Introduction

Today in the Magic Kitchen we have two recipes for the price of one! We’re making ground beef and salsa chicken for tacos. Our secret ingredient is our own taco seasoning we call YaYa Taco Seasoning™. We are working to bring this to The Magic Pantry very soon. For now, you can use your preferred blend, but be sure to try ours when it comes out!

This recipe is not Mexican street food. This is Tex-Mex; the Mexican food most Americans my age grew up eating. Hard corn taco shells, store-bought taco seasoning, ground beef, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack cheese, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. It is one of my favorite comfort foods. 

I’ve been enjoying authentic Mexican street food for over a decade, but still consider it newer to my palate. Despite living in the most diverse city in the country, I didn’t grow up knowing authentic Mexican food. But after I discovered the authentic stuff at a little cafe near our previous home in Germantown, TN, I now love them both. 

I love Mexican food.!

Mexican-inspired cuisine is one of the most flavorful and fun cuisines on the planet. I could eat Mexican food every other day (because I need to get my Mediterranean and Asian foods in, too). What can I tell you, I seriously love to eat! 

Taco Tuesday has been a favorite food night for kids all over America since whoever came up with the marketing idea introduced it. Our tiddly peeps are no different. It doesn’t matter what night of the week it actually falls on, when we have Taco Tuesday, everybody is happy.  

I have a great recipe for guacamole that I will release in the coming weeks. Like all my dishes, this has a handful of ingredients and is super tasty! This is the only way Papa Jeffro will eat an avocado. Stay tuned to the Magic Kitchen blog for that one!

Tools

• Instapot or Crock Pot†

• Large measuring Cup

• Measuring Spoons

• Mixing bowls (large to small)

• Hand mixer or meat shredding tool

• Cutting mat/board

• Large knife

• Skillet

• Ladle

• Mixing Spoon

• Baking sheet

Ingredients

Makes aprox 10-12 each of
ground beef and chicken tacos

• 3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs 

• 2 lbs 80% lean ground beef

• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

• 2 cups salsa (your choice!)

• 8 tbsp Yaya Taco Seasoning™ 

  Toppings*

• 1 cup diced onions

• 3 cups shredded lettuce

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

• ½ cup sour cream

• 1 cup guacamole

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

• Salsa

• Taco sauce

Directions

Prep Time - 15 minutes

Cook Time - 30 minutes†

Salsa Chicken for Tacos

Trim excess fat from chicken thighs. Pour broth and salsa into Instant Pot. Place chicken in the Instant Pot. Add 2 tablespoons of YaYa Taco Seasoning™. Close the lid, make sure the release valve is closed. Press the ‘manual’ button on the Instant Pot and set time for fifteen minutes. When the timer ends, you can let the Instant Pot sit and slow release, or you can open the valve and do a quick release. 

Carefully open the lid and remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and place into a large mixing bowl. Add a few ounces of the liquid from the Instant Pot to the bowl. Shred chicken. Add more liquid as needed to desired taste and consistency. To save time, you can use a hand mixer, but I find that a fork will work just fine most of the time.

Return shredded chicken to the Instant Pot, or cover the mixing bowl and put aside to load into taco shells or tortillas later.

Ground Beef for Tacos

Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Drain beef and set aside. Add ¾ cup of water per pound of beef to hot pan. Add 3 tablespoons per pound of YaYa Taco Season™ to water and mix thoroughly. Once the mixture is warmed up, add ground beef back to the pan and mix into the seasoning mixture.

Assembling the Tacos

Preheat oven to 325º

Place hard taco shells and/or soft tortillas on a baking sheet in the oven. Warm for about 7-8 minutes, promptly remove from oven. Assemble toppings.

 Place about 2 large spoonfuls of prepared ground beef or shredded salsa chicken into shell or tortilla. Add salsa, sauce, and guacamole. Add onions and lettuce. Add shredded cheese. Top with sour cream.

Enjoy!

Notes:

*These are the toppings I like to use and the listed quantities are suggested amounts. You might like less or more of any

†If you do not have an Instant Pot, I highly recommend getting one. But not to worry; you can use a crock pot or other slow cooking method, and extend the time to 4-5 hours from the 5 minutes noted above.

As we mentioned, we use our own blend of taco seasoning, which we are about to make available for sale. For now, use your own, but you really gotta try ours when it comes out!