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My Mom’s Legendary 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the “Most Flavorful Ground Beef of Your Life”

Lauren Miyashiro
Lauren MiyashiroExecutive Editor at The Kitchn
My career would be very different had I not grown up watching Iron Chef Japan and The Barefoot Contessa with my dad. As a college student in New York City, I jumped at the opportunity to intern at Food Network, where I ended up returning shortly after graduation. I later went to culinary school, then moved onto Delish, where I did a little bit of everything when it comes to recipes — assign, develop, test, edit, and style. In 2021, I moved across the country and started at The Kitchn. I began by working to expand our library of classic recipes before managing the food team. Over the last year, we’ve done a ton of behind-the-scenes work to evolve our recipes. They’re not only ridiculously delicious — they’re also smart, fun, gorgeous, and as helpful as possible. I couldn’t be more proud. Now, I help oversee the content across the whole site. I’m just as committed to helping you figure out what to cook for dinner on a night when you just can’t as I am to finding the best store-bought salad dressing or the cleaning hack that makes things 100x easier.
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published Sep 20, 2024
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Cooked ground beef in a cast iron pan
Credit: Joe Lingeman

My mom, Juanita Miyashiro, is famous for her homemade empanadas. She and my dad host an annual Christmas Eve party, and every year without fail people crowd her in the kitchen to steal freshly fried empanadas before they hit the potluck table. But those are a story for another day (her mom taught her to use wonton wrappers!). Because just as special, and approximately 10 times more useful for everyday cooking, is her empanada filling, which also happens to be her go-to taco meat. 

It’s because of my mom’s tacos that I really never keep taco seasoning on hand. Hers are so absolutely loaded with flavor, I could eat just the ground beef by itself. And she doesn’t even use spices! 

Unfortunately, I can’t share her exact recipe. When I called asking a bunch of questions about her method, she cut me off, asking, “You’re not publishing my recipe, are you?” I did get her permission, however, to reveal a few key secrets that she learned originally from her own mom. 

First, you don’t need a special spice mix. After sautéing some chopped onion and minced garlic, she cooks ground beef with some red wine vinegar, dried oregano, capers, olives, and tomato paste. Later on, she’ll add pickled jalapeños and finely chopped tomatoes. 

But here’s what I really consider to be the MVP ingredient: yellow mustard. In an email of the recipe she sent me in 2012, the amount (like many of the other ingredients) is unspecified. “Not too much … but enough to give it some tang,” is her guidance. Even when I don’t have everything to make it her way exactly (capers aren’t usually in my pantry, for example), whenever I’m cooking ground beef tacos, I make a point to add a squeeze of French’s yellow mustard.

This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: My Mom’s Legendary 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the “Most Flavorful Ground Beef of Your Life”