Baked Crispy Beef Tacos are a lower-calorie alternative to the traditional deep-fried fare. Simply spiced beef and cheese come together for the perfect taco that will still keep you track!

Keep it simple

I’ve always been very particular about my tacos. They need to be crunchy with lots of spiced beef, cheese, and just about nothing else except whatever toppings I add.

Waaay back in the day, I used to be obsessed with Jack in the Box tacos. They are greasy and simple and all of the things you would expect from fast food. I was kind of going for that flavor when I made this Baked Crispy Beef Tacos recipe, so keep in mind that these are not traditional in any way. Just a some meat, spices, cheese, and corn tortillas.

Once you get the hang of the recipe, it will take you only about 30-40 minutes to make all of them. So easy!

cracked taco shells?

Since first posting this recipe in May of 2018, I have received a lot of positive feedback about the flavor. But some of you asked what to do about your tortillas cracking and sometimes breaking completely when they cook.

First of all, let’s just face the facts: we are using super-thin corn tortillas to make these lower in points. The risk of tears and cracks is high, but I have found some minor tweaks to prevent those as much as possible

Keep Tortillas as Damp as POssible

I cannot stress this enough. Make sure your cloth towels or paper towels are very damp. Just squeezed enough of water to not be dripping completely, but still pretty watery. This will ensure that your tortillas steam all the way through in the microwave rather than cook and stiffen. You could even microwave 2 at a time for only 15 seconds, though that will slow you down.

Don’t OVER-STUFF your tortillas

Add your meat and cheese to a very hot tortilla that has been greased with nonstick spray on both sides so they are more pliable. Also make sure that you don’t add too much filling. Only 2 tablespoons of meat mixture and 1 tsp of cheese on one side of the tortilla, then close the taco.

If you find that the tortilla still won’t keep closed when you gently fold it, try flipping it over to the other side, or use a toothpick to hold the ends together.

Seasoned meat uses

If you don’t want to take the time to make tacos, you could definitely use this seasoned meat for so many other uses. Perhaps forget folding the tortillas and just bake them as tostada shells, then add the meat on top. Or you could make burritos, taco salad, taquitos, etc. Don’t forget to add in some of my Easy Refried Beans for 0 SmartPoints! The entire meat and seasoning mixture comes out to 11 SP, so divide that by however many portions you use it for to calculate points.

I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!

First published 5/3/2018 under the title “Crunchy Beef Tacos.”

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5 from 2 votes