Easy Slow Cooker Ground Beef Tacos Recipe

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This slow cooker ground beef tacos recipe is easy to make and has delicious flavor. It’s the perfect meal for busy weeknights, Taco Tuesday, or any day of the week.

The word easy appears in many of my recipes, I almost always choose to make easy dinners. I work full-time, and whenever I can take a shortcut and still serve my family tasty food, I’m a happy camper.

So, this recipe is right up my alley. And the best part is that it tastes great! We didn’t have any fresh veggies on hand and did not feel like heading out to the grocery store but if you are so inclined, feel free to add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and fresh cilantro.

This recipe is a Dined and Dashed Level 1 recipe, which means it takes 15 minutes or less to prepare and the cooking process couldn’t be easier.

Can you put raw ground beef in a slow cooker?

You can put raw ground beef in the slow cooker. It will cook just fine and taste great. However, the grease will remain in the meat, so you will have to make something that has enough seasoning and some sort of thickening agent (arrowroot, corn starch, etc.) if you want to try and reduce the grease when slow cooking ground beef. Using leaner ground beef will help somewhat, but all ground beef will have extra fat left over after cooking.

Do you have to brown ground beef before putting it in the slow cooker?

You do not have to brown ground beef before putting it in the slow cooker, however, if you do brown it first, you can drain it, and then finish the cooking in the slow cooker.

Can you overcook ground beef in a slow cooker?

You can overcook anything in a slow cooker, including ground beef, so you do want to make sure you have a programmable slow cooker, or that you aren’t going to be gone for more than 4-6 hours if you put ground beef in a slow cooker.

What you need to make this easy slow cooker ground beef tacos recipe

Obviously, you will need a slow cooker to make this slow cooker tacos recipe, although if you don’t have one, you probably could cook this in a Dutch oven on very low heat in the oven. Remember, lean ground beef will produce less grease, the leanest ground beef you can find would be the easiest way to prepare this recipe, although you may sacrifice extra flavor for the convenience of not having to deal with the grease.

Otherwise, the rest of the simple ingredients are as follows:

• 3 pounds of ground beef
• store-bought salsa verde (or another mild salsa)
• chili powder
• ground cumin
• granulated garlic powder
• onion powder
• black pepper
• salt
• taco shells (flour tortillas or corn tortillas)
• arrowroot (or corn starch)

You will also want to have your favorite toppings on hand such as sour cream, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, hot sauce, etc. 

I bought the salsa verde at Target and I get my ground beef from Wild Pastures. It’s grass-fed from regenerative family farms and if you want to try it, we will both save $20 on our next order if you sign up through this link: try Wild Pastures.

How to make easy slow cooker ground beef tacos

This is as simple as putting everything in the slow cooker and letting the machine do the work for you. At a certain point in the process, you will want to break up the ground meat and make sure all of the ingredients are combined so they can blend together for the perfect balance of flavors.

If you plan to get this recipe started in the morning as an easy dinner idea for taco night, you can cook this on low for 5-6 hours. If the ground beef taco meat will need to be in the crock pot longer than that, it would be best to have a slow cooker that switches to a warm setting automatically after the allotted cooking time.

For a shorter cooking time, you can do 2-3 hours on high.

Depending on how lean your ground beef is, before you serve it, you will likely need to either drain the grease or thicken it. See the video below for an explanation of how to make a slurry to thicken the delicious taco meat.

This slow cooker ground beef tacos recipe is a great option for a delicious meal on busy nights when you need something quick and easy but still delicious. It’s a great recipe for leftovers too, and tastes better the next day! Ditch your classic ground beef tacos and make this slow cooker recipe instead!