Taco Bell Meat Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the ingredients in Taco Bell taco meat? ›

Taco Bell's primary meat mix consists of 88% USDA-inspected premium real beef. The remaining 12% is made up of a signature recipe that includes water, spices, and a blend of oats, starches, and other ingredients to enhance the flavor, texture, and moisture.

Taco Bell is revealing what's in its beef, and it turns out it's actually mostly beef. The fast-food chain's recipe contains 88% beef and 12% "signature recipe," according to a new webpage posted by Taco Bell. Also, addressing a widespread rumor, Taco Bell beef is not grade D beef, according to the website.

Boiling ground beef is the best way to cook it so that it comes out in small, fine crumbles. Trust me, this is the secret to all those amazing tacos and pasta sauces at your favorite restaurant! It's also a healthier option, because the boiling process helps separate the fat from the meat, and it comes out quite lean.

For example, when the site explains modified corn starch, which is among “the other 12 percent,” it says that it's derived from corn. Then it goes onto explain what corn is — “a food staple in Mexican culture as well as many others.” They use it “as a thickener and to maintain moisture in our seasoned beef.”

Then they are put through a centrifuge to separate the fat tissue from the muscle tissue. The muscle tissue is sterilized with ammonia (which is commonly used in food production and safe in small amounts) and the resulting product is called “lean finely textured beef,” or pink slime. Or… err… “ground beef.”

The British Food Standards Agency said Taco Bell's products contained more than 1% (pdf) horse meat. “We apologize to our customers and take this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority,” a spokesman for the chain said.

The USDA's rules apply to meat processors - the companies Taco Bell buys its meat from. Tyson Foods Inc., the company's largest meat supplier, said it mixes and cooks the meat at three USDA-inspected plants and that the meat is tested daily to make sure it meets requirements.

Originally Answered: Is it true that the "ground beef" in many taco bell items is mostly texturized vegetable protein? No. It is 88% beef and 12% something else (flavorings, spices).

What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices. The heat then activates the cornstarch, thickening the mixture.

A typical 12-serving taco seasoning mix recipe uses about 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch. If you want to skip the cornstarch in your homemade seasoning to use it for other purposes, just sprinkle ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of cornstarch per pound of browned, spiced meat before adding ¾ cup of water and heat until thickened.

Why is my taco meat so dry? ›

The main reason why ground beef dries out is when it's OVERCOOKED. When you cook the meat, it loses water content and the fat gets rendered out. And since ground beef is normally cooked to WELL DONE for health reasons, it's really easy to dry it out.

A Taco Bell spokesman said the company had voluntarily ordered testing of its beef products in light of the scandal affecting other European retailers and food manufacturers. “Based on that testing, we learned ingredients supplied to us from one supplier in Europe tested positive for horse meat,” he said.

If you want to keep your Taco Bell order as healthy as possible, registered dietitian Yelena Wheeler, RDN, says to steer clear of the steak grilled cheese burrito, which she says is the absolute least healthiest item on the menu.

It then is slow-cooked and simmered with proprietary seasonings and spices to provide Taco Bell's signature taste and texture. Our seasoned beef recipe contains 88% quality USDA-inspected beef and 12% seasonings, spices, water and other ingredients that provide taste, texture and moisture.

*Taco Bell^® does not claim “gluten-free” for any of its food. Some Taco Bell^® items are made without gluten-containing ingredients but are prepared in common kitchen areas, including common fryer oil, risking gluten exposure. Taco Bell^® does not recommend products for customers with celiac disease.

Carne Asada – Asada (or asado) means “roasted” in Spanish. Carne asada is a spicy, marinated grilled steak that's cut into strips. This is the meat that goes into burritos and tacos. Pollo Asado – Pollo means “chicken” in Spanish, which means that pollo asado is grilled, marinated chicken.