Ground beef and potato tacos
Tender little potatoes and seasoned beef in warm corn tortillas, the Mexican home-cooking trick that stretches a pound of beef a long way.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.35 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 russet potatoes
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 oz 85/15 ground beef
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 12 corn tortillas
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup cotija cheese, crumbled (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 510 calories, 24 g protein, 63 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.35 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the potatoes and cut them into ½-inch . the onion and the garlic.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large with a lid over medium. Add the potatoes and water, cover, and cook 8 minutes, stirring once, until nearly tender.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Dolly’s tip: The lid steams the potato cubes so they soften before they brown.Push the potatoes to the side, turn the heat to medium-high, and add the beef and onion.
Medium-high heat
Cook 7 minutes, breaking up the beef, until no pink is left.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Spoon off any fat.
Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt for 30 seconds, then the tomato sauce. 3 to 4 minutes, until thick and the potatoes are tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel, 6 at a time, and microwave each stack 45 seconds, until soft.
Fill the tortillas and top with cilantro, a squeeze of lime and cotija if you like.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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