Baked Beef Taquitos

A family favorite. (Well, Stacie and I like them. The kids, not so much yet.) This recipe is shamelessly modified from CDKitchen.

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus extra)
• 1 ¼ pound extra lean ground beef
• ½ medium white onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt (plus extra)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• ¾ cup grated cheddar or jack cheese
• 12 extra large corn tortillas (or small, your choice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and break up a bit with a wooden spoon. Finely chop onion and add to the ground beef. Add cumin, coriander, onion powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, and black pepper.
3. Brown the beef mixture for about 6 minutes. Mince and add garlic during the last two minutes of cooking. Remove beef from the heat.
4. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds with a wet towel to soften.
5. Put a couple of tablespoons of beef mixture just off center on each tortilla and top with a tablespoon of grated cheese. Roll tortillas up tightly and place on a cookie sheet or baking dish.
6. When all are filled, brush each taquito liberally with vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops are lightly toasted and the cheese has melted on the inside.

Notes: Stacie added the onion powder and cayenne to this one – it makes a nice difference. Also we typically use small tortillas instead of large ones.

Sometimes we double this one up and store half in the fridge. The taquitos keep for a few days.