How to
ByMelissa Riker Updated on
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Are you planning on cooking tacos for a large group of people, and wondering how many pounds of ground beef per person for tacos? Whether you’re hosting a Cinco De Mayo or taco Tuesday dinner party, a birthday celebration, or a backyard barbecue, you don’t want to be short on taco meat!
Everyone’s appetite and single serving size varies and it can be difficult to come up with an exact amount. Never fear, I have an easy way to know how many pounds of ground beef per person you’ll need for a successful taco night. Read on to find out!
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How Many Pounds of Ground Beef Per Person for Tacos
When you’re cooking for others, this is an important question to consider, since the ground beef can often be one of the more expensive ingredients in a taco meal. The answer to this question will depend on a number of factors, including the size of the crowd you’re feeding, what other ingredients you’re including, and how much everyone typically eats.
Generally speaking, four ounces of taco meat per person should be enough to make plenty of tacos for everyone in your group. That’s approximately one-half to three-quarters of a pound of raw ground beef, depending on the size of the portion.
For example, if you’re feeding 10 people, you’ll want to aim for the upper end of that range just to err on the side of caution so you end up with too much taco meat instead of not enough. In this case, you’ll want to purchase 7.5 pounds of ground beef. However, if you’re just making tacos for two, you could lean more towards the lower end of the range, and go with one pound of beef.
Planning a Taco Party for a Group
When planning a ground beef taco meal for a group, you will need to consider the following:
- Size of the group
- Size of the tacos (portion size)
- Amount of lean ground beef or ground turkey needed (or any type of meat you choose)
- Type of taco shells: hard shell, soft, etc.
- Soft tortillas (flour or corn tortillas)
- Your favorite taco toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.
- Any side dishes that might be needed such as rice, refried beans, chips, etc.
Tips for Using Any Leftover Taco Meat
Sometimes you just can’t know for sure how many pounds of meat you’ll need when you’re feeding a large crowd a delicious Mexican dish like tacos, even if you know the number of people you’re feeding. Since you can’t get a concrete, definitive answer, you may have leftovers since some people may eat more or less than you planned for.
If you have leftover taco meat, that’s actually a good thing, because there are so many things you can do with it and other simple ingredients. So if you have too much ground beef meat left over, try one of these different ways to use that cooked meat for other meals.
- Create a Taco Casserole– Combine your taco meat with canned beans, diced tomatoes, and cheese for a delicious and easy-to-make casserole.
- Stuff Peppers– Cut bell peppers in half and fill them with taco meat for a simple and flavorful meal.
- Make Taquitos– Roll up leftover taco meat in flour tortillas to make tasty taquitos.
- Create Enchiladas– Combine taco meat with enchilada sauce and shredded cheese for delicious enchiladas.
- Make Nachos– Layer chips, taco meat, salsa, guacamole, and cheese to make an easy and flavorful dish.
- Turn it Into Soup– Create a delicious spicy soup by combining taco meat, tomatoes, beans, and vegetables in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Make Burritos– Roll up taco meat, cheese, beans, and veggies in a flour tortilla and top with salsa for a delicious burrito.
- Throw together a taco salad– Even if you have just a couple of ounces of meat left, you can make a quick and easy taco salad with all the leftover taco ingredients.
- Walking tacos– Make more tacos with your leftover meat, but this time, toss the meat and your favorite toppings into an individual serving bag of tortilla chips or Doritos!
