Taco Cups are quick & easy handheld tacos for kids. Made with tortillas, filled with ground beef or turkey, refried beans, diced tomatoes, and seasonings, then baked to cheesy perfection! Gluten-free.
This kid-friendly dinner is quick & delicious. Kids like being able to choose their own toppings, so offer them on the table for your family to customize themselves.
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Mexican-inspired dishes are served at least weekly in my house. Over the years, we’ve made a lot of tacos to find our favorites. I finally created a list of our top picks. If you are looking for more of our favorite Mexican-inspired recipes, give these a try!
HOW TO MAKE
1. Brown the meat
Start by browning the meat in a skillet. We use ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork depending on the day for these kid-friendly tacos. We recommend picking the meat based on what is on sale at your local grocer and/or what is preferred by your family.
2. Season
Next, add the spices. We like a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. If you want to cut time, you can skip the spices and use a taco seasoning packet.
INGREDIENT SWAP: If using ground chicken for this recipe, our Homemade Chicken Taco Seasoning is the best spice blend.
3. Add the extras
Then, add in a can of diced tomatoes. We suggest petite diced tomatoes to limit large chunks of tomatoes and for better acceptance from kids. You could also use fresh diced tomato.
Next, add a can of refried beans or use our simple crockpot refried bean recipe. Stir well until combined.
4. Assemble
Fold your tortillas, bending to fit into the muffin tin. We recommend using fajita-sized tortillas.
If you only have large flour tortillas at home, you can use a cookie cutter or glass cup to cut circles into the tortillas to make a perfect size. If using a glass cup, turn upside down and gently twist the top of the cup into the tortilla until it slices through.
INGREDIENT SWAP: You can swap the tortilla for corn tortillas, a wonton wrapper, or crescent rolls for tasty variations.
Once your tortilla cups are in your muffin tin, evenly distribute the cooked taco meat into cups.
Dietitian Tip: These crunchy taco cups cut fat and calories compared to store-bought tortilla bowls and add more nutrition with the addition beans and veggies.
Top with your taco cups with shredded cheese if desired then, bake for 8-10 minutes.
Finally, let your family top their individual taco cups with their favorite toppings.
TACO TOPPINGS:
- Salsa
- Tomato
- Onion
- Black Olives
- Cilantro
- Greek Yogurt
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
Tacos for Toddlers
Have toddlers? If you have toddlers at home and would like to make these in a smaller version, we suggest using a mini muffin tin.
Microwave corn tortillas for 10 seconds in the microwave then place them into the tin or cut flour tortillas into smaller sizes and position them into the mini muffin tin. Follow the instructions as-is for mini taco cups.
I hope your family enjoys these crunchy taco cups. It is nice to skip traditional tacos every now and then to make these tacos for kids. This recipe is definitely on the menu next Taco Tuesday 🙂
KID-FRIENDLY MEXICAN RECIPES:
- Crock Pot Refried Beans
- Bean Dip
- Mexican Corn Chip Casserole
- Gyro Pork Tacos
- More Mexican Inspired Dinner Ideas
MEAL IDEAS FOR KIDS:
CKC Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.
The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn’t require a helper.
If you enjoyed these recipes make sure to leave a comment and a star rating below!
Then follow us on social media and tag #createkidsclub if you make the recipe. We love seeing what you come up with!
Taco Cups
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey, browned and drained ✅
- 15 ounce can refried beans ✅
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained ✅
- 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese ✅
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder ✅
- 1 teaspoon onion powder ✅
- 1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder ✅
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 10 6 inch gluten-free tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
- ⭐️Brown meat and add seasonings. Brown meat then drain and return to pan. Stir in diced tomatoes, refried beans, and spices.1 pound ground beef or turkey, browned and drained, 15 ounce can refried beans, 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Fold tortillas then fill. Fold flour tortillas to fit into muffin tins. Divide meat mixture evenly between tortillas. Top with cheese and desired toppings.10 6 inch gluten-free tortillas, 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ⭐️Bake. Bake 8-10 minutes or until shells are crispy and browned
GiGi Eats Celebrities says
FILL ME UP WITH THAT FILLING!!!
Create Kids Club says
Ha! It is pretty tasty and my no refried bean eating child didn’t even know they were in there 😉
Chrissy @ Snacking in Sneakers says
YUM! We are big fans of taco tuesday or taco ANYday here. We just did some spaghetti squash taco boats recently! I can’t wait to try your taco cups.
Create Kids Club says
Right?! Your spaghetti squash boats sound so good!! I will have to try that twist! I think I could eat Mexican foods every day 🙂
abbey sharp says
Stunning picture!! I lvoe tacos, especially homemade (with a side of Guac ;). I like serving mine with refind beans, extra cilantro and super spicy!
Create Kids Club says
I am a super spicy gal myself, Abbey! My kids, not so much, so all those goodies have to be added after the fact 🙂
Cassi Schmigotzki says
Does it have to be refried beans?
Create Kids Club says
Yes, it does have refried beans, but you could always skip them. Or you could mash another favorite bean as a replacement like pinto beans or great northern beans. Hope that helps!
Carmy says
I literally ate almost 20 of these last week! I used wonton wrappers instead 🙂
Create Kids Club says
Ha! They are soooo good, aren’t they?!
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says
What a fun idea to bake all the goodness into the tortilla!
ilkasblog says
I vote for Taco Tuesday, too! These tortillas look FABULOUS!!
Aliah says
These look amazing! Perfect for Taco Tuesdays…I’ve never made taco cups before.
Create Kids Club says
They are really easy Aliah!
Mary says
What a delicious spin on taco night.
Courtney says
Tried this and loved it tonight! Super easy and delicious! We do some type of taco trope weekly and this is a new addition for sure! Thank you!!
Brooke says
The whole family loved it, and it was so easy! Used Jenni O ‘s taco seasoned ground turkey and it turned out great. Thanks for the easy dinner recipe!