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Baked Chipotle Beef and Melted Cheese Tacos. Taco-seasoned ground beef cooked and stuffed into chipotle sauce–dipped tortillas with melty cheese. Bake on a sheet pan until the edges of each taco get a little crispy and the cheese is perfectly melted. Finish each taco with lime, cilantro, avocado, and lots of spicy chipotle sauce. They’re crispy-ish, Birria-style (but way easier) tacos that are no fuss and quick to make. Everyone in the family will love these for taco night!
Naming recipes can be so hard sometimes. These could be called so many different things! In the end, no matter what you call them, they’re just plain delicious.
Inspired by dipped Birria tacos, but made in a fraction of the time with ground beef and a can of enchilada sauce. I’ve been making these all month long, and we can’t get enough of the crispy edges, the melty cheese, and that chipotle sauce. My family is officially obsessed.
I’ve been serving each dipped, baked taco with grilled corn salsa and chunks of avocado tossed in lime and salt. Nothing fancy! But the chipotle sauce on the side? That’s non-negotiable—I double the recipe every time.
Here are the details
Ingredients – for the chipotle sauce
- red enchilada sauce
- canned chipotle chilies in adobo
- dried oregano
- apple cider vinegar
- salted butter
- cinnamon
Ingredients – for the tacos
- ground beef – or use ground chicken
- a yellow onion
- taco seasoning
- corn tortillas
- mixed Mexican cheeses – I love a spicy cheddar, colby jack, and pepper jack blend
- Monterey Jack cheese
- chopped cilantro
- cubed or sliced avocado
- lime zest and lime juice
- grilled corn or corn salsa
Special Tools
You’ll need a skillet. I recommend an 11-inch cast-iron skillet. And a sheet pan.
Steps
Step 1: Make the chipotle sauce
Pour a can of red enchilada sauce into the blender with the chipotle chilies, oregano, and vinegar. Blend until smooth.
Now pour the sauce into a shallow skillet. Add a few tablespoons of butter and the cinnamon stick (or use ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon). Fill the empty enchilada sauce can with water and add that to the skillet too.
Simmer until the sauce is combined and warmed through, then season with a pinch of salt.
Step 2: Cook the beef
In a large skillet, cook the ground beef (or chicken) with the onions and taco seasoning until the meat is mostly cooked through, about 10 minutes. The aroma will be incredible!
I love to make my own seasoning using chili powder, chipotle chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.
Add water to the skillet and simmer until the sauce thickens around the meat.
Step 3: Assemble and bake the tacos
Dip each corn tortilla into the warm chipotle sauce, then arrange on a baking sheet. Fill with cheese and the seasoned meat.
Bake for about 15 mins, until the taco edges are crispy and the cheese has melted.
Serve
Top with avocado tossed in lime zest, juice, and sea salt, plus fresh cilantro and grilled corn. Serve the extra chipotle sauce on the side for dipping—each bite is even better dunked into that warm, smoky sauce.
Looking for more simple weeknight recipes? Here are a few favorites:
Crispy Cider Braised White Chili Chicken Tacos
Crispy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup with Salty Lime Chips
Healthier Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch
Crockpot Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Baked Chipotle Beef and Melted Cheese Tacos
Ingredients
Chipotle Sauce
- 1 can red enchilada sauce
- 1/4 cup canned chipotle chilies in adobo
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2-3 tablespoons salted butter
Tacos
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or chicken
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 16-20 corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
- limes, cilantro, avocado, and grilled corn for serving
Instructions
- 1. To make the Chipotle sauce. Combine everything, except the cinnamon and butter, in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the sauce into a skillet set over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and butter. Fill the empty enchilada can with water, add it to the sauce. Simmer over medium-low heat until combined and steaming. Season as needed with salt. 2. The Tacos. Preheat the oven to 425° F.3. In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, and taco seasoning, breaking up the meat as it cooks, until browned, 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce has thickened around the meat, about 5 minutes. 4. To assemble, dip each tortilla into the chipotle sauce, coating both sides. Place the dipped tortillas on a baking sheet. Add a small handful of shredded cheese to one half of each tortilla, then spoon over the meat and add a sprinkle more cheese. Fold the tortillas in half, pressing to close. Bake for 10 minutes, flip each taco, and bake another 5 minutes. 5. Serve the tacos with a squeeze of lime, cilantro, avocado, and chipotle sauce for dipping. If desired, add grilled corn too!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Thank you for another great recipe! They were a hit with the whole family! I did have a lot of sauce left over so I did what another commenter had said and I froze it. Truly makes it so easy to just pull it out tonight and make another batch! Double win! I didn’t have any problems with the tortillas breaking. I just heated them for 30 seconds in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel and that always seems to do the trick. I do about 10 at a time and keep them wrapped as I’m filling each one. Thank you!!
