The iconic crunch of a Taco Bell taco is unmistakable. My first attempt at recreating these beloved crunchy tacos at home was a revelation – that signature seasoned beef with the perfect blend of spices can be made right in your kitchen! This Taco Bell taco recipe delivers that fast-food flavor you crave but with fresher ingredients and no drive-thru required. In just 30 minutes, you’ll be enjoying these tacos that are perfect for family taco night or when those late-night Taco Bell cravings strike.
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Table of Contents
Why Are Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos So Good?
Hard-shell tacos sometimes get a bad reputation. People like to complain that they eat complicated and messy food, so they opt for soft tacos instead. That’s a mistake.
The crunch of a hard taco shell is the ideal complement to the perfectly seasoned ground beef and other toppings that come on Taco Bell tacos. But if you can’t run to the border, you can always make your hard-shell Taco Bell tacos in your kitchen.
Why This is the Recipe You Must Try
What makes this Taco Bell taco recipe special is the authentic seasoning blend and preparation method. The secret lies in using masa harina as both a thickener and flavor enhancer, creating that distinctive Taco Bell texture. By simmering the seasonings with the beef rather than just sprinkling them on top, the flavors penetrate deeply throughout the meat. This technique, along with draining the beef before adding seasonings, prevents the tacos from becoming greasy while maintaining that signature Taco Bell taste. Our Taco Bell meat recipe delivers the for your ground beef tacos. Add the taco toppings you desire and get ready to have the perfect taco night!
Taco Bell Meat
This taco-seasoned lean ground beef from Taco Bell is used in many recipes. It can be used in your own Crunchwrap, Soft Taco Supreme, the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza, and many other Taco Bell items.
Taco Bell Seasoning
This seasoning recipe is a salt-free version, so it is not an exact duplication of their recipe, but it is close. You can add salt to the seasoning mix if you want it in the blend of spices.
You can purchase their retail version of the Taco Bell Taco Seasoning Mix, but this one doesn’t contain any artificial flavorings or colorings, and it’s quite easy to make.
Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos Ingredients
For convenience, the recipe is divided into two parts: how to prepare the Taco Bell meat and how to assemble the tacos.
To make this Taco Bell ground beef recipe, you’ll need:
- Masa harina acts as both a thickener and an authentic flavor enhancer, helping seasoned meat maintain its signature Taco Bell texture while adding a subtle corn flavor that is distinctly Mexican.
- Chili powder – Provides the base Mexican-style seasoning with a balanced blend of chilies, creating that characteristic taco flavor without overwhelming heat.
- Onion powder – Adds depth and savory notes that permeate the meat, offering a consistent onion flavor without the texture of fresh onions.
- Garlic powder Creates a foundational savory flavor that enhances the meat’s natural taste while adding the characteristic Taco Bell aromatics.
- Seasoning salt – Amplifies all other flavors while providing the necessary sodium that helps blend and marry the spices together.
- Paprika contributes a subtle sweetness and rich color to the meat mixture, adding complexity to the overall flavor profile.
- Ground cumin – Delivers that distinctive, earthy, slightly smoky flavor essential to authentic-tasting Mexican food, such as tacos.
- Garlic salt – Works with garlic powder to create layers of garlic flavor while adding seasoning to the meat.
- Sugar – Balances the savory and spicy elements while helping the meat achieve a slight caramelization during cooking.
- Dried minced onion – Provides texture and concentrated onion flavor bursts while absorbing moisture to help achieve the right consistency.
- Beef bouillon powder – Intensifies the meaty flavor and adds depth of umami, making the ground beef taste more decadent and savory.
- Ground chuck – The foundation of the recipe, with an ideal fat content (80/20) that provides enough flavor while not making the tacos greasy.
Masa harina is dried and ground flint corn soaked in an alkaline solution. It is popular in Latin cooking as an instant corn dough and thickener. If you can’t get masa harina, use an equal amount of cornflour instead.
To put together the hard-shell tacos, you’ll need:
- Hard, crunchy taco shells
- Iceberg lettuce
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Roma tomatoes
- Sour cream
Roma tomatoes are a good choice because they are denser than beefsteak or sliced tomatoes. Grape and plum tomatoes are also great options. Keep in mind you can always top your tacos with some of your favorite toppings.
