Slow Cooker Taco Mince is an easy set and forget recipe! Perfect for busy weeknights, a recipe that will get things sorted for making beef mince tacos and using simple ingredients, we know we are onto a winner. This crockpot ground beef taco meat needs only the basics and minimal effort to create flavorful beef tacos!
Recipes like the Savoury Mince, Pasta Bake, Chilli Con Carne and the Chicken Spaghetti are all slow cooker recipes that use a variety of minced meats.
The Fettuccine Bolognese, Baked Ziti With Meatballs, Meatball Rigatoni and the Linguine Bolognese all use ground beef as a primary ingredient.
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🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about this crockpot ground beef for taco meat recipe in the points below:
- Everyday ingredients: you can get everything you need to make the recipe from your local grocery store. They are year round available and easy to get your hands on. An added bonus is that you might already have some of the ingredients to make the recipe in the pantry!
- Budget friendly: this is a budget friendly recipe that won't break the bank. Having it on a weekly meal plan is a great choice for getting an easy dinner on the table.
- Set and forget: set and forget or dump and go, whichever expression works for you! Cooking the taco mince in the slow cooker allows us to be 'hands free' and able to do other things whilst dinner cooks itself.
- Family friendly: whilst there is flavor in the recipe from the combination of spices, none of these make the recipe 'too hot' or 'too spicy'. So it is a great recipe that the whole family can enjoy without you needing to prepare multiple meals to please the crowd. Taco Tuesday has never been so easy! 😉👌.
- Freezer friendly: this taco mince recipe is an excellent one to whip up on the weeknights and freeze for during the week. It reheats exceptionally well.
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the slow cooked taco mince. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the slow cooker ground beef tacos recipe calls for:
- Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning the ground beef.
- Garlic powder: we make our own homemade taco seasoning for this recipe and garlic powder is one of these ingredients.
- Onion powder: as above. The onion powder is for seasoning.
- Oregano: a fragrant and versatile dried herb which works with a number of flavor combinations.
- Paprika: you can use either smoked or ground paprika.
- Cumin: smell this once you have removed the lid from the bottle and the smell of Mexican food comes to mind! This is the ground powder form of cumin we need.
- Garlic: you can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chunky chopped garlic or jarred minced garlic. Opt for whichever one is the most convenient for you 😉👌.
- Tomato paste: thick and rich (also a great pizza sauce should you ever need one!). This ingredient adds a lovely depth of flavor to the taco mince.
- Water: just like when we use store bought taco seasoning powder, we do add some water to the recipe. This ensures that the taco mince is juicy and flavorsome.
- Onion: we want to peel and dice one brown onion.
- Black beans: all we need to do for these is to drain and rinse them .
- Beef mince: beef mince which is also known as ground beef depending on what country you are in. This is an excellent cut of beef that is extremely versatile and cost effective.
Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.
🍳 Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by adding the diced onion to the slow cooker insert.
- Add the diced onion (Photo 1)
- Then add the beef mince (Photo 2)
- Add the black beans (Photo 3)
- Add the garlic (Photo 4)
👩🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Taco Mince
To make slow cooker taco mince, start by preparing all of the ingredients like dicing the onion, measuring the herbs and spices and rinsing the beans.
Then add the diced onion, beef mince and rinsed beans to the bottom of the slow cooker.
Next add the chopped garlic as you see in the photos above.
- Add the garlic powder (Photo 5)
- Then add the onion powder (Photo 6)
- Add the ground cumin (Photo 7)
- Then add the paprika (Photo 8)
Next, we want to add the herbs and spices that make up our taco seasoning.
So add the garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin and paprika. Then follow these by the dried oregano, salt and pepper as you see in the photos below.
- Add the dried oregano (Photo 9)
- Then add the salt and pepper (Photo 10)
- Dollop in the tomato paste (Photo 11)
- Pour in the water (Photo 12)
Next dollop in the tomato paste and pour in the water.
- Stir to combine (Photo 13)
Finally, we want to use a wooden spoon to gently give a good stir to the ingredients until they are combined. Doing so helps to break up the ground beef so that it doesn't cook in clumps.
Once done, pop the lid on the slow cooker.
You can cook the taco mince for 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low. When the meat is cooked, if you are not ready to use it straight away, you can also leave it on the warm setting (some slow cookers will automatically switch to this) until you are ready.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
When it comes to serving your taco mince, you will want to fully load it with taco toppings!
The most popular choices are to pile the mince into either hard or soft taco shells, add some shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and cheese. Or skip the shells and go for taco bowls a side of tortilla chips and a little taco sauce.
For more ideas try adding salsa, Greek yogurt or sour cream, avocado and or corn kernels.
Or try adding sliced jalapenos, pickled red onion or lime juice.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
Let the slow cooked taco mince fully cool. Once it has, portion into air tight containers and place them in the fridge. They can be refrigerated for 3-4 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.
How to Freeze
To freeze the cooked taco mince, follow the above steps to cool and then portion the meat into an air tight container (or multiple). Then stack in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
For refridgerated portions of the meat, transfer them to a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Then reheat on high using the microwave for 2-3 minutes until warmed through. I like to give it a stir around the 2 minute mark as I think this helps it to consistently heat.
