Slow Cooker Taco Meat
Slow Cooker Taco Meat cooks in the CrockPot with spices and hot sauce and makes spicy ground beef for tacos or taco salad. There’s no need to brown the meat or watch it while it cooks with this method! And this is perfect to make tacos for a party or game-day food and then keep the meat warm in the slow cooker.
PIN the recipe for Slow Cooker Taco Meat to make some later!
This tasty Slow Cooker Taco Meat that cooks unattended without pre-browning the meat is an idea I loved the minute I saw it. When I taught school I’d take Taco Salad for lunch several times a week. Now I’m still a huge taco salad fan, even though I have more lunch options. And for years I’ve loved this method of cooking ground beef to use for tacos or taco salad, and this ground beef taco meat is something you’ll always find in my freezer!
This recipe is also perfect when you want to make tacos for a crowd. Make a batch of taco meat for a party or for perfect game-day food! Then keep the meat warm in the slow cooker and let everyone assemble their tacos with the ingredients they prefer.
If you don’t want to use a slow cooker, I’m also a big fan of taco meat made in the Instant Pot. That’s another option for making easy perfect taco meat. No matter which method you prefer, I hope you try my recipe and make some tacos soon!
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What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- lean ground beef
- Cholula Hot Sauce (affiliate link) or other hot sauce of your choice
- ground Cumin (affiliate link)
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- Onion Powder (affiliate link)
- coarse grind black pepper (to taste)
- salt to taste
- water
Why this recipe works for perfect Taco Meat:
I love the ground beef tacos you get at Mexican restaurants, where the meat is highly seasoned and very finely broken apart. That texture is what I am going for with this recipe. I let the meat cook for nearly four hours on high for that broken-apart texture I like so much, mashing with an old-fashioned Potato Masher about once every hour.
What hot sauce do I prefer to make Taco Meat in the CrockPot?
I used a generous amount of Cholula Hot Sauce (affiliate link) to season the taco meat. (I love this hot sauce and buy the big size bottle at Costco!) If you’re making this for kids (or adults who don’t like much heat) use the smaller amount listed in the recipe notes.
Want Slow Cooker Taco Meat with green chile flavors?
If you’d like taco meat with green chile flavors, you can replace the Cholula hot sauce and water in this recipe with Herdez Salsa Verde (affiliate link). That variation to the recipe is also very good!
Is the Slow Cooker Taco Meat low in carbs?
This recipes makes nine generous servings of taco meat, and each serving has only 3 net carbs and 44 grams of protein! And with the hot sauce I used, this taco meat is gluten-free!
How to Make Slow Cooker Taco Meat:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Some people start with frozen ground beef, but that idea didn’t appeal to me so I thawed the meat overnight in the fridge.
- Put 3 pounds of lean ground beef in the slow cooker, breaking it apart with your hands. I the photos I’m using the Ninja Cooker that my friend Lydia sent me. You can use any 5-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link), or slightly smaller.
- Mix together Cholula Hot sauce (or other hot sauce of your choice), ground cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and water.
- Pour the spicy mixture over the ground beef. Then use a large spoon to stir the seasoning mixture into the ground beef and start to cook on high.
- After an hour I used my Potato Masher (affiliate link) to start to break the meat apart. At this point I was worried that I shouldn’t have added the water, but it worked out fine.
- At two hours I mashed the mixture with the potato masher again, and the water was being absorbed nicely.
- After three hours the ground beef is getting to be just the texture I wanted.
- It was probably done enough at this point, but I let it cook about 45 minutes more.
- I made lots little containers of seasoned ground beef to put in the freezer, and each one was enough to make a large taco salad or several tacos.
- Now I make Slow Cooker Taco Meat over and over, every time I run out of taco meat in the freezer!
Ideas for using the Slow Cooker Taco Meat:
- Use this as the meat for Perfect Low-Carb Taco Salad.
- Use it as the meat in Ground Beef Taco Salad with Kale, Tomatoes, and Avocado.
- Use it for Ground Beef Tacos with Tomato-Avocado Salsa.
- Use it in Spaghetti Squash Taco Bowls.
What tortillas do I use to make Low-Carb Tacos?
