Baked Cheese and Beef Taquitos — Craving Mexican food? Make these EASY taquitos made with seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, and baked to crispy perfection! Family friendly, picky-eater approved, and PERFECT for busy weeknight dinners, game day events or parties!
Baked Cheese and Ground Beef Taquitos
These baked beef and cheese taquitos are going to be an instant family favorite! That’s because there’s seasoned ground beef mixed together with melted cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa.
This irresistible filling mixture is rolled into flour tortillas and then they’re baked for just 15 minutes until they’re crispy.
Serve your Mexican-inspired baked cheese and beef taquitos with salsa or guacamole.
Whether you’re making these as an appetizer for a game day event, a casual party or get-together, or you need an easy 30 minute family friendly weeknight dinner, these beef taquitos have you covered.
I’ve never met a kid or picky eater who will say no to beefy, cheesy, crispy, warm taquitos!
Ingredients in Beef Taquitos
When you’re ready to impress your friends and family with these authentic tasting homemade beef taquitos, you’ll need to following common and easy to find fridge and pantry ingredients including:
- Ground beef
- Taco seasoning
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream
- Red salsa
- Shredded cheese
- Flour tortillas
How to Make Baked Beef Taquitos
To make these family favorite cheese and ground beef taquitos, follow these easy and straightforward steps:
Step 1: Brown the ground beef and then add the taco seasoning.
Step 2: Add the cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, and stir them in until melted and smooth.
Step 3: Add the cheese and stir to combine.
Step 4: Add a bit of the filling mixture to each tortilla.
Step 5: Roll up, place in a pan, and bake until crispy.
What Are the Best Tortillas for Taquitos?
This beef and cheese taquito recipe should be made with flour tortillas. That’s because they tend to be more pliable than corn tortillas.
Since you need to roll the tortillas fairly tightly in order to make taquitos, you’ll be doing yourself a favor not trying to roll corn tortillas.
However, if you want to try using corn tortillas, you could I suppose. I gave tips in my Cauliflower Tinga Tacos recipe how to work with corn tortillas so they’re less prone to ripping.
Use medium sized tortillas, not the tiny street taco size nor the larger enchilada size. About 6-inch tortillas work well.
What Kind of Cheese is Best in Baked Beef Taquitos?
For these cheesy beef taquitos, I used shredded Pepper Jack cheese.
However, another shedded cheese that melts well is fine including a shredded Mexican cheese blend or Monterey Jack.
What’s the Best Beef for Taquitos?
I wanted to keep this recipe as quick and easy as possible, so I made ground beef taquitos. Use ground beef that’s 90 – 93% lean. Remember that the filling also contains cheese, so you don’t want the beef to release too much fat.
What to Serve with Baked Taquitos
The cheesy beef taquitos are at the peak fresh and hot right out of the oven since they are crispy on the exterior and the seasoned beef filling is warm and the cheese is melty.
Serve them with your favorite salsa or guacamole, extra cilantro, tomatoes, and limes.
How to Store and Reheat Taquitos
Extras will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
I recommend reheating them in the oven so they will stay crispy. If you’re reheating from frozen, allow them to thaw at room temp first, then reheat in the oven.
Unfortunately reheating them in the microwave won’t give you the crispness and instead they could be either soggy or the tortillas can turn a bit rubbery.
Tips for the Best Beef and Cheese Taquitos
I recommend lean ground beef in the 90 percent range for your beef and cheese taquitos. I don’t like ultra lean ground beef as it seems so much drier to me so I go with something in the low 90 percent range.
Choose any type of taco seasoning you like. Packets are convenient for me and that’s what I use. I use medium taco seasoning but you can use mild or spicy based on your personal preferences.
Use your favorite red salsa. You can choose mild, medium, or spicy. Choose something that isn’t too chunky but also you don’t want it too thin and runny.
If I don’t make my own salsa, I like Trader Joe’s selection of salsas or most any store bought like a Pace or Ortega is fine.
Both cream cheese and sour cream are used to add creaminess to the beef mixture so don’t omit them.
You could probably use reduced fat or lite versions although I tend to use full-fat for recipes like these beef and cheese taquitos so that the filling doesn’t taste at all watery since lower fat dairy products contain more water.
When you’re adding the filling mixture to each tortilla, I add about two tablespoons in a line on one side of the tortilla.
You want to make sure to add enough filling that the ratio of tortilla to filling is adequate and not skimpy. Nothing more unsatisfying than biting into a taquito that doesn’t have enough beef and cheese mixture in it.
Also take care not to overfill your taquitos or they will be harder to roll and be more prone to ripping.
