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Oven Baked Tacos are a quick and easy dinner. Tacos in a crisp shell that don’t fall apart when you bite into it.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
This week’s quick and easy dinner is a quick one! One of my go to meals when the kids were young was tacos. I also remember it being one of my mom’s go to meals too. It doesn’t get much easier than browning up some meat, adding in a packet of seasoning and wrapping it in a tortilla!
I am a crispy taco shell girl. You know, the kind you bake in the oven first. The only problem though is the entire shell cracks and falls apart after your first bite. I usually ended up making a little taco salad out of it and eating it with a fork.
Today’s recipe for oven baked tacos gives you the same quick and easy dinner without the mess. I’ve got an amazing technique for baking the taco shells so that they don’t fall apart when you eat your taco! The meat, shell and cheese are all baked together.
Ingredients Needed
- Ground beef. I usually use an 80/20 blend. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Dried onion
- Taco seasoning mix
- Tomato sauce
- Green chilies, canned
- Cheddar cheese
- Monterey jack cheese
- Crispy taco shells
- Favorite taco condiments.
Tips from Leigh Anne
- Place two pieces of rolled up foil in the bottom of the pan to allow for drainage and keep the tacos from sitting in any grease or liquid that may run off from the tacos. If your meat isn’t well drained, you may get some liquid draining out of the shells and if the taco shells are sitting flat on the pan they can get soggy.
How to Make Oven Baked Tacos
- Brown meat with minced onion until meat is cooked through. Drain off any liquid/fat.
- Add in taco seasoning. chilies and tomato sauce and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
- Place taco shells into baking dish with rolled up foil on the bottom to keep shells from touching the bottom of the pan.
- Fill shells with meat mixture and top with shredded cheese.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cheese melts and the shells are heated through.
- Remove from oven and top with desired condiments.
- Add favorite taco toppings. At our house we love lettuce and tomatoes.
Favorite Taco Toppings:
- Shredded Cheese
- Shredded Lettuce
- Tomato
- Pico de Gallo
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole
- Mango Salsa
- Cilantro
- Lime wedges
Dress them up however you like and then enjoy! A quick and easy dinner!!
What to Serve With Oven Baked Tacos
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time?
These are really best served immediately after baking for a crunchy taco. You can make the meat mixture ahead of time and then just rewarm it and assemble right before you are ready to serve them.
What is the best way to store and reheat leftover oven baked tacos?
Wrap the individual tacos in foil and store in the refrigerator. Rewarm in a 350 degree F oven for about 5-10 minutes.
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Oven Baked Tacos
Ingredients
- 1.5 ground beef
- 2 tsp dried onion
- 1 pkg. . taco seasoning mix
- 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 4.5 oz. can mild green chilies
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese
- 12 crispy taco shells
- lettuce tomato and whatever condiments you like
Instructions
- Brown meat with minced onion until meat is cooked through. Drain off any liquid/fat.
- Add in taco seasoning. chilies and tomato sauce and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
- Place taco shells into baking dish with rolled up foil on the bottom to keep shells from touching the bottom of the pan.
- Fill shells with meat mixture and top with cheese.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cheese melts and the shells are heated through.
- Remove from oven and top with desired condiments.
Tips & Notes:
- Place two pieces of rolled up foil in the bottom of the pan to allow for drainage and keep the tacos from sitting in any grease or liquid that may run off from the tacos. If your meat isn’t well drained, you may get some liquid draining out of the shells and if the taco shells are sitting flat on the pan they can get soggy.
Nutrition Facts:
Edna Brookes says
yumm. Delicous. a Keeper
Thanks
Debi says
Made these last night for our Taco Tuesday and AWESOME! Only recipe for me from now on. Did not break wide open – we prefer the crunchy corn tortillas but always used flour because the first bite why broke all apart. You must try these…
Leigh Anne says
Debi, So glad you loved them – they definitely are a game changer when it comes to crispy tacos!
Robert R Church says
Hi Debi: My wife and I like taco’s, but we don’t like taco shells that fall apart.
We live in Germany and can only get the round bottom shells. I would like to make my own taco shells with a flat bottom. I saw someplace you can hang them through the rack in the oven to bake. Could you help me with a recipe for the shells?
Teresa Torchia says
Oh my goodness, these were fabulous. The melted cheese, so good. I will never make tacos any other way. I used organic blue corn taco shells with mine. Can’t wait to share this taco trick with my grown children. Thank you! Your recipes never disappoint.
Anne M Gross says
I just searched for “how to keep baked tacos from getting soggy” and yours was the first article to pop up. Brilliant idea to put the foil in the bottom of the pan! My recipe for filling is very similar to yours, so I know my family will enjoy this tonight. Thank you!