If you’re making tacos and want them to be low in carbs, I’d use Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas (affiliate link) or Mr. Tortilla Low-Carb Multigrain Tortillas (affiliate link).
Tasty Toppings for Ground Beef Tacos:
If you use this meat to make tacos, try topping them with something like Spicy Lime Coleslaw, Avocado Salsa, Tomatillo Salsa, or Spicy Mexican Slaw
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Slow Cooker Taco Meat is perfect for the category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Want more ideas for Low-Carb Tacos?
You can use the category for Tacos to see all the taco recipes on my site!
Slow Cooker Taco Meat
I love using the slow cooker to brown ground beef and make spicy taco meat without having to watch it! And I make this often so I always have containers of taco meat in the freezer!
Ingredients
- 3 lb. lean ground beef (see notes)
- 1/2 cup Cholula hot sauce or other hot sauce of your choice. (see notes)
- 2 T ground cumin
- 2 T garlic powder
- 2 T onion powder
- 1 tsp. coarse grind black pepper (or less, to taste)
- salt to taste (I used only about 1/2 tsp.)
- 1/4 cup water (plus a little more water as needed if you’re using the smaller amount of hot sauce)
Instructions
- Thaw ground beef overnight in the fridge, or if you forget to plan ahead, thaw in hot water for about 20-30 minutes.
- Spray slow cooker cooker with non-stick spray, then put the thawed ground beef into the slow cooker, breaking it apart with your hands.
- Mix Cholula hot sauce, ground cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and water. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the ground beef and use a large spoon to stir it into the meat.
- Cook the meat and spice mixture on high for 3-4 hours. After each hour, remove the lid and use an old-fashioned Potato Masher (affiliate link) to mash the meat mixture about 8-10 times, so that by the time it is done the meat will be finely crumbled.
- If you’re using the smaller amount of hot sauce, you might want to add a couple of tablespoons of water part way through the cooking time. (You can probably cook this for 6-8 hours on low and mash it every couple of hours, but I haven’t tried that.)
- Use the taco meat mixture to make any Ground Beef Tacos, Lettuce Wrap Tacos, or Beef Burritos of your choice.
- I freeze the Slow Cooker Taco Meat in small containers so I can thaw it quickly in the microwave whenever that Taco Salad craving hits me.
Notes
This recipe made with 1/2 cup of hot sauce is only mildly spicy; I often use as much as 3/4 cup of Cholula when I make it. But you can use even less than 1/2 cup hot sauce at first if you prefer. Then taste it part way through and decide if you want even more hot sauce.
I used Cholula hot sauce for this recipe, which doesn't have any carbs. Buy the big size bottle at Costco or at a Mexican market.
I used lean ground beef with 9% fat; I wouldn't use very fatty ground beef since you’re not draining the meat.
This recipe created by Kalyn but inspired by quite a few other variations I saw on Pinterest!
Nutrition Information
Yield
9Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 367Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 7gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 135mgSodium 550mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 1gSugar 0gProtein 44g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This low-carb (and gluten-free) Slow Cooker Taco Meat is perfect for any type of low-carb or Keto eating plan. If you use lean ground beef this would be suitable for the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Check out Slow Cooker Recipes for more easy ideas in the slow cooker. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for taco meat cooked in the CrockPot was first posted in 2013, and I’ve been making it regularly ever since! The recipe was last updated with more information in 2026.
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35 Comments on “Slow Cooker Taco Meat”
Could you add black beans and water to the ninja with the ground beef.
I would probably add the beans part way through the cooking time. But definitely it could work.
Hi, Kayln. This recipe/method sounds like something I could use in my rotation AND as a staple. I love the fact, that if I have a day at home, I can just throw this in the crockpot and check on it every so often. My question is this: I use fattier ground beef and would plan to drain the grease as I see it collecting. I think if I wait to add the spices until the meat has been drained, I wouldn’t lose them in the draining process. Does this sound plausible to you? Thanks so much for your wonderful website!
How could I make this in the Instant Pot please.
I’m afraid I haven’t made it in the Instant Pot so I’m not able to just guess how to do it. You might google “Instant Pot Ground Beef for Tacos” and I bet you would find some options for the instructions.
