Who doesn’t love tacos?! Like seriously, we have a taco day every week, it’s a staple recipe in my weekly meal plan. I do try and spice it up a bit by using different meats, filling options, and/or side dishes so it doesn’t get boring.
I have been making a variation of this recipe for MONTHS and it is such a hit each week. We also almost always have leftovers so this meal can last us at least 2 days.
This recipe is so easy and flavorful, my toddler even loves it!
Quick Taco Night Recipe
Who doesn't LOVE tacos?! Try out this recipe that's got bell pepper and a lime crema!
Equipment
- Zester
- 2 Small Bowls
- Large Pan
- Medium Pan
Ingredients
- ¼ TSP Sugar
- 3 TBSP Veggie Oil
- 2 Bell Pepper (I like to use the red and orange oens)
- 1 Red Onion (small)
- 1 Lime
- 1 Jalapeno
- 6 TBSP Sour Cream
- 10 oz Ground Beef (or any ground meat your family prefers)
- ½ cup Pepper Jack Cheese
- ¼ oz Chopped Cilantro
- Flour Tortilla/Hard Shells
- 1 TBSP Minced Garlic (to taste; you can use less)
- 1 Package Taco Seasoning
Instructions
Rice Mixture
- I normally start with the rice mixture first, because that will take about 20-25 minutes to complete.
- I start with putting in about 1 TBSP of butter and 1 TBSP minced garlic over mdeium-high heat.
- Once the butter is slightly melted & the garlic is fragrant, I add in the rice mixture & just stir it around for about 30 seconds.
- Next comes the water, I add in the 1 ¼ cups of water and make sure the mixture is combined thourghly. Bring this to a boil, once boiling, bring heat down to low & cover saucepan.
- This will simmer about 20-25 minutes, once done, remove cover & fluff rice with a fork.
Prep Ingredients
- Core and see bell peppers, then thinly slice. I like to make sure they are in bite-sizes pieces.
- Halve, peel & thinly slice the red onion; finely dice the other half.
- Zest ½ TSP zest from the lime, then cut into quarters.
- Halve & thinly slice ½ the jalapeno; finely dice the other ½. TIP: remove the rib & seeds for less heat.
Make Crema/Marinate Jalapeno
- In a small bowl, combine lime zest, sour cream & about 1 tsp. of water. Then squeeze 1 quarter of the lime into bowl. Add salt & pepper to taste; also, if you want a thinner cream, add more water until it reaches the consistency you want.
- In the 2nd bowl, toss together the sliced jalapeno, juice of 1 lime quarter, a pinch of salt sugar to taste. Set aside until later steps.
Cook Mixture
- Heat a large drizzle of veggie oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add ½ of the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in peppers and cook until they start to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Once peppers have softened, add in sliced onion and cook, tossing around the pan often, until they are tender and lighty charred, about 6-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste & remove from pan, set aside on a paper towel lined plate
- Lower heat under the same pan and add in another drizzle of veggie oil. Once oil is hot (10-20 seconds), add-in the other ½ of the minced garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add-in the diced onion and cook, stirring until softened, 2-3 minutes. Stir in your taco seasoning and diced jalapeno. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.
- Add-in chopped meat choice, breaking it up into pieces. Cook, tossing occasionaly, until meat is browned & cooked through. Season with pletny of salt and pepper to taste.
Shells/Tortillas
- Preheat oven to 350°, once ready, throw your shells & tortillas onto a sheet pan and place in the oven. Heat for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Sometimes, I throw on some shredded cheese onto these for an extra cheesy taco!
Finish and Serve
- Take your shells/tortillas out of the oven and divide meat, peppers & onions, cheese between shells/tortillas.
Notes
Check out this tip: Place your tortillas in an upside-down cupcake tin, and they’ll heat up in the shape of standing up! This is one of my favorite tricks for taco night, it helps also when it comes time to fill them up, you don’t have to hold them up!
I also leave most of the toppings out for us to put as much or as little as we want on our individual tacos. I love me some extra cheese & crema so I usually add way more than my husband.
Usually, for us, we have some leftovers after, which works out amazing because then we’ll just have taco bowls for lunch the next day.
If you’re looking for a healthier alternative, you can totally use lettuce leaves instead of shells and switch up the meat and use shrimp instead.