For frozen portions of the taco mince, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw. Then follow the steps above to reheat prior to serving.
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- You can use red kidney beans in place of the black beans if you wish too.
- Or omit the beans if you simply want to cook the beef and onion as is.
- Or use a can of diced or crushed tomatoes in place of the beans.
- If you are in a super rush but want to have dinner time sorted, then you can use a store bought taco seasoning pack.
- For a different protein, try using ground chicken or ground turkey.
- You can use red onion in place of the white onion.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- There is no need to spray or grease the crock pot bowl with cooking oil before adding the ingredients in.
- We keep the lid on and don't stir the taco mince other than at the very begining and also once the meat is cooked.
- You can cook the meat using low heat (6-8 hours) or high heat (3-4 hours).
- You can also keep the meat in the slow cooker on the 'warm' setting until you are ready to serve it.
- Leftover taco meat freezes very well. So if you don't think you will get through it in a couple of days, transfer it to the freezer.
- Frozen taco meat is best then thawed before being reheated for an easy weeknight dinner.
- If you love getting the most out of your slow cooker then you might also like the Slow Cooker Osso Bucco, French Onion Pork Chops, Roast Pork With Crackling, Chicken Drumsticks And Potatoes, Pork Chops With Apples, Slow Cooker Dahl, Curried Sausages or the Chicken And Corn Soup 😉👌.
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can put raw ground beef in the slow cooker without browning it on the stove top 1st.
Yes. You can overcook mince in the slow cooker. The trick is to ensure that the recipe has enough liquid to meat ratio as to not dry out or overcook the mince for the specified cook time.
It is not necessary to drain ground beef for tacos if you have cooked it in the slow cooker or crock pot. This liquid helps to keep the meat juicy and moist. Some people however, choose to drain it to reduce the fat content of the taco meat.
When making slow cooker taco seasoning you add the raw beef as well as the taco seasoning and cook it altogether.
😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you are looking for dinner inspiration, you are in the right place! The recipes below have a variety of cook times, proteins and flavor combinations. They will help you to keep things interesting and energised.
- Chorizo Fried Rice
- Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Roast Pork Shoulder
- Scallop Linguine
- Greek Leg Of Lamb
- Chorizo Pasta Bake
- Soy Sauce Noodles
It is time to get our slow cooker taco mince on my friend! You can also find all of my dinner recipes or family favorites in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Taco Mince
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion skin peeled and diced, Note 1
- 500 grams/ 16 oz beef mince (ground beef) Note 2
- 400 grams/ 14 oz black beans drained and rinsed, Note 3
- 1 tablespoon garlic Note 4
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder Note 5
- 1 teaspoon onion powder Note 6
- 2 teaspoons cumin Note 7
- 2 teaspoons paprika Note 8
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano Note 9
- ½ teaspoon salt Note 10
- ½ teaspoon black pepper also Note 10
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste Note 11
- ½ cup/125 ml water Note 12
Instructions
- Onion, beef, beans and garlic: Add the diced onion, beef mince, black beans and garlic to the slow cooker.
- Taco seasoning: next add the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
- Liquids: then add the tomato paste and pour in the water.
- Stir: use a wooden spoon and gently stir the taco mixture breaking up large clumps of the mince as you go.
- Cook: pop the lid on the slow cooker and set the timer. You can cook the mince for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
- To serve: spoon the taco meat into soft shelled tacos with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and cheese.
Notes
- Note 1 - Onion: we want to peel and dice one brown onion. If you prefer to use a red onion you can.
- Note 2 - Beef mince: beef mince which is also known as ground beef depending on what country you are in. This is an excellent cut of beef that is extremely versatile and cost effective. It also freezes very well. However, if you have frozen it it to use for the recipe, I would not then freeze leftover taco meat.
- Note 3 - Black beans: all we need to do for these is to drain and rinse them. If you want to use red kidney beans instead, you can.
- Note 4 - Garlic: you can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chunky chopped garlic or jarred minced garlic. Opt for whichever one is the most convenient for you.
- Note 5 - Garlic powder: we make our own homemade taco seasoning for this recipe and garlic powder is one of these ingredients.
- Note 6 - Onion powder: as above. The onion powder is one of the taco seasoning ingredients.
- Note 7 - Oregano: a fragrant and versatile dried herb which works with a number of flavor combinations.
- Note 8 - Paprika: you can use either smoked or ground paprika.
- Note 9 - Cumin: smell this once you have removed the lid from the bottle and the smell of Mexican food comes to mind! This is the ground powder form of cumin we need.
- Note 10- Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning the ground beef.
- Note 11 - Tomato paste: thick and rich (also a great pizza sauce should you ever need one!). This ingredient adds a lovely depth of flavor to the taco mince.
- Note 12 - Water: just like when we use store bought taco seasoning powder, we do add some water to the recipe. This ensures that the taco mince is juicy and flavorsome. Tap water is what I use.
Rebecca says
Love the look of this! We tried your savoury mince the other night and it was yummo. This looks just as good.
Adrianne says
Thansk Rebecca 😄. Happy to hear that you enjoyed the savoury mince also!