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Love this recipe! I use it all the time and it’s always a hit. If I were to double or even triple this recipe for a party, how much longer would it need to cook for?
Hi Sarah,
Glad you have enjoyed the recipe. I don’t think the cooking time would be that much longer for a larger amount, maybe 30 minutes longer. I haven’t made it in a bigger batch though, so that’s only a guess. Allow plenty of time because you can always keep it warm after it’s done!
When you take a container out of the freezer, do you just microwave it from frozen? Do you defrost first, then heat?
If you’re heating in the microwave I would let it thaw in the fridge first. My preferred way to heat is in a small pan on the stove, add a bit of water, let it thaw the meat and warm it at the same time. I think stovetop heating gives better flavor. (Not that I am at all anti-microwave, I just like heating this kind of thing on the stove.) But either way will definitely work.
Can this just be made on the stove
I’m sure it can, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you about the timing since I haven’t done it that way. It might need a little more added liquid when the meat simmers for stove-top cooking!
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This is our very favorite taco meat. We make it all the time. Now, as we're cooking as much of the food in our freezer in preparation of evacuating for Hurricane Irma, I see I only have 90/10 ground beef….do you think that extra 1% of fat will make a big difference? Thanks! 🙂
So glad you have enjoyed it. Sorry to hear about the hurricane, stay safe! I don't think that will make a difference at all on the fat content.
This was very good!I left the cover partially off for the last half hour or so to cook a bit more moisture off but I don't think I needed to; as it cooled it thickened up quite a bit.
So glad you liked it Anna!
Can you use a smaller amount of meat.
You could use less meat if you scale down the whole recipe and use a smaller slow cooker. But unless you don't have any freezer space, I recommend making the full amount because this freezes beautifully. I love being able to grab some from the freezer.
I think any hot sauce you like the flavor of will work, although the original Tabasco is a lot hotter than the hot sauce I used. You might start with a smaller amount of hot sauce, you can always add more!
Can i use a different hot sauce then that don't have it if so any recommendations i usually have red hot buffalo hot sauce or red hot original Cayenne pepper hot sauce
Adriana, I'd look for a recipe that's meant for chicken, like Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos. You can use that chicken in any taco, burrito, or tostada.
Could you do this same recipe with chicken breasts?
Glad you liked it! I'm about to make my second batch.
I was intrigued by this recipe, so in the spirit of playing-with-my-food, I made it. I turned out very well. It seemed odd not to brown the meat, but, the flavor was very good. In fact, I used this instead of the Italian saugage for the grilled portobellos. It worked out just fine (i.e., there weren't any leftovers)! Thanks!
Aha, good point. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. Thanks for all you're doing Kalyn! Love the blog!
Donna, it's not just you. I feel that way regularly when I see things around the web! Glad you like!
Why is it that I wind up saying to myself "Well, duh" when I read so many of your recipes? Thanks for making my light bulb go on once again. Totally gonna try this for a weekend slow cooker recipe.
Hi Patti, I'm guessing it will work great with venison; please let us know what you think!
Hi Kalnyn, Love this idea. Wonder how vension would work? Since that seems to be our main meat will have to try it.
Karen, I should have know you would be ahead of the curve on this method! I need to try it with ground turkey next.
Chasing Joy, I was thrilled with how this produced perfectly browned meat with just the texture I wanted. Hope you enjoy!
I had a couple of duh moments while reading this. First, I'm with you, I never thought of cooking ground beef in the crockpot and second using the crockpot more during the summer is a brilliant idea. I always thought of the crockpot as a winter cooking tool. How silly of me!!!! Anyhoo, I'm definitely going to try this as taco salads are also one of my favorites. Thanks. 🙂
I love that you can do this! I do this with ground turkey all the time. I hate standing at the stove cooking it. I just throw in the crockpot and it works so great 🙂
Lydia, I am loving the taco meat. And I do love how the Ninja will let you brown things, but you can do this in any slow cooker.
Oh, this is absolutely my kind of recipe! For some reason, I've never thought of cooking ground beef (or ground turkey?) in the slow cooker. Now I can't imagine why not. Definitely going on my list to try ASAP. (And I have to say that a slow cooker that lets you brown and slow cook in the same pot is brilliant, isn't it?)