Taco Meat for 100
Three ingredients. One hundred people. Total crowd-pleaser. Making rich, delicious taco meat for a massive gathering is easier than you think with this foolproof recipe. Plus, you can cook it a day ahead of time to completely stress-proof your taco bar prep.
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Why this recipe works
Taco meat is established as a simple recipe. This is why it scales so well. But my trick to make taco meat taste even better — even when cooking a ton of it — is to add tomato sauce in addition to the seasonings.
By replacing some of the water with luscious tomato sauce, we create a richer taco meat with very little effort. And the recipe can be easily scaled up or down for your crowd size.
This recipe also works because it can be made entirely on the stove top, but then it can be kept warm on the stove, in the oven, or in slow cookers. When cooking in quantity, flexibility is key!
About the ingredients
Just three ingredients: ground beef, taco seasoning, and tomato sauce.
No salt added tomato sauce is preferable but not required.
Walmart sells larger McCormick bottles of taco seasoning. I use one full one per 10 pounds ground beef.
I use 80:20 meat-to-fat ground chuck. As of October 2026, it is $4.99 per pound. I go into the cost more in my post, Taco Bar for 100. Get as lean a meat as your budget allows.
I prefer the 80:20 because there is some fat, but not so much fat. We do want to spoon off as much fat as possible because we don’t want greasy taco meat.
FAQs
This depends on your specific taco seasoning, so always double-check the package labeling. But when I prepare this recipe, I make sure it is gluten-free, and I serve it with both flour tortillas and gluten-free crunchy corn tortilla shells.
Want the perfect side dish for your tacos? Add my Mexican street corn casserole! This easy recipe is always an absolute hit.
Taco Meat for 100
Ingredients
- 30 lbs ground beef
- 25.5 ounces taco seasoning
- 112 ounces tomato sauce
Instructions
- Working in batches, cook and crumble the ground beef until no longer pink. Using multiple pans helps.
- Transfer meat to large pot or sloe cookers.
- Add tomato sauce and seasoning to the meat. Add enough water so the mixture is very loose.
- On low or medium-low heat, stirring often, simmer the meat in the sauce until the sauce is smooth and no longer grainy. Add more water if necessary.
- Keep meat warm on stove top, in slow cookers, or in a 150℉-degree oven until serving.