Hey Nicole,
I’m grateful you tried this recipe and took the time to comment. Delighted it turned out!
I wish the size of the enchilada sauce can was specified. My store sells 10oz cans but the one you linked is 15oz. It would be helpful to have that be specific
Hi Jessica,
Sorry about that. Let me know if you give this recipe a try!
These were amazing, I made them last night with small flour tortillas (I never have success with corn tortillas in any recipe, they never want to stay closed for me) and they were DELICIOUS. My only advice is definitely do NOT cook them on a sheet of foil like I did….even sprayed with nonstick there was no way I was able to flip them. Next time I’m going silicone mat. When they cooled down I was able to mostly peel them off and they were still soooo good but don’t make my mistake! I also wound up with way too much sauce…I probably could have froze half of it to use another time to make them again easier.
Hey Jackie,
Thanks so much! I love to hear this recipe turned out for you, thanks for making it! Happy Wednesday!
Turned out delicious (even using the Siete almond flour tortillas).
Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Hey Sabrina! So glad you enjoyed these tacos! Have a lovely day! 🙂 xT
Oh and there was so much sauce left over (ever after lots of dipping) that I was able to freezehalf for a second dinner! Love that!
You say your family is obsessed with these tacos and that you’ve been making them all month, but your family has been out of town all summer. So how is that possible? Just curious.
Hi Richard! They’ve been home for awhile now and have been enjoying lots of yummy recipes! Have a great week! xT
This is slightly off topic from today’s recipe, but your “favorite all time” recipes made me curious about what criteria you use to determine which recipes are indeed, all-time-favorites. For example, you had a Baked Crispy Hot Honey Chicken Tenders recipe that you posted in the spring. It was an epic fail, with lots and lots of unhappy comments from readers about how NOT crispy they are, or that the coating was a floppy mess and didn’t adhere to the chicken, or that the flavor was just plain bad. But somehow it ended up in your “all time favorites” list. How could this happen if it was universally criticized and not loved? Please answer this and don’t just ignore the question. It’s a legit question about how your website works. Thanks.
Hey Lee, I hope you had a great week! Thanks for the comment. The popular recipes are pulled by the numbers of views to the recipe. They are the top most visited and made recipes on the website. It’s generated through AI, so very accurate. Cool, right?!
Have a great long weekend! xT
I’m so glad I tried this recipe! My family absolutely loved these tacos (made with boneless chicken breast, diced). One of the older kids ate hours later, and left me a note on the kitchen counter to tell me how amazing he thought these tacos were. Thank you Teighan for another wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much for trying out these tacos, Sandra! So glad you loved them! 🙂 xT
Step 3 says to allow the sauce to simmer around the beef. But is the chipotle sauce in a separate skillet from the beef?
Hi there! Yes, the sauce and beef are cooked in separate skillets! The water added to the beef will form a sort of sauce around it! Hope this helps! 🙂 xT
These were wonderful! A little crunchy and delicious with the chipotle sauce added on top. I added 1/4 tsp salt when making and also put extra cheese on the tops.
Hi Lauren! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! So glad to hear you enjoyed these tacos! Have a great week! xT
We loved these!
Thank you SO much Kat! I’m so glad you enjoyed these tacos! Have a great weekend! xT
This was such a bad end result; we ended up ordering pizza. Really disappointing & such a waste of ingredients that aren’t cheap!
Hey Wren! Oh no! I am so sorry you didn’t enjoy these tacos! Would you be able to tell me a little more about why they didn’t work out? Happy to help! xT