Craving Mexican food? 🌮🎉🧀 Make these EASY Baked Cheese and Beef 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!
Table of Contents
Baked Cheese and Ground Beef Taquitos
- These baked beef and cheese taquitos are going to be a family favorite! That’s because there’s seasoned ground beef mixed together with melted cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa.
- 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.
- Easy weeknight meal: I’ve never met a kid or picky eater who will say no to beefy, cheesy, crispy, warm 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!” – Kathleen
“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.” – Myron
Ingredients in Ground 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:
- Ground beef – I like 90/10 or 93% lean ground beef because it’s the perfect balance for me of flavor but not too fatty. You could experiment with other types of ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, or even ground pork.
- Taco seasoning – We use medium heat taco seasoning but you can go as mild or wild as you’d like. You can also add garlic powder, chili powder, or salt and pepper, if desired.
- Cream cheese + Sour cream – The creamy taquitos filling is thanks to these two ingredients so make sure to use full fat products for the richest results.
- Red salsa – Again, you can use mild, medium, or spicy based on your preferences.
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Flour tortillas – Wondering about what size? Corn vs. flour tortillas? See the FAQs below for all the details.
- Garnishes – While optional, you can add a variety of things including cilantro, Mexican crema, hot sauce, slided green chiles, and more.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Taquitos Fan?
If you love your taquitos as much as we do, check out my classic Chicken Taquitos recipe. So crispy and delish! If you have an air fryer, make sure to also try out my Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos recipe. You can also use beef as the filling rather than chicken in either of those recipes by essentially using this recipe and either fry or air fry.
How to Make Taquitos in the Oven
To make these family favorite cheese and ground beef taquitos, follow these easy and straightforward steps:
- Brown the ground beef and then add the taco seasoning.
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, and stir them in until melted and smooth.
- Add the cheese and stir to combine.
- Add a bit of the ground beef mixture to each tortilla.
- Roll up, place on a sheet pan or baking sheet with the seam-side down, and bake until crispy. Top with your favorite toppings or garnishes and serve!
Recipe FAQs
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.
Use medium sized tortillas, not the tiny street taco size nor the larger enchilada size. About 6-inch tortillas work well.
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.
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.
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.
Yes! To make these in an air fryer, follow the cooking instructions in my Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos recipe.
Yes you can. Basically just swap out the 1 pound of ground beef for 1 pound of ground chicken, and add an extra tablespoon or two of olive oil to your skillet when browning the chicken since it’s so low in fat, you’ll enjoy the flavor the extra drizzle of oil gives.
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.
Tips for the Best Beef and Cheese Taquitos
Taco seasoning: 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.
Salsa: 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.
Filling amount: 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.
Recipe Video Tutorial
Baked Cheesy Beef Taquitos
Video
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
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese, or a shredded Mexican cheese blend, Monterrey Jack, etc.
- ½ cup red salsa
- 8 flour tortillas, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and spray a 9×13-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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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!!
Originally posted April 25, 2022 and reposted January 19, 2024 with updated text.
And easy to follow easy to do recipe that taste fantastic
Great to hear this was easy and tastes fantastic, Deb!
These are soooo good! Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Shannon, and I’m glad you love these taquitos!
Stuck for ideas. Need something quick, tasty and cheap, then this is your recipe. Absolutely delicious and so easy.
I am glad this was absolutely delish and easy for you!
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!
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!
great
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.
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!