How to Make Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos
It is best to prepare the seasoned beef for this Taco Bell tacos recipe beforehand.
To make the seasoned beef:
- Mix the masa harina, crushed beef bouillon cube, and seasonings in a bowl.
- Stir in a cup of water and set aside.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Crumble in the ground beef and cook until brown.
- Transfer the cooked ground beef to a strainer and drain. Let the ground beef drain well.
- Meanwhile, wipe out the same pan you used to brown the meat and heat over medium-high.
- Return the drained beef to the pan and pour the water with the dissolved seasonings over the top.
- Simmer until most of the water is gone.
- Remove from the heat.
To assemble the taco:
- Warm the taco shells in a 350-degree oven. Although this is an optional step, it makes a big difference in both the taste and texture of the tacos.
- Add a few tablespoons of seasoned beef to the shell, lettuce, cheese, and any other toppings you want. Avoid overfilling the taco shell, or most of it will wind up on your plate.
- Serve while the meat is still warm.
Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos
Ingredients
Beef Filling
- 1 1/2 tablespoon masa harina
- 4 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon beef bouillon powder
- 1 1/3 pounds ground chuck
Shells and Toppings
- 12 taco shells
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- Sour cream optional
Instructions
Beef Filling
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients except the meat, and mix well.
- Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet (preferably nonstick) and brown, stirring well.
- Remove from the heat. Drain excess grease from the meat.
- Stir in the spice mix and 3/4 to 1 cup water.
- Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until most of the moisture has cooked away. Remove from heat before the meat is completely dry.
Tacos
- If you like, you can refresh the taco shells in the oven at 350°F for 7 to 10 minutes.
- To assemble the tacos, spoon a few tablespoons of the meat into each taco shell.
- Top with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream, if desired. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- 🌮 Shell Success: Heat your taco shells at 350°F for 3-5 minutes before filling – this prevents breaking and adds extra crispiness while avoiding sogginess.
- 🥩 Meat Magic: After browning the beef, drain it in a colander and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. This ensures the seasoning mix won’t become too watery when added.
- 🧂 Seasoning Secret: Mix your spices in a separate bowl before adding to meat. This ensures even distribution and prevents any clumping of individual spices.
- For the most authentic Taco Bell flavor, don’t skip the masa harina – it’s essential for achieving that signature texture and taste. If you can’t find masa harina, corn flour is the next best substitute, although the flavor will be slightly different.
- For the best experience, avoid overfilling your tacos – Taco Bell’s perfect ratio of ingredients ensures each bite contains all the flavors without a mess.
Nutrition
How To Make a Taco Bell Crunchy Taco Supreme
Regular Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos contain seasoned beef, shredded lettuce, and cheese, but the Supreme version includes all that plus tomatoes and sour cream.
How To Serve Taco Bell Tacos
Tacos are one of those meals that are better to assemble at the table. Allowing people to do it themselves keeps things easier for you and ensures everyone is happy.
What Goes With Crunchy Tacos
There are many toppings you can add to tacos. Some of the most popular are:
- Diced raw onions
- Guacamole
- Beans
- Jalapeno slices
- Hot sauce
Make it a complete meal with tacos and a few sides, like nacho fries, charro beans, Spanish rice, and sopapillas. And it would be a shame to forget margaritas.
How To Store Left Over Tacos
Store the seasoned meat in a separate container in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you want to keep it for longer, let the meat cool and put it in a freezer bag. It will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months.
Use the vegetables the same day you prepare them.
Love Taco Bell? Try These Recipes
- Baja Blast Freeze
- Chicken Quesadilla
- Nacho Cheese Fries
- Supreme Burrito
- Taco Bell Power Bowl
- Taco Bell Taco Sauce
- Taco Sandwich Taco Bell
Easy Mexican Food Recipes for Taco Night!
- Carne Guisada Recipe
- Chili Relleno Casserole
- Mexican Cornbread Casserole
- Skillet Queso
- Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
- White Mexican Cheese Dip
Be sure to check out more of my copycat Mexican restaurant recipes and the best Taco Bell recipes here on CopyKat.
“1. If you like, you can refresh the taco shells in the oven at 350°F for 7 to 10 minutes.” How do I refresh the taco shells in the oven?
