Chicken Ranch Taco Meat
Chicken Ranch Taco Meat- This super simple 5 ingredient recipe is a delicious way to add a little pizazz to taco night.
August 22, 2023 by Nicole Collins
Today, we’re making Chicken Ranch Taco Meat!
I’m not gonna lie to ya. This is one of those recipes that I thought may be a little too easy to share. There’s no skill, no effort, and no heavy lifting involved in today’s recipe at all. We’re throwing store bought ingredients together and calling it dinner. But then I thought, aren’t those the best kind of recipes? I gotta share this one. It’s too delish!
So, here we are.
With ingredient number one, we’re going to drizzle a skillet with some olive oil. Then, we’ll add and cook ingredient number two: ground chicken. I almost exclusively use either ground chicken or ground turkey now. I haven’t bought ground beef in years. I actually prefer the texture of ground poultry. But mostly, I like that it’s a little lighter on the saturated fat. But to all you hardcore beef eating carnivores out there, once you add ingredients three and four, you won’t even know that you’re not eating beef. So, just give it a chance!
To season our meat, we’re going to add a packet of taco seasoning and a couple shakes of ranch seasoning mix. The ranch is the little hidden gem here. Typically when cooking taco meat, we add water to help activate the powdered seasoning mix from a taco packet. But instead, we’re going to use our fifth ingredient, milk. Using milk instead of water helps to play on the natural creaminess you’d expect from ranch which adds a really nice mouthfeel to the taco meat.
Once we add the seasonings and milk to the cooked chicken, we’ll let it all simmer together to become one. And, we can consider this recipe complete!
When you’re ready to serve, you can use this taco meat the same way you’d use any other taco meat. Eat it in a hard shell. Eat it in a soft shell. Eat it over some nachos or a quesadilla. The options are endless! You have all those classic taco spices that you’re used to. But then, you get hit with a little zesty zip in the back of your mouth that makes you say “hmmm”. That’s the ranch! There’s almost a cool ranch dorito vibe to it once you get it in a taco shell, and who doesn’t love that.
Alrighty, everyone! I hope you love this super easy and delicious twist on taco night. I may not make it any other way now!
Enjoy, and let’s eat!
Chicken Ranch Taco Meat
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
1 ½ tbsp ranch seasoning dip mix
½ cup 1% milk
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a medium non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, and cook until no longer pink. Once cooked, if there is any liquid in the pan, drain it off.
Add taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, and milk to the skillet. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 mins. Remove from heat.
Serve with tacos, nachos, or any other way you’d regularly serve ground taco meat. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*I love this taco meat in my simple, go to taco: hard shell, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. But, it’s versatile so you can use it how you like it!
*I use McCormick taco seasoning and Hidden Valley Ranch ranch seasoning.
