Sloppy Joe Oven Baked Tacos
Updated
Updated
Packed with a sloppy Joe beef mixture, melted cheese, and classic toppings, these crispy oven baked tacos are a great recipe for a quick and easy family dinner or a crowd!
Tacos are not just for Tuesday! We all know that, right? And with so many different ways to make tacos, it shouldn’t ever get boring.
Make them with corn tortillas, flour tortillas, soft, crunchy, with beef, chicken, refried beans, numerous toppings to choose from…and now I’ve got one more way – Sloppy Joe Tacos!
These Oven Baked Tacos are a quick and easy dinner that my whole family loves and perfect for any night of the week. They’re also fantastic to prepare for a crowd.
Every time I make my homemade sloppy joes recipe, my husband complains that there aren’t enough for leftovers. So I started doubling that recipe and either serving sloppy joes again for lunch the next day or using the filling for tacos. They’re so good!
After baking tacos in the oven several years ago, it’s really the only way I ever make them now. A crazy easy dinner is even easier.
How To Keep Oven Baked Tacos Crispy
Oven baked tacos are typically a little bit soft on the bottom because of moisture from the meat, but there are a few ways to keep them crispy.
- Make sure there isn’t excess liquid in your cooked meat mixture.
- Place a layer of cheese in the bottom of each shell, which creates a nice barrier and helps prevent any moisture from soaking through.
- Fill and bake right before serving and eat them ASAP.
Pro Tip!
Use crispy taco shells that have a flat bottom and can stand up on their own. These are so much easier to fill.
What to serve with tacos
You can never go wrong with shredded lettuce and cheese, but we also love these additions.
Other Mexican Inspired recipes we love!
I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Sloppy Joe Oven Baked Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion, , diced
- 1/2 small green bell pepper, , diced
- 2 cloves garlic, , minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 10 Stand and Stuff Taco Shells
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican Blend Cheese, , divided
- sour cream, salsa, jalapeños, lettuce, or any of your taco favorites, , for serving
Instructions
- Warm oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion, and bell pepper; breaking up the meat into crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes until beef is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain off grease.
- Stir in tomato paste until thoroughly combined.
- Add in ketchup, water, brown sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir well to combine.
- Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until mixture has thickened.
- In the meantime, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Place the taco shells in the baking dish, standing up. (I'm able to fit 10 taco shells in the dish by adding 2 on each side.)
- Bake the taco shells for 5 minutes by themselves to allow them to crisp up. Remove from the oven.
- Sprinkle a little cheese into the bottom of each taco shell (this helps create a barrier between the wet meat and shell, to keep them crispy.) Top with the sloppy Joe mixture.
- Sprinkle each shell generously with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake for about 5 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and the edges of the shells are browned.
- Remove from the oven and top with your favorite items.
- Eat right away and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure there isn't excess liquid in your cooked meat mixture.
- Place a layer of cheese in the bottom of each shell, which creates a nice barrier and helps prevent any moisture from soaking through.
- Fill and bake right before serving and eat them ASAP.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
Enjoyed the tacos very much. liked the little different taste. Will fix them when my grandsons are here.