Easy Kid Friendly Oven Baked Beef Tacos

My kids will eat anything.  It amazes me sometimes.  You should see them at a Chinese buffet, plates piled high with crayfish, mussels, crab legs, prawns, and sometimes even frog legs.  They will just about try anything.  It is probably because we have always given them the same foods we eat and we eat a large variety of foods.  

You would think mealtime is always a breeze with kids who eat anything, but it's not.  Crunchy tacos meant food crumbling beneath their little hands, meat and toppings falling all over the place and of course meltdowns and the inevitable waterworks.  Being a lover of crunchy tacos and easy dinners I figured out a way to enjoy tacos without the all the drama.  

By stuffing and baking the tacos before serving, everything stays neat and tidy inside the taco shells. The cheese melts and helps hold the meat/onion/tomato mixture in the shells.  

You end up with a pan of ready-to-go kid friendly crunchy tacos.  These would also be great for a buffet with a topping bar.  This has become one of our favorite busy night meals.  So easy and  kid friendly!

I have used stand and stuff and regular taco shells for these baked tacos and the stand and stuff are the easiest to use.  Serve with your favorite toppings.  Pictured lettuce, sour cream, kumato tomatoes (so yummy!), and homemade guacamole.  I should note that I don't like heavily taco seasoned meat so I serve mine flavored simply with onion, cumin, salt and pepper.  If you like taco seasoning in your meat, feel free to add.  

​Easy Baked Beef Tacos
 
1 box (10) self-standing taco shells
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
½ tsp. ground cumin
Fresh ground salt & pepper
1 tomato, diced
Shredded colby/jack cheese
 
 
1.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  If you like, grease a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking spray to prevent any runaway ingredients from sticking to the pan.  You can also skip this step.  Taco shells will not stick to the pan.  
3.  Place taco shells in baking pan.
4.  Brown beef and onion in skillet.  Add cumin, salt, and pepper.
5.  Add tomatoes and cook 2-3 minutes.
6.  Fill taco shells generously with meat mixture. 
7.  Top with shredded cheese then bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted and tacos are hot. 
 
Serve with your favorite taco toppings like guacamole, salsa, lettuce, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream.
 
Makes 10 large tacos

Yum

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