Although tasty, very salty
Delicious
The big “secret” to why Taco Bell has such amazing tacos is how they prepare the meat. I used to work at Taco Bell when I was younger and the main difference between how Taco Bell makes their meat and how all recipes (including the instructions on the seasoning packets) do it is simple. Taco Bell adds the seasoning mix to the meat when it is raw (which also gives a better texture and eliminates big chunks of meat), cooks the meat, and then drains off the grease by using a big slotted rake and raising the front of the pan. At home, I use a spatula to move the meat to one side of the pan, raise that side of the pan with a trivet or a metal spoon (off the heat of course) and then scoop out the drained meat with a slotted spoon. The flavor cooks through the meat and gives a smooth texture.
They must do that at the factory before they send the meat to Taco Bell. At Taco Bell we take the bag of meat and plop it in 195 degree water to cook for 30 minutes.
Eat your taco over a tortilla, all the goodies fall onto it so you can fold it up and have one soft taco. That way you don’t waste any good stuff.
Can you try to figure out their beans recipe? Please, try to copy everything such as their base items, like rice, beans, and some sauces. This way we their menu items at home.
Can you try to figure out their beans recipe?
I just want to give you a big thank you for all your hard work. I am 71 , in my days we had recipe books for all these recipes and now I can just pick up my phone. You have made it all so easy for us foodies.👏Bravo keep up all your hard work because we appreciate it so much.
I am so glad to be there for you!
Would love to have a recipe for fajitas that were made at Fajita Junction – I know some of their location were Corpus Christi, Tx, Austin, Tx, San Antonio, Tx and I am sure many more.
Any help with that recipe will be appreciated
Wow, I didn’t know they were still in business, they used to have locations in the Houston area, and I thought they were amazing!
The video is not the same as the printed recipe. printed recipe says to rinse and drain the meat before adding seasonings. So which is it??????????
If your beef needs to be drained, by all means drain it. I believe the beef that I used for the video was very lean, and it was not necessary.
I’m looking for a copycat recipe for Taco Bueno rice. I am hoping you can help.
I too remember what Taco Bell used to be. I hadn’t eaten there in years and one day I went with a friend. This isn’t what I wanted or liked. I ate there often in the late 70’s in Houston and I now live in Indiana. I thought maybe it was the locale but I hear you.
I would suggest that you go to Taco Casa if you have one available.
That sign is absolutely beautiful! And how cool that you have a book
At what point did this become a place to flame Taco Bell? I thought this was about Stephanie’s recipe. Tweaks and thank you’s. I understand all the rage and that’s ok, but not here. More posts about big corporations than FOOD. Yup we are here for FOOD! My gosh, I was looking for recipes and ended up listening to people rage about having to breath oxygen to sustain life… Thanks for the recipe Stephanie, keep up the good (hard) work.
I just wasted about 15 mins of my life reading about fast food being unhealthy. Alot of angry people spouting off about things that changed in life. Its nice that someone wants to recreate a part of a delicious and a more healthy option. Thank You ! But all this crap about Yum and unhealthy food is a bit much. Who cares about that crap. Every single day you have choices. You have the power of the internet to research all kinds of things to help with your choice. If you dont like it fine but like all controlling people do, dont try to make others not like it because you have a problem with it. Everyone wants to tell others how to live, decorate, build, drive a car and so on. Let it go… Lets others enjoy it if they want. Someone even mentioned the political term leftist in this ..really ..over a recipe..there are some F-ed up people running around out there so just do what you want and enjoy life while these people suffer in attempst to control y’all…peace and love !!!
I think what people are angry at, is that Taco Bell has gotten so expensive and doesn’t give you as much food now. That’s what is really riling people up, or that’s what has got me so wanting to copycat it and make it at home.
Well, I can say I liked the way Taco Bell tasted better when I was in college(I went a very long time ago…), you could get two standard menu items and a small drink for about 2.00. I went to college in the early 90s. I still order the same thing, but I pay a lot more.
I’m so happy I found this recipe. I swore off of Taco Bell a few years ago, but still get the cravings every now and then. This will no doubt satisfy when those cravings hit. Thanks for sharing!