This is a tasty recipe for spicy ground beef that can be used for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more, and it is great for kids who won’t eat their veggies because it hides a fair amount of vegetables in the meat.
Ingredients
1 Pound Ground Beef (preferably 80% lean)
1 Tablespoon Vegetable or Canola Oil
¾ Cup Sweet Onions, Diced
½ Cup Poblano Chili, Diced
½ Cup Rep Bell Pepper or Mini-Sweet Peppers, Diced
½ Cup Carrot, Diced (optional)
1 to 2 Serrano Chilis, Diced
1 Medium Tomato, Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced (Optional)
6 oz Taco Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Mexican Oregano (Optional)
Hot Sauce or Salsa (See below)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Directions
Do you have kids (or adults) who are picky about eating their vegetables? Well here’s a way to get them to eat the veggies and they don’t even realize it! Back when my kids got real fussy about what they were eating, I started making this tasty taco meat (everybody likes tacos!) and adding vegetables they didn’t know were there. If you think that they might see the diced veggies and balk, then throw all the fresh stuff in a food processor first, and they will be none the wiser! (I do a similar trick with meat sauce for spaghetti.)
Heat a skillet with the oil then add the onions, chilis, and carrot and sauté about five to ten minutes until they are softened. If you run all the veggies through the food processor first, then just add all of that to the pan with oil and cook for about five minutes. If not, add the tomatoes and garlic next and cook for about a minute.
Add the meat to the pan and break it up so you don’t have big clumps. Allow that to brown for five to ten minutes while stirring occasionally. Add the seasoning and Oregano and stir.
When making this, I check my pantry or fridge for leftover hot sauce or salsa. A good chipotle or Mexican style hot sauce will work with the meat, or if there is a little bit of salsa in a jar I will use that. Add the sauce to the meat and veggies and stir. Then reduce the temperature to medium-low and allow to simmer for about five to ten minutes, until all the liquid has cooked out.
Ground chicken or ground turkey will work fine for this as well, and most people will not even realize you didn’t use beef. If you use ground poultry breast, you will want to add an extra tablespoon of oil at the time you add that.
If you want to reduce the heat (though I don’t know why you would), you can use one Jalapeno instead of the Serranos. Or if you are not looking to make this very spicy at all, you can leave out those chilis and substitute bell pepper for the Poblano. Personally, I could go the other way and throw in a minced Habanero!
For the taco seasoning, I either buy the fresh stuff that they sell in my local HEB or Trader Joe’s makes a really good spice mix. Once the meat has simmered for a while, I will taste and see if more spices are needed and/or add salt and pepper.
As mentioned above, you can put this in tacos (as pictured), burritos, enchiladas, or you can add it to a casserole or pretty much anything that calls for seasoned ground beef. And you are the only one who has to know that it is also packed full of veggies!