Can you freeze tao meat? Yes, you absolutely can. Now, keep reading and I’ll share the steps you’ll want to take, the best containers to use, and fun ways to use your taco meat that isn’t just another taco salad.
If you need a homemade taco seasoning recipe, I’ve got one for you here.
Why Freeze Taco Meat?
You may be wondering if it’s a good idea to freeze taco meat and the simple answer is that it’s an EPIC idea. Freezing meat at home gives you the opportunity to make a big batch of a taco meat recipe that you love, portion it, then have lots of future meals taken care of.
You can also skip preseasoned meats at the grocery store and follow an easy recipe like this one to make taco meat at home. That will help you save money in the long run, and you can also create custom flavour profiles you love. Know that when you batch cook, there’s no real additional cost in the long run, in fact, you’ll save time, money, and energy.
Another reason to freeze taco meat home is if you’re managing food allergies and other dietary restrictions. Your freezer taco meat can really come in handy when you need a quick meal, or perhaps want to take a trip out of town. You can grab several items from your freezer, pop them in a cooler, and take off.
Essentially, there are so many pros to freezing taco meat at home. Honestly, the only con is making sure you don’t create food waste. Food waste happens when you forget to eat the meat, don’t plan to eat the meat, or don’t store it properly. We’ll talk more about all of this further down in the article.
How to Freeze Taco Meat: Step-by-Step Directions
Whether you’ve made a large batch of taco meat or a small batch, these are the easy steps to follow so you can freeze the meat.
- Season and cook your taco meat. You can follow a recipe using custom spices, or use a taco seasoning packet like this one from Siete Foods.
- Drain the meat to remove excess fat.
- Allow the meat to cool completely.
- Transfer the taco meat to a freezer safe container of your choice (more on that below).
- Remove air from the container if needed. Alternatively, make sure the container is full. Unlike liquids, dry cooked meat won’t expand when frozen, and you don’t want air in the container.
- Label the container with the date and flavour.
- Put the container in your freezer.
That’s it! Make sure that as you meal plan, you incorporate your frozen taco meat (and other tasty freezer meals) into the plan. This saves you effort, but also ensures that your loot doesn’t go to waste.
How to Freeze Taco Meat: Sheet Pan/Baking Sheet Method
Before you tackle the sheet pan method of freezing, be sure to plan out how much meat you’ll be cooking and how many trays you have. You wouldn’t want to try to freeze 15 pounds of taco meat on one tray since it would be super over crowded, so keep that in mind as you plan your batch cooking.
- Season and cook your taco meat. You can follow a recipe using custom spices, or use a taco seasoning packet like this one from Siete Foods.
- Drain the meat to remove excess fat.
- Allow the meat to cool completely.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Transfer the meat to the tray and spread evenly into a flat layer.
- Place the entire tray into your freezer.
- Allow the meat to freeze for several hours (it should be frozen solid after 4 – 6 hours).
- Once frozen, transfer the taco meat to a freezer safe container of your choice (more on that below).
- Remove air from the container if needed. Alternatively, make sure the container is full. Unlike liquids, dry cooked meat won’t expand when frozen, and you don’t want air in the container.
- Label the container with the date and flavour.
- Put the container in your freezer.
That’s it! Now you have meat ready to go for your next taco dinner. The benefit to using the baking sheet method is that the meat is a lot less likely to clump together. This makes it so much easier to grab only what you need the next time you need taco meat. Usually with this method, you’re using a large freezer baggie as your storage container.
Note: a large baking tray will generally handle 4 pounds of meat nicely. You may be able to get a bit more on your tray, but it’s where I like to start.
Choosing the Best Freezer Bags and Storage Containers for Freezing Taco Meat
The first step in choosing a container is to assess your space. If you have a really small freezer, you’ll lean towards smaller containers, silicone bags, and plastic bags.
The next step is to assess your medical needs and personal choices. Some people are simply anti-plastic whilst others like myself are allergic to most plastics and need to use glass containers. Once you know what you need, you’ll be able to make the best choice.
Now, assess your budget. If you’re anti-plastic but have a tiny budget, you’re going to end up with plastic. There’s no real way around that. In that situation, I’d suggest looking at second-hand options for glass containers, or saving up for a set you like. Be sure to check stores like Costco, as they usually have a great deal on sets of glass containers (and plastic ones as well).
Different Types of Containers
These are the most common, most affordable, and most used types of containers for storing taco meat:
- Ziploc Bags
- Glass Containers with Lids
- Plastic Containers with Lids
- Silicone Container Bags
Each type has pros and cons, so I suggest trying each style to see what fits your workflow when you’re batch/freezer cooking.
Tips on Preventing Freezer Burn When Freezing Taco Meat
One of best ways to prevent freezer burn is to make sure you’ve removed as much air as possible from your freezer bags. Excess air is the nemesis of frozen food, as that’s what causes the quality to decline over time.
