I remember a time when tacos were a cheap meal for our family. As the price of ground beef has gone up, a family taco night has gotten considerably more expensive.
You can make taco night cheaper with this money-saving tips:
Shop for meat on sale.
Watch for sales on ground beef and stock up. When I find a good price on ground beef, I like to cook some of it up in advance and freeze it into meal-size portions. Making tacos for dinner is super simple when the meat is already cooked. Just heat it up and add the seasonings.
Consider different meats.
While ground beef is the preferred choice for most tacos, you can also use ground chicken or turkey. Some folks like fish tacos. (Shop the sales or catch your own!) Watch for sales on other meats and experiment to see what cheaper alternatives you like.
Bulk up your taco meat with low-cost alternatives.
Use beans to stretch your budget. Cut back on the expensive ground meat and add in much cheaper beans and onions instead. You’ll be adding protein and flavor without extra cost, especially if you’re using dried beans.
Make your own taco seasoning mix and taco sauce.
Buy your spices in bulk and make your own taco seasoning mix for a lot less money than individual taco seasoning packets. Your own seasoning mix will taste better, too! My family isn’t into the taco sauce, but if yours is, you can save money by making your own homemade taco sauce.
Save big on taco shells.
I hate spending $2 or more for just 10 taco shells. The packages you buy are never enough for my growing family and I never fail to pick out a box with a broken shell or two. You can substitute flour tortillas you’ve bought in bulk or make your own tortillas) to make soft tacos or you can buy about 100 corn tortillas for just a couple of bucks and make your own hard taco shells.
To make your own hard taco shells, all you have to do is drape the corn tortillas over the rungs of your oven rack and bake them at 375ºF for about 10 minutes until they are crispy. For even crispier taco shells, you can spray them cooking spray or lightly mist them with cooking oil.
Of course, you could also skip the taco shells altogether and make a taco salad instead. Use veggies from your garden and save even more.
Save on taco toppings.
Don’t buy lettuce that’s already shredded. You can shred your lettuce by slicing it with a knife, using a food processor, or just shredding it with your own hands. Chop your own tomatoes. If you grow lettuce and tomatoes in your garden, you’ll save money by using your harvest. You could also consider substituting cheaper veggies you find at the store like cabbage or carrots. And if you only want a tiny serving of something like olives, head to your grocery store’s deli salad bar and purchase what you need rather than buying a large amount of something that would just go to waste.
Shred your own cheese.
You can save money on cheese for your tacos and get better quality cheese by buying large blocks of cheese and shredding it yourself. Use what you want for taco night and freeze the rest. If you don’t want to shred your own cheese, watch for sales and stock up. Shredded cheese will freeze just fine.
Put the emphasis on cheaper side dishes.
We tend to put the emphasis on our main course, but that can make for a more expensive meal. Instead, focus on making cheaper side dishes that can fill you up. Rice and beans, vegetables and salads are often cheaper and better for you than bulking up on tacos.
Make taco night cheaper with these money-saving tips. Then make the rest of the evening more fun with some low-cost games or a watching a movie you got at the library.
Does your family do taco night? What ways do you save on tacos?
Good tips. Make sure not to get too low grade of meat. I’d rather spend a bit more on meat (though on sale is a definite bonus) that has flavor than buy the cheapest stuff out there and find it either flavorless or too fatty.
Excellent point, Money Beagle! Don’t go so cheap that you end up paying with clogged arteries later!
Also don’t forget about textured vegetable protein or tvp for short. Just substituting a quarter of a cup and upping later can save money. I have done Swiss chard tacos too which used no meat at all and my wife loved them. Thanks David Johnson
Thanks for the tip. I have heard about TVP, but have not used it myself. And I love the idea of a vegetarian taco! Yum!
Half of our household (of 2, haha!) is vegetarian, so I think that helps A BIT. We always make Spanish rice (regular white rice with chili powder, garlic, and cumin added during the cooking process) and use it and refried beans not only to bulk up our tacos/ burritos, but also as side dishes. My next venture is trying my hand at homemade refried beans! Love the tips NC, thank you!
Instead of shells or tortillas, we use tortilla chips we buy at Aldi for $1.39 (or 99 cents on sale!) , crushed, on our plate and pile the taco meat and toppings on the chips and eat with a fork.
Hamburger can be extended with a handful or more of dry oatmeal…in tacos, sloppy joes, etc.
You will never know it’s in there.
Sometimes I will add a can a refried beans right to a pound of browned ground beef. My family won’t eat as many beans unless I mix it in and this just about doubles my “taco meat”