4
- 1 medium, 200g Yellow Onion, diced
- 5 cloves 25g Garlic, minced
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt, or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Crushed Chipotle Pepper
- 1/2 C 120g Enchilada Sauce (I used Trader Joe's)
Oven Baked Tacos
- 15 Extra Thin Corn Tortillas, I used Mission
- 1 C 112g Finely Shredded Mozzarella (or your choice of cheese)
- 1/2 C 56g Finely Shredded Reduced Fat Cheddar
Instructions
Cooking the Taco Meat
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic before adding to a large skillet with the ground beef over medium-high heat.
- Cook until no pink remains in the beef. While it cooks, mix the dry spices for the taco meat. Add them towards the end of cooking. Stir well.
- Reduce the heat and add the enchilada sauce, stirring everything together until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat.
Assembling the Oven Baked Tacos
- Preheat an oven to 400F.
- Wrap the tortillas in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 45-60 seconds, flipping halfway through. This will make the tortillas easier to fold. Place the warmed tortillas on a large wire rack or baking sheet. (If you have trouble folding or the tortillas crack when folding, heat them a bit longer.)
- Place a generous pinch of cheese on one half of each tortilla. Follow the cheese with the beef and another pinch of cheese. Fold the tortillas in half, pressing down gently to seal. (Be careful to not press too hard and squeeze the beef/cheese out of the tacos.)
- Spray the tops of the tacos with a bit of cooking spray and place a baking sheet on top of them to prevent the tacos from opening during baking.
- Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the tacos are golden brown and crisp. Be sure to check on them during baking as the extra thin tortillas can burn quickly. (Using a baking sheet on the bottom instead of a wire rack may extend the bake time. If you have trouble getting the tacos crispy, you can remove the top baking sheet after a few minutes once the tacos have sealed to speed up the process.)
Notes
- You can swap the mozzarella and cheddar for monterey jack or another melty cheese. Since the base recipe is extra cheesy, you could reduce the cheese to save a few calories, too.
- If you use a fattier meat, be sure to drain some of the fat before adding the spice and enchilada sauce to prevent soggy tortillas or runoff during baking.
- To reheat, air fry or bake at 400F for 3-5 minutes. Time may vary based on how many tacos you're reheating at once.
- Microwave a bit longer before assembling and only microwave right before assembling.
- Don't add a piping hot beef mixture.
- Avoid overfilling.
Nutrition
More Recipes with Extra Thin Corn Tortillas
If you want to make 45 oven baked tacos, you certainly won’t find any judgement from me. But just in case you want to put leftover tortillas to use in another way, here are a few of my favorite recipes:
- Tex Mex White Bean Chicken Soup
- Crispy Pineapple Chipotle Chicken Tostadas
- Healthier Chilaquiles (these use the same enchilada sauce from this recipe, too)
- Bean and Cheese Air Fryer Taquitos
I really love these tortillas, okay?
These look so good! Definitely adding this to my make for work lunches list!
Question though, could you add black or pinto beans or do you think they’d be too hard to close and seal? Always looking to add some filling fiber to my life!
I bet the beans would work fine, but I would only add maybe a half cup or so. If you wanted more beans, you could use more tortillas so you’re not overfilling. If you used a whole drained can of beans you could probably squeeze everything in 21-24 tortillas instead of 15. Let me know if you try it out!
I was just thinking a bit of refined [ spicy] beans might be a tasty touch too… these look great!
I was just thinking a bit of refined [ spicy] beans might be a tasty touch too… these look great!
Tried these tonite but I may have overfilled them. the corn tortillas crack on the bottom oh well
Be sure to microwave them long enough. If they have trouble staying closed when you’re folding, they need to be heat a bit longer or they’ll crack during baking. Hope that helps for the next run!
I’m a weirdo that doesn’t have a microwave. Would heating the tortillas in the oven or on the stove work for this?
Totally! You could even heat them in a covered pan over low heat on the stove.
Could you use whole wheat tortillas if you are cutting carbs?
I’ve never tried them with whole wheat but I’ve seen plenty make them with flour tortillas. I would imagine whole wheat can’t be too far off. Worth a shot!
Could you open these up and add lettuce and tomato after baking. These remind me of the very less healthy fried tacos from Jack in the Box!
I worked there so very, very, very long ago. They were deep fired first and lettuce and tomato was added after. I’m assuming the same could be done here?
The cheese sort of “glues” them together, and the filling to tortilla ratio leaves very little room for extras. So I don’t think you’ll be able to add any veggies. You may be able to use more tortillas so they have more room for add-ins. Let me know if you give it a go!
These look yummy! What is the sauce in the picture beside the tacos?
Greek yogurt, salsa, and pickled jalapeños. Nothing crazy! 🙂
Looks yummy!
How long do these last in the fridge if I made a bunch for meal prep?
Looks yummy!
How long do these last in the fridge if I made a bunch for meal prep?
They should last 4-5 days, but I’ve seen tons of people in my Facebook group freeze large batches.
What is the yummy looking sauce you have in the photo?
What is the yummy looking sauce you have in the photo?
That’s 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup salsa, and a few pickled jalapeños. Easy peasy!