If you use freezer bags, I’d suggest sealing the bag most of the way, then rolling it so the air is forced out, then finish the seal. If you’re using silicone, you can consider using a stray to suck the air out as you seal the bag. I’ve seen people (myself included) use these methods successfully.
If you’re planning to use glass or plastic storage containers, make sure the container is as full as possible, as this will naturally eliminate air. From there, you can look into purchasing a set that has special “air removal” lids.
General Storage Guidelines for Taco Meat
Taco meat will taste the best if eaten within 2-3 months of freezing, however, you can get more time depending on the storage container. Know that if the food remains frozen solid, it’s not that it’s “gone bad” (like bad chicken that sat in the fridge for 3 weeks), it’s that it’s past the days of its best quality for thawing, reheating, and enjoying.
If you make taco meat to have some fresh and some frozen, meat stored in the refrigerator has a shelf life of 3-4 days for best results.
Ideas for Your Frozen Taco Meat When Thawed
One of the biggest pros to making a large batch of taco meat and having it available is that you essentially have easy freezer meals to pull from. This can be fantastic at breakfast, lunch, or dinner time if you’re constantly on the go.
Great Ingredients to Keep on Hand
Before I share the ideas, here’s a quick list of ingredients to keep on hand that will pair well with your leftover taco meat:
- Guacamole or Avocado
- Corn (canned, fresh, or frozen)
- Beans (dry, canned, refried, beans, etc.)
- Salsa
- Green Salsa
- Sour cream
- Sweet Potatoes or White Potatoes (think: taco hash)
- Tomato Sauce (think: taco ragu for pasta)
- Tortillas and Hard Taco Shells (you can get these in a range of options including gluten free, grain free, and allergy friendly)
If any of your favorite toppings aren’t listed, consider having them available as well. Having ingredients you love at the ready is an easy way to make sure you’ll love your meals. Now, on to the ideas!
Layered Meat & Bean Dip
An easy dinner idea (or lunch) is to create a bean dip with your leftover taco meat. You can make a large platter and call it an easy taco night, or you can put out a range of ingredients your whole family enjoys, serve it family style, and let each person build their own dip/bowl.
On busy weeknights when I do this, I heat up organic refried beans, organic guac that I get a Costco, cans of olives, and other misc toppings and let my kids build it their way. Everyone is happy and I don’t have to put in too much effort.
Taco Hash
Taco hash is a family favorite, especially for two of my kids. To speed up the process, I like to use leftover frozen taco meat that I thaw the in fridge overnight. To make the hash, I heat a large skillet, add cooking oil, then add shredded organic sweet potato, small diced onion, diced bell pepper, a little taco seasoning, and smoked salt.
I let that cook and allow the sweet potato to crisp up a bit, then add the (thawed) frozen taco meat, give it all a stir and continue to cook until the veg are where my kids like it. I top with a scoop of mild salsa and a heaping scoop of guacamole (the one I get from Costco). My kids say this is a great way to repurpose the taco meat, so be sure to give it a go.
Taco Lasagna Soup
If you’ve never heard of lasagna soup, it’s time for your life to be revolutionized. You know how lasagna is loads of work? Welp, lasagna soup isn’t, and yet, you still get the amazing, mind blowing, delicious lasagna results.
To make taco lasagna, I heat a large Dutch oven on medium heat. I add avocado oil, then add:
- Small diced onion
- Sliced carrot
- Roughly chopped mushrooms (I try to have both large and small pieces for texture variation)
- Shishito peppers
- Bell peppers
- A random third type of pepper
I mix all of that up and allow the veg to release water and cook down. Once that happens, I add frozen taco meat (it doesn’t need to be thawed), tomato sauce, homemade dairy free milk, dairy free cream cheese, and a good amount of taco seasoning. I give that all a mix, then reduce the heat to medium-low heat.
Tip: As you can see, there’s a good amount of produce in this meal. I like to prep it all, then make lasagna soup the next day so I’m not doing all the work at once. If you do this, prep plenty of produce in one go and store it in airtight containers in your fridge so you have plenty to pull from throughout the week. I usually do this once a week, and every meal I cook comes together a lot faster.
Now, for the best part. You break dry lasagna noodles into the Dutch oven. I usually use two boxes of gluten free pasta (one kid is allergic to wheat). I mix it up one last time, pop the lid on, and transfer it to my oven (375 degrees f/190 degrees c) and cook until the noodles are how my kids like them.
No joke, lasagna soup and all its variations are one of my kids’ all time favorite recipes, so definitely give this a try when you have extra taco meat on hand.
Spicy Taco Pasta
This is a pretty easy meal to make. I dice onion and cook it in avocado oil on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. The goal is to get some browning, not to caramelize. I add smoked salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to the onion and give that a good mix.