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Baked Cheesy Beef Taquitos
Craving Mexican food? Make these EASY taquitos made with seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, and baked to crispy perfection! Family friendly, picky-eater approved, and PERFECT for busy weeknight dinners, game day events or parties!Â
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef (about 90 to 93% lean)
- one 1-ounce package taco seasoning (any spice or sodium level)
- 4 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temp
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese (or a shredded Mexican cheese blend, Monterrey Jack, etc.)
- 1/2 cup red salsa
- 8 flour tortillas, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish or baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large skillet, add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat to brown it, crumbling it as it cooks to ensure even cooking.
- Evenly sprinkle the taco seasoning over the ground beef (I don't drain it because there's not much to drain) and stir to combine.
- Turn the heat off, add the cheese, and stir to combine until melted.
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream, salsa*, and stir to combine.
- Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the meat mixture in a vertical strip down one side of each tortilla. Tips - If your tortillas are stiff, microwave them for 10 seconds to make them softer and more pliable. Don't underfill so they are skimpy yet don't overfill so they are prone to breaking and falling apart.
- Roll up each tortilla in a tight taquito roll (if you have extra filling, make more than the 8 called for) place them in the prepared pan, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. Serve with with salsa, guacamole, fresh cilantro, limes, or your favorite garnishes. Taquitos are best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.**
Notes
*Use your favorite red salsa. You can choose mild, medium, or spicy. Choose something that isn’t too chunky but also you don’t want it too thin and runny. If I don’t make my own salsa, I like Trader Joe’s selection of salsas or most any store bought like a Pace or Ortega is fine.
**I recommend reheating taquitos in the oven so they will stay crispy. If you’re reheating from frozen, allow them to thaw at room temp first, then reheat in the oven. Unfortunately reheating them in the microwave won’t give you the crispness and instead they could be either soggy or the tortillas can turn a bit rubbery.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 441Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 795mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 26g
More Easy Mexican Ground Beef Recipes:
Loaded Smothered Beef Burritos – Mexican comfort food that’s loaded with seasoned ground beef, refried beans, rice, and smothered with sauce and CHEESE!! Tastes BETTER than from a restaurant, freezer-friendly, and so EASY!!
Ground Beef Taco Salad Bowls — Making homemade taco salad bowls is so easy and they’re perfect for holding this family-favorite taco salad including seasoned ground beef, black beans, cheese and more! Everything is topped with a creamy lime-cilantro dressing that’ll have everyone finishing their salad!
Loaded Beef Taco Salad – Crisp romaine lettuce, sweet corn, juicy tomatoes, and more! It comes together in just 20 minutes and is topped with the most incredible cilantro lime dressing.
Layered Beef Taco Dip – A FAST and EASY layered dip with taco-seasoned cream cheese, sour cream, ground beef, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, and more!! Perfect for your next FIESTA and a guaranteed WINNER with everyone!!
Layered Beef Taco Salad – A classic taco salad that everyone LOVES, it’s EASY, and it’s ready in 20 minutes!! There’s ground beef, refried beans, red peppers, tortilla chips, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes!!
Loaded Nachos with Beef — EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and LOADED with taco-seasoned ground beef, black beans, corn, cilantro, and lots of CHEESE!! Great for parties, game days, after school snacks, or a cheat night dinner!!
Beef Queso Dip – Caramelized onions, ground beef, taco seasoning, and CHEESE in this FAST and EASY dip everyone loves!! Great for game days, PARTIES, holidays, and events!!
Cheesy Beef Taco Pie – Your favorite taco ingredients baked into a savory, CHEESY pie!! Ground beef, tomatoes, tortilla chips, and more! Great for parties, tailgating, or EASY family dinners and everyone loves it!!
Cheesy Beef Taco Dip – EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and tastes like an awesome beef taco that’s extra CHEESY in dip form and so good!! The Bakeable Tortilla Bowls are so fun! PERFECT for game day parties and get-togethers!!
Could you air fry these and if so what time and time? Thanks in advance
Edit temperature*
Make this recipe and use beef :) https://www.averiecooks.com/air-fryer-chicken-taquitos/
These were so scrumptious and turned out perfectly. I just happened to have the ingredients but not the taco seasoning. I made my own which was also delicious. I’m going to try your burrito recipe next but will make my own enchilada sauce. Thanks, Averie for another great recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad these turned out perfectly with your own taco seasoning! And that you are going to try the burritos next with homemade sauce – enjoy and LMK how they go!
Wonderful recipe. Even the picky eater loved it. When I get my tortillas ready to use, I lightly spray them with cooking spray on both sides and layer stack them up with a wet damp paper towel between each tortilla cover them with a plastic bowl and microwave them for 40 seconds. This makes him very pliable for rolling up, but not soggy, and the cooking spray make some crisp up really nice in the oven.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad the picky eater loved them, too!