SLOPPY JOE TACOS

At the time this post goes live, pretty sure that life will find me laying out on the beach in Mexico, with four girlfriends by my side, a pina colada in hand, no computer in sight, listening to the waves, soaking up some much-needed sunshine, talking for hours and hours and beyond, and basically doing absolutely nothing.
Ah, vacation.  I’ve been looking forward to you for a long time.
So while I’m down there livin’ the dream of eating Mexican food morning, noon and night, I thought I would leave behind a Mexican recipe to share with you on the blog today.  I have admitted before that ground beef isn’t my thing, so this one goes out to my dad and all of you out there who happen to love ground beef, and specifically — sloppy joes!  Yep, I made ‘em into tacos.  Because if you ask me, that delicious saucy filling was made to go in taco shells.
And not just any shells…


As part of my partnership working with Old El Paso this year to come up with some fresh and tasty new Mexican dishes, they asked us to share with you the good news about a new product that recently hit the shelves — their Bold Nacho Cheese Taco Shells!!
I tried to line ‘em up next to Old El Paso’s traditional Stand ‘n’ Stuff Corn Tortilla shells so that you could see the difference.  And oh baby, those shells were positively glowing when the sun was shining behind them in these photos.  The nacho shells are the darker ones, and they are packed with nacho cheese flavor and are suuuper popular right now.  Because, well, who doesn’t love that classic nacho flavoring?
Whatever kind of shells you choose, though, I promise that this sloppy joe filling will make them all the more delicious.

So to make these tacos, whip up a batch of sloppy joe ground beef filling from scratch.  No need to buy the canned stuff.  This filling is super easy to make from scratch!
Then, pop it in your taco shell…

…ok, make that a lot of shells…

…and top your tacos with whatever fillings sound good.  I was cleaning out the fridge before taking off on vacation, so I just went with a simple cheese and cilantro topping.  But avocado, sliced radishes, diced avocado, diced tomato, sour cream — you know — anything and everything would be good.
Hope you enjoy the ground beef in my absence.  And hasta la vista, bebe — I’ll be back soon!  :)

SLOPPY JOE TACOS

All of the goodness of traditional sloppy joes -- turned into tacos!

PREP:  5 MINS COOK:  20 MINS TOTAL:  25 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, cored and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
• Old El Paso Stand 'n' Stuff Taco Shells (Traditional Corn or Nacho Cheese)
• optional toppings: shredded Mexican cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, diced avocado, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up the beef with a spoon and stirring occasionally.  Drain off any excess fat and discard it.
Return pan to the heat, and add the onion, red bell pepper and garlic to the ground beef.  Continue sauteing for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent, stirring occasionally.
While the veggies are sauteing, whisk together the tomato sauce, brown sugar, worcestershire, and chili powder until combined.  Once the veggies are cooked, add the tomato sauce mixture to the ground beef and stir until combined.  Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, then remove from heat.
To assemble the tacos, place the ground beef filling in the taco shells and top with your desired toppings.  Serve immediately.

DIFFICULTY: EASY CATEGORY: QUICK