Del Taco is the second largest Mexican Fast-Food Restaurant in America, WAY behind Taco Bell. That is sad because Del Taco is a lot better than Taco Bell in many people’s opinion. They just have a smaller, less interesting menu than Taco Bell does. They also have about 1/3 as many franchises so that isn’t helping either. The one place Del Taco REALLY shines is their Ground Beef Taco Meat. It has this thing called ‘FLAVOR’ that Taco Bell sems to be allergic to. Now, I’m not saying Taco Bell is bad. It’s fine-ish… This thing is, Del Taco is just so much better that it’s not even close. I have spent a lot of time and eaten a lot of tacos perfecting this recipe and it’s finally ready.

Now for the controversy. Del Taco got bought out by Jack in the Box back in 2022 and that’s where the story goes for a bit of a tailspin. Jack in the Box, or JITB, is known for their famous tacos. They are not like normal tacos and you either love them or hate them. They thing that stands out is the “cat food” like meat in the tacos. That is not me saying that, google ‘jack in the box tacos’ and you’ll see the term ‘cat food’ keeps coming up. They are NOT filled with cat food. It is a mixture of beef, dark meat chicken and something called TVP. That is Textured Vegetable Protein and it is made of soy flour and caramel color. As you can imagine, the world has a dim view of this ultra processed food filler. Is it bad for you? Not that I can find. Does it taste bad? On its own it’s not great but it takes seasoning really well and you can make fairly decent vegan tacos with it. I have done it and it’s not half bad.

So, here is the problem. JITB decided to monkey with Del Taco’s perfect Taco Meat and cut it with TVP. Does it still taste as good? Yes! Does this mean their tacos are cheaper than Taco Bell? Heck no! They are actually MORE money, but you get diced tomatoes on their standard tacos. So, value added? I think so and they taste so much better that TB it’s worth it. Now, JITB has sold Del Taco at a massive loss from the purchase price just a few years ago. The new company, Yadav Enterprises takes over in January 2026, and we’ll all have to wait and see what happens after that. Fortunately for you this recipe is very versatile and if you want to take the TVP out, simply omit it and add a little more oat flour to make the recipe work. See the recipe notes for all the details.

What do you need to make the meat taste exactly like Del Taco? A food processor! The meat has to be very fine to match both the texture and the taste of the Del Taco Ground Beef Taco Meat. Can you use water when browning the meat? NO!!!!! That works for chili but not taco meat. I’ve tried; it screws up the whole process and does not give you the correct results. How about one of those meat mashers? Nope, doesn’t get it fine enough. Chub meat? Still not fine enough. Hey, it is what it is. Just break out the food processor and pulse it about 5 to 10 times. Then use a spatula or silicon scrapper to wipe down the sides and then give it 2 or 3 more pulses. That will make it perfect. The rest is pretty straight forward. To check out my video on YouTube about this CLICK HERE

Del Taco’s Seasoned Ground Beef

Del Taco has the best Mexican Fast Food Taco Meat out there an this is the recipe for getting that exact taste and texture. See the Recipe Notes for info about removing the TVP from the recipe. It's super easy. Enjoy!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• ½ cup TVP plus ½ cup Boiling Water mixed well
• 1 TBSP Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Granulated Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Dried Minced Onions
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Mexican Oregano
• 1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1 TBSP Tomato Paste
• 1 cup Water
• 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Lime Juice
• 1 tsp Oat Flour
• 1 tsp Corn Starch

Instructions

 

• Measure out all the spices and corn starch into a small bowl and set aside
• Mix TVP and boiling water in a bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside for now.
• Brown up 1 pound of ground beef in a 12" frying pan. When it's about 1/2 way done, add the TVP and continue cooking as normal
• When the beef is no longer pink transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse to get a fine texture. It will take 5 to 10 pulses. Stir and course meat remaining and pulse again 1 more times.
• Place the frying pan back on the heat and add the oat flour to the pan to soak up any grease remaining in the pan.
• When the pan is now dry add the spice mixture to the pan and toast the spices for about 1 minute.
• Add tomato paste and mix well with the spices.
• When the tomato paste is mostly broken up and mixed into the spices, add the water, apple cider vinegar and lime juice to the pan. Stir well to combine
• Heat the mixture up to 204F to activate the corn starch and thicken the sauce. When a spatula dragged across the pan leaves a clean path it is ready.
• Return the meat mixture from the food processor to the pan and mix it all up really well. When it is fully combined it is ready to serve.

Video

Notes

If you are like most people, the TVP is outta here! That is super simple to do. Just omit it and up the oat flour to 1/2 tablespoon. Everything else remains the same. 

If you have no idea where to get oat flour you can just grind up some oatmeal (quick oats or ‘plain instant’ works) to make your own oat flour at home. A spice grinder or mortar and pestle will get the job done. If you use a coffee grinder, just make sure it’s REALLY clean or it will taste too much like coffee.