A Taco Bar: The Easiest Way to Feed a Crowd
Courtesy of Heidi Porter and https://styleblueprint.com/everyday/easiest-way-feed-crowd-taco-bar/.
When feeding a crowd, which I tend to do a lot more this time of year, I have found that the more hands-on the eater is, the easier it is for the cook. What I mean by that is that the less that you have to plate up and serve, the better. Which is where the beauty of a taco bar comes in.
I have done lots of different types of food “bars” in the past, including a potato bar, salad bar, hamburger bar and a pizza bar (nightmare), but the taco bar is the crowd favorite. Not only does everyone love a taco, but you can make it all ahead of time and be able to sit down with your guests and eat instead of plating up food all night.
Recently, I was feeding a large crowd, so I cooked 18 pounds of meat. You read that right. I bought three of the six-pounders of ground beef at Costco. I knew that would be a lot, but here’s why I didn’t worry: taco meat freezes incredibly well. So if I had lots left over, I would just freeze it.
I kept the taco bar simple here. You can use two or three types of meat, but I just served ground beef.
Equipment
- Crockpots
- Warming dish for rice and beans
- Divided dishes or individual bowls for toppings
- Tortilla warmer dish
Ingredients
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Elements of the Taco Bar:
- Taco Meat
- Charro Beans
- Mexican Rice
- Hard and soft shell tortillas
- Toppings
- Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced white onion
- Cilantro
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Cheese cheese and more cheese
- Jalapenos I used “tamed” pickled jalapenos for this crowd. For an adult crowd or crowd from Texas, slice up the fresh ones.
Lay out all the food in order. Follow this list and set up around an island or table:
- Flatware napkins and plates
- Tortillas and Hard Shell Tortillas
- Meat
- Beans and Rice
- Toppings lay these out in the order that you would put on the taco.
- Cheese cheese and more cheese
- Lettuce and tomato
- Onion cilantro and jalapenos (I call these “the optionals”)
- Salsa sour cream and guacamole (the final condiments)
- Here’s my recipe for Taco Meat and how I cooked all 18 pounds at once and kept it warm.
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 1 packet taco seasoning
Instructions
- In a saute pan, brown ground meat. After this is browned, add onion and cook until it is translucent. Add taco seasoning packet and follow directions. Let simmer or place into a crockpot to keep warm until your dinner is served.. See NOTE below.
Notes
This Taco Meat recipe is for one pound. I created this recipe multiplied by '18'! Adjust accordingly for whatever size crowd you're serving..