Once the onion is settled and cooking, I get the pasta cooking so it finishes at about the same time as the taco element. When the 10 minutes are up, I add frozen taco meat and give it a good mix. Since my taco meat is frozen well and not stuck together, it goes into the hot pan as small pieces rather than a giant clump, so it heats and thaws pretty quickly.
As the veg and meat mixture continues to heat, I add organic guacamole, a little dairy free cream cheese, and homemade dairy free milk to the blender. I blend on high for a couple of minutes (this starts the heating process for me), and once it’s ultra smooth, turn the blender off.
When the pasta is done cooking, I drain it (without rinsing under cold water), and return it to the pot. I add the hot meat and onion mix, then all of the contents from the blender. If you LOVE spicy food, also add more of the red pepper flakes. Mix it all up one more time and now you have a delicious spicy taco pasta.
Cheesy Taco Spanish Rice
This is a very easy meal to make, and it doesn’t require many extra ingredients. You’ll make your Spanish rice the way you normally do. Whilst your rice is cooking, heat leftover taco meat in a large skillet. Once your rice is done cooking, fold in the hot meat and shredded cheese. The heat from the rice and meat will melt the cheese and make it ooey-gooey. Serve and enjoy.
Note: One of my kids is allergic to milk. When I make this meal, I divide the Spanish rice and meat before adding cheese. In a dedicated dairy free pan, I add a little oil and shredded cheese and heat until the cheese really starts to melt. Then I add the rice and meat, and mix it all together. It’s important to know that dairy free cheese does not melt if mixed into something hot the way dairy cheese does.
Chicken Taco & Quinoa Bowl
Don’t stop at making your taco meat with red meat only, and explore using different proteins. When I make chicken tacos, I usually use the leftover taco meat to make my kids some kind of bowl.
To make a taco quinoa bowl, cook your quinoa on the stovetop according to the package directions. For extra flavour, trade a cup of water for a cup of broth/stock.
Whilst the quinoa cooks, you’ll dice onion and a green pepper. Next, heat a large skillet on medium heat, and add the onion and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes to really let the onion soften, then add your leftover taco meat. Give it all a good mix and once the meat is hot, turn the heat off. The quinoa should be done right about now as well. When building the bowl, I add the following for my kids:
- Cooked Quinoa
- Veg + Taco Meat Mixture
- Salsa Verde
- Sour Cream (dairy free for my kid with a milk allergy)
- Quartered Cherry Tomatoes (I use this OXO grape cutter to quickly quarter them)
- Scoop of Organic Guacamole
You can build your bowl any way that sounds amazing to you.
Taco Stir Fry
You may wonder if this is a great idea, and I can assure you, so long as you like making a good stir fry at home, you’ll love this fusion meal. To make taco stir fry, do what you normally do when cooking your stir fry (start with your sliced/diced veg, etc.).
Trade your cooking oil for avocado oil, and when the veg are ready, add your leftover taco meat. I like to add a taco-leaning sauce as well. Mix that up and serve over rice.
Note: the first time I made this for my kids, I served it over sushi rice and they seemed to like it. The second time I made it, I seasoned the rice with avocado oil and taco seasoning, and cooked it a bit, then added the meat and veg. They LOVED it that time, and that’s how I make it now.
Taco Pizza
To make a taco pizza, you’ll want:
- Homemade taco meat
- Premade pizza dough (or homemade if you’re up for it)
- Salsa
- Sliced peppers
- Any other toppings you may enjoy
Roll out the dough, then add the salsa instead of pizza sauce. Alternatively, you can use guacamole or guac + salsa here. Add cheese, then top with taco meat, sliced peppers, and anything else you’d like to add.
Bake in the oven according to the directions for your pizza dough. Once it’s ready, cut, serve, and enjoy. If you have a pizza oven (I have this one), you can cook it in that as well. My kids love it that way.
Tips on Preventing Food Waste
Food waste is something that’s always on my mind. Not only does it waste your time and money, but it wastes resources in general, and I’m really not a fan. Here are some ways you can prevent food waste at home:
- Avoid storing cooked meat in your freezer for a long time. After many months, the quality declines and you won’t want to eat it.
- Rotate thru great recipes that can utilize your freezer taco meat so it doesn’t just sit in the freezer forgotten.
- Schedule in a Taco Tuesday with your frozen taco meat.
Additionally, think about how much meat you generally consume. if you know you only eat about 5 pounds of ground beef (or other ground meats) a month, don’t make a big batch of taco meat using 20 pounds of ground beef. It’s too much for your needs, especially if you’ll be eating other things. Instead, make a big batch with three pounds of ground beef, and then portion it into airtight storage containers that make sense for your needs.
Little things like this can go a long way in preventing food waste, and ensuring you get the most out of your efforts.
