BEEF AND BEAN TACO FILLING!! SHELF COOKING KITCHEN BASICS!!

Let's get back to basics shall we? Still trying to pull together meals with what you have on hand? No worries, because, tacos are always a welcomed meal to set before a family! It need not be a Tuesday either! This beef and bean taco filling is a great way to stretch not only your food dollar but your on hand meat from the freezer! Adding beans adds fiber, protein and bulk to this excellent filling for tacos, Navajo tacos, burritos, enchiladas and more. Season this up with my homemade big batch taco seasoning and you are in for a real treat any night of the week!

We are getting ready to make some baked tacos for dinner tonight so we need to make some taco filling. Since we already made the tortillas we thought it might be fun to do a quick little video of our favorite way to do taco filling. I know that many of you already do this, but maybe there are some of you who just need a little inspiration! Maybe some of you have not considered putting beans in your taco filling. Let me assure you this is a great way to stretch the filling and have leftovers for salads and quesadillas and more for lunches and snacks throughout the week. Nobody is going to let good taco filling go to waste!

I started mine with approximately two pounds of ground beef. What my store had available was a bit higher on the fat content than I normally enjoy so I browned it up, drained it and rinsed it then tossed it back into the hot skillet to get the little bit of water evaporated before proceeding.

I like to add my own taco seasoning and I add 1/4 cup per pound of meat. You can adjust to your taste, but this is where we have found our sweet spot. I also add one small can of tomatoes and green chilies or "rotel" but you can also add some canned diced tomatoes or even a half a cup of your favorite salsa to the mix. This is just getting some saucy goodness in the pan to get the seasoning blended in well. The seasoning goes in and then in this case a couple of 15 ounce cans of beans that have been drained but not rinsed. I am adding two cans because I accidentally opened the kidney beans thinking they were black beans and well, you know how that goes. So they both went in this time around. Not sad. Not sorry.

These just get stirred in well. Now is the time to assess the situation. I often like to add a bit of water. The same amount of water as the amount of seasoning. Keep in mind that my seasoning has corn meal in it to achieve a thickness that makes everything bind together well so the water is kind of necessary. I added about a half cup in total to this batch. The added beans made for a bit more than normal.

Now give everything a good taste. If it seems good to you you can let this simmer for a few minutes, but not too long because you don't want the spices to burn. Then just get ready to lay out your taco bar and enjoy!

These leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to three months. If freezing, just thaw, toss in a skillet with a bit of water or salsa and reheat and enjoy. This makes for a great start to nachos, taco salads, taco cups, taco pizza, taco cornbread bake, just plain old tacos or burritos, enchiladas or chimichangas. The list goes on. Maybe you just like some taco meat and tortilla chips? Who am I to tell you how to enjoy this?

The best part about taco filling is that you can customize it to suit your needs. You don't need to make this with beef. Feel free to sub in pork, chicken, turkey or even just beans if you like. Chorizo would be lovely as well if you cut it by half with another ground meat. Don't like ground meat? No worries, dice up some steak, chicken or pork loin then brown and proceed as usual. Boom! Street style tacos fit for a prince or a pauper! It really is amazing how many wonderful things to can create from your pantry whenever you have planned to have what you need on hand at any given moment.

I hope that this was a little but fun and a little inspiration for you to go to your pantry, fridge and freezer and create something delicious for your next meal! I hope you give this style of taco filling a try sometime soon and I hope you love it!

Happy eating!

You can find the recipe for the taco seasoning here; https://bit.ly/2UMtgRt

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