Bored of your regular dinner lineup? It happens to the best of us. The cure is finding a new recipe that's nifty, tasty, and cooks up quickly — the kind of dish that will make you fall back in love with cooking. We found fitting fare: Cortney LaCorte's baked beef tacos.
"This is the answer to 'Ugh, what’s for dinner?' when I want something super easy and super yummy that I know my fam will actually eat,"LaCorte writes in her cookbook, Oversharing. "Maybe it’s the Texan in me, but a crispy taco shell stuffed with seasoned beef, refried beans, melted cheddar, and all the toppings makes my heart go aflutter."
Since this meal mostly comes together in one pan, LaCorte points out that cleanup is particularly easy: "No fuss, no frying, no huge pile of dishes in the sink. It’s a full-on taco night in one pan, and it somehow feels like both a party and a life hack!"
Baked Beef Tacos
Author: Cortney LaCorte
Prep Time: 8 min
Cook Time: 16 min
Calories: 775 calories per serving
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 8 hard taco shells
- 1 pound ground beef, preferably 85% lean
- Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 (16-ounce) can refried beans
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
For serving
- Shredded lettuce
- Chopped tomatoes
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- In a 9 × 13-inch baking dish, arrange 8 taco shells, nestling them together so they’re standing straight up. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes, until warm but not too toasted.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over high heat. Place the ground beef in the skillet and season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Spoon off the excess fat. (I push the beef to one side of the pan, then tilt it slightly so the fat accumulates on the other side. You can either spoon it off or carefully dab it up with a wad of paper towels.)
- Add the butter, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder to the skillet. Cook until the butter melts and the spices are fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the salsa. Remove the skillet from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the refried beans in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high until warm, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide the beans among the taco shells and top with the beef mixture and cheddar, dividing them evenly.
- Bake the tacos for about 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and hot sauce and serve.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Oversharing by Cortney LaCorte © 2026. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Photography by Emily Dorio.
