Reducipe - The “Weeknight” Taco

Posted on October 6, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Food, Reducipes

Reducipe
Pronunciation: ri-doos-uh-pee
Function: noun
1 : a recipe that can help lower your food costs in a variety of ways
     a : by scaling back an expensive recipe to be less pricey but still just as tasty
     b : by turning an already inexpensive meal into something special
     c : by using leftovers in creative ways to stretch their use

Now I’m hungry! I call these tacos “weeknight” tacos because they are easy to make and can please the whole family. They remind me of the ground beef and spice mix tacos I used to get as a child except now I make them a little more “grown up” with pico de gallo (instead of tomatoes) and hot sauce.

I remember it was always fun to get tacos because I could add my own toppings and make it how I wanted it. I actually look forward to taco nights now as much as I did back then. This recipe is just that good!

Beef and Bean Tacos are a great way to stretch your grocery dollars. By adding inexpensive canned refried beans you only need a half pound of ground beef. You won’t even miss the extra beef in this dish. Using beans to cut down on the beef is good for your budget and your waistline.

Beef and Bean Tacos

1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 package taco seasoning mix (hot or mild)
1/3 cup water
1 can refried beans
10-12 crunchy taco shells

Toppings:
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Hot sauce (we prefer mild green Tabasco for this recipe)
Pico de gallo (recipe follows)
Cilantro, chopped
Shredded lettuce

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil then add the beef, onion, garlic, and seasoning mix. Cook, breaking up the beef with wooden spoon, until browned. Stir in the water. Cook, until the liquid has evaporated, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the beans and heat through.

Spoon the beef mixture into each taco. Top each with cheddar cheese, a few dashes of hot sauce, pico de gallo, cilantro, and lettuce. Serve with additional hot sauce. Makes 10-12 tacos.

We prefer the mild green Tabasco sauce with this meal because it adds vinegar which helps cut through the rich and heavily spiced beef mixture. I feel a simple vinegar-based hot sauce really makes this dish sing.

Tips: Heat up the taco shells in the oven for a few minutes while you finish cooking the beef mixture. It improves the flavor of the prepackaged shells and helps keep them from breaking.

Also - I highly recommend that when you build your tacos that you put the cheese directly on top of the beef so it can melt from the heat. I build the tacos in this order: beef, cheese, hot sauce, pico de gallo, cilantro, and lettuce. I find that gives the best results over all.

The beef mixture reheats beautifully. Just keep all the other toppings separate when packing for lunch. A wonderful way to use up the rest of the lettuce and any broken taco shells is to make a taco salad. Use the juice from the pico de gallo as a light dressing.

Here is a quick and easy pico de gallo recipe that we like. We tend to use yellow onions but feel free to use whatever onion you have leftover. Adjust the jalapeno to the heat level you can handle.

Pico de Gallo

1/2 cup Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 limes
Kosher Salt, to taste

Mix the tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro in a bowl. Squeeze the limes over the mixture and add salt, to taste. Mix thoroughly and let stand for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to marry.

Enjoy!

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Comments

3 Responses to “Reducipe - The “Weeknight” Taco”

Silvia on October 6th, 2007 4:33 pm

Wow–this sounds really great! I can’t wait to try the pico de gallo recipe, too.
Stephanie on October 9th, 2007 10:09 am

We love taco nights too! YUM! Another way to trim is to use ground turkey. The frozen rounds are very inexpensive.
Melissa on October 10th, 2007 7:43 am

@Silvia - Thanks for the comment! I hope you enjoy these recipes. They are favorites around here.

@Stephanie - Glad to see you back! Ground turkey is a good substitute, especially for low fat, although I typically stick with beef for the nostalgia. We buy 5 lbs of ground beef on sale and divide it into 1/2 lb portions for the freezer. Makes life easy when it is time to defrost!