Answering Your Questions on Freezing Taco Meat
Can I freeze taco meat that’s been made with ground turkey?
Yes, you can freeze your ground turkey taco meat. In fact, you can freeze any ground meat you choose to use in your tacos.
Is it OK to thaw frozen taco meat at room temperature?
Generally speaking, no, you don’t want to thaw any raw meat or cooked meat at room temperature. For food safety, you’ll want to thaw it in your refrigerator overnight. You can also cook from frozen, but be careful with that method, as it can dry the meat out.
What’s the best airtight container to use when freezing taco meat?
You have a few options. First, a freezer safe baggie. I like those because it’s really easy to press the air out. Next, a glass container with airtight lid. With those, I like to get them pretty full to reduce the chance of freezer burn developing.
You can also experiment with silicone bags. I haven’t personally, but I’ve heard so many good things about them. Finally, a FoodSaver type of system is going to be one of the best options. However, it’s an investment, and one you may not feel you really need.
Can I make taco meat with ground chicken?
Ground chicken is a great option, and one of many ground meats that can be used to make taco meat. Know that the type of meat you choose will impact how much seasoning to use, along with your cook time.
Outside of that, it really comes down to personal preferences, and when it comes to tacos, I don’t know that there’s ever a wrong answer.
What can I make with my leftover taco meat that will taste good (besides regular tacos)?
There’s so much you can do with leftover taco meat. In fact, I have a whole article on topic that you can read here. Also know, you can freeze your taco meat, then when you need it, thaw your frozen meat when you’re ready, add the taco fixings you love, and boom. You’ve got tacos that are going to taste fantastic.
A few quick ideas for your leftover meat:
- Layered Bean Dip
- Air Fryer Flautas
- Taco Meat + Spicy Honey Cornbread
What’s a good alternative to chili powder in taco seasoning?
Assuming you’ve run out of chili powder, or aren’t a fan, other chili based spices are going to be the best alternative. This includes ancho chili, paprika, chipotle, and cayenne pepper.
Now, if you’re allergic to chili powder and maybe need to avoid nightshades, a great alternative is to look to other cuisines. Here are a few ideas that come to mind:
- Ginger + smoked salt + tamarind pineapple taco meat.
- Ground meat seasoned with mushroom powder, smoked salt, and chopped dates taco meat.
- Shredded taco meat that leans into onion powder, garlic powder, mushroom powder, and a touch of black pepper for a savory taco.
You can also make kid friendly chicken tacos like this easy recipe for something that’s chili free. Remember, tacos can be anything we make them, and we’re only limited by our imaginations.
Do you have any cheap meal ideas that use taco meat?
If you need to make your next Taco Tuesday an inexpensive one, I’ve got several low cost meal ideas for you to try out.
- Lettuce Wrap Tacos (you’ll save money on tortillas, especially if you need gluten free tortillas)
- Rice & Bean Bowl (steamed rice, cooked beans, seasoned taco meat, taco sauce drizzle on top)
- Taco Hash (cubes potatoes or cubed sweet potatoes, taco meat, top with fresh tomatoes and corn)
- Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes
- Skillet Cornbread + Taco Meat (top with a taco sauce or creamy sauce)
- Taco Pasta with Avocado Sauce
Can I freeze Crockpot taco soup?
You can absolutely freeze your crock pot taco soup for later use, so long as you’re using the right container, and you manage your expectations. Not all soups freeze and thaw well, hence, manage your expectations.
Check online for different recipes to see which one speaks to you, then give it a go. I suggest freezing a small amount to test, thaw it a couple of days later, then reheat. If you’re good with the results, freeze the rest. If not, eat it for the rest of the week for dinner from the fridge.
Does it matter how I cook the taco meat before freezing it?
There are different methods to cooking taco meat, including the pressure cooker and slow cooker methods. Whilst most people would use a large skillet on the stovetop, you can experiment with oven baking taco meat, cooking it over a grill flame, and several other ways.
The good news is that no, it mostly won’t matter how you cooked the meat. The real key is to use the right containers to prevent freezer burn (notes on this are further up in the article), and you’ll want to make sure you’ve cooked something you really enjoy.
When making beef tacos, can I freeze the whole taco, rather than just the meat?
OK, this is a great question that challenges how we normally do things. The interesting thing is, we freeze burritos, which have similar core ingredients.
The first hurdle in freezing a whole taco is the container. If you put one taco in a container, there’s a lot of wasted space. Next, there’s the individual components that don’t freeze well (fresh diced tomatoes, fresh sour cream, etc.).
From there, how do you reheat it properly? you could thaw it in the fridge overnight, then pop the whole thing in your oven, but again, those fresh ingredients including guac and tomatoes won’t taste as good when coming from the oven.
I think in the case of tacos, for the best results, you’ll want to freeze the individual components that freeze well, then build a fresh taco each time.
