One of my favorite weeknight meals to serve my family is Baked Turkey Tacos with Black Beans, especially when I’m short on time. These tacos are ready in about 30 minutes, and I serve them with all of our favorite toppings so everyone can customize them their favorite way. Make these for your next Taco Tuesday night, or any night really! These oven baked tacos are full of flavor and always bring the smiles.
I’ve been making these tacos for my family for a few years now, and I’ve perfected the recipe so that I can now share it with you. I prefer to create my own seasonings rather than using a prepackaged mix, but I do love to add some flavor with some nacho cheese or lime flavored taco shells. Even though I use a lean ground turkey for the meat filling, the flavor is bold and delicious, and I will keep some leftover to create a little taco salad bowl.
To start, you will sauté some onions and garlic to add that delicious base flavor. Once the onion and garlic is nice and fragrant, we add the ground turkey to the pan to brown before adding all the seasonings and goodness.
The meat mixture comes together fairly quickly, and then I add some black beans for more protein and texture, and Ro*Tel tomatoes for a great flavorful kick. I prefer this over fresh tomatoes because it really adds to the flavor of the tacos.
Using a large rectangular glass baking dish, assemble the tacos. I really like the taco shells that stand on their own, but if you get a more traditional taco shell you can ball up aluminum foil between the tacos to help them stand up. Fill up each taco shell with the meat filling.
Then top with almost the same amount of cheese before baking in the oven uncovered. The shells will turn golden and the edges may brown just a bit when they are ready.
The cheese will be nice and melted when they come out of the oven, so let it cool for a few minutes before adding your favorite toppings.
I like to add shredded lettuce, sour cream, jalapeño slices, sliced olives, salsa, guacamole, chopped green onions and chopped cilantro. Add some of your favorite taco sauce or hot sauce for some added heat.
Serve with Spanish Rice and refried beans for a full meal and some happy bellies!
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- ½ teaspoon dry basil
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can Ro*Tel, undrained
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Taco shells
- Prepared taco filling
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup pepper jack cheese
- chopped lettuce
- sour cream
- salsa
- taco sauce / hot sauce
- guacamole
- green onions
- jalapenos
- chopped cilantro
- Begin by preheating the over to 400 degrees.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil.
- Once the oil has warmed and is shimmery at the surface, add the onions and sauté for a minute or so before adding the garlic.
- Once the onions are slightly transparent and fragrant, add the ground turkey.
- Carefully break up the ground meat and brown, stirring every so often as the meat continues to brown.
- Once the meat is about 90% cooked through, add the lime juice and all of the seasonings.
- Stir everything together thoroughly, and make sure it is cooked all the way through.
- Add in the beans and the Ro*Tel, then continue to cook through for another two minutes or so.
- This entire process will take about 7-9 minutes total.
- Once the filling is done, remove from heat.
- Spray a large glass dish with non-stick cooking spray, then carefully place the taco shells in the dish.
- Fill each taco with about 2 tablespoons of the meat filling, then top it with about 1½ tablespoons of cheese.
- Bake in the preheated at 400 degrees for 9-12 minutes, when the tacos are done they will have a slightly more golden tone to them and the cheese will be melted.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Add your favorite taco toppings, serve and enjoy!
Have you ever Tried baked tacos?
What are your favorite filling and toppings? I’d love to read some of your ideas in the comments, and while you’re here you can view my Amazon Store for more products that I personally use and love!
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