How many calories are in taco meat?
One cup of taco meat the way USDA counts it — seasoned beef in a shell, no cheese — is 292 calories, or 243 calories per 100 g. A regular taco lands at 243, a miniature one at 122, a large one at 365. Most packaged taco meat sold in a tub is lighter than that: five of the six US products on file sit under 243 per 100 g.
You'd need to walk about 58 minutes to burn the 292 calories in a 1-cup (120 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off taco meat?
A 1-cup (120 g) serving is 292 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 292 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 58 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 36 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 42 min |
| Jogging | 34 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 5 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (120 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Taco meat quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a large taco
- Taco meat with beans and the salad versions
- The tub versus the taco
- Sodium and saturated fat are the rows to watch
- How does taco meat compare?
- Most popular taco meat brands
- Taco meat FAQs
Taco meat quick facts
There is no USDA row called "taco meat" on its own. The closest thing, and the one used all through this page, is FNDDS 2708530, "Taco, meat, no cheese" from the 2021-2023 survey release. It is browned, seasoned beef with the shell and no cheese, which is what most people are actually holding when they look this number up.
That choice matters for how you read the table. Because the shell is counted, the carbohydrate line is higher than seasoned beef alone would be, and the calories per 100 g sit above the meat-only branded products further down the page. Neighboring records add beans, lettuce or cheese, so they land lower or fattier — the difference is what is in the shell, not a different data source.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (120 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 243 | 292 | — |
| Total fat | 13.18 g | 15.8 g | 20% |
| Saturated fat | 3.87 g | 4.6 g | 23% |
| Carbohydrate | 15.94 g | 19.1 g | 7% |
| Dietary fiber | 2.2 g | 2.6 g | 9% |
| Total sugars | 0.31 g | 0.4 g | — |
| Protein | 15.15 g | 18.2 g | 36% |
| Sodium | 359 mg | 431 mg | 19% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a package are missing here: added sugars and trans fat. This FNDDS release does not publish either for the record, so guessing at them would be worse than leaving them out. Cholesterol comes in at 44 mg per 100 g, or 53 mg a cup — 18% of the 300 mg Daily Value — and potassium at 220 mg per 100 g, 264 mg a cup, a modest 6%.
US servings from one ounce to a large taco
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 68 kcal |
| 1 miniature taco | 50 g | 122 kcal |
| 1 small or regular taco | 100 g | 243 kcal |
| 1 cup | 120 g | 292 kcal |
| 1 large taco | 150 g | 365 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 243 kcal |
The miniature, regular and large tacos and the 1-cup measure are USDA household portions for this record. The 1 oz line is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving — useful if you are weighing filling straight out of the skillet.
Here is the trap worth knowing. A cup of taco meat is 292 calories and a miniature taco is 122, so the same food swings nearly two and a half times between two portions people both describe as "a taco." Scooping by cup while picturing a miniature taco quietly more than doubles what you log. Weigh once, in grams, and you will not have to guess again.
Taco meat with beans and the salad versions
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taco meat, no cheese | 243 kcal | 1 cup (120 g) | 292 kcal |
| Taco meat with beans | 205 kcal | 1 cup (120 g) | 246 kcal |
| Taco or tostada salad with meat | 179 kcal | 1 cup (122 g) | 218 kcal |
| Taco salad with meat and sour cream | 181 kcal | 1 cup (122 g) | 221 kcal |
| Meatless taco filling | 163 kcal | 1 cup (122 g) | 199 kcal |
| Meatless taco salad with sour cream | 167 kcal | 1 cup (122 g) | 204 kcal |
| Taco, NFS | 246 kcal | 1 taco (100 g) | 246 kcal |
Stretching the beef with beans takes a cup from 292 down to 246, a 46-calorie cut, and fiber climbs from 2.2 g to 3.4 g per 100 g. It costs you protein: 10.07 g per 100 g against 15.15 g, so a cup goes from 18.2 g of protein to 12.1 g. Sodium moves the wrong way, 382 mg per 100 g versus 359 mg, because canned beans and extra seasoning both bring salt.
The salad rows are the lightest with meat still in the bowl, 179 calories per 100 g, because roughly half the volume is lettuce and tomato. Sour cream barely registers at cup scale — 221 against 218 — since the cream displaces salad rather than adding on top of it. Drop the meat entirely and you are at 163 per 100 g, but protein falls to 5.28 g, a third of the beef version.
The tub versus the taco
USDA's branded database tells a different story from the survey rows, and this is the number most people get backwards. Five of the six US taco meat products on file — Hormel Taco Meats at 184 calories per 100 g, Kevin's Natural Foods mild beef at 186, Tyson chicken taco meat at 199, Cocina Lista traditional ground at 200 and Hormel beef crumbles at 209 — all come in under the 243 of the assembled taco. Wampler's chorizo taco meat is the outlier at 281, half again as much as the Hormel tub.
The gap is not the beef. It is the shell and the tortilla riding along in the survey record. So if you log packaged filling into a bowl, use the lower per-100-g number; if you build the taco, use 243. Label servings can be small, too: a quarter cup of Hormel is 49 g and 90 calories, which is a garnish, not a dinner.
Sodium and saturated fat are the rows to watch
Protein is the standout: 18.2 g in a cup is 36% of the 50 g Daily Value, which puts one modest serving in the same league as the protein foods MyPlate builds a meal around. That is the reason taco night holds up better than its reputation suggests.
The two lines to keep an eye on are salt and saturated fat. A cup carries 431 mg of sodium, 19% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, before cheese, salsa or tortilla chips join in — roughly a fifth of a teaspoon of table salt. Saturated fat is 4.6 g a cup, 23% of the Daily Value, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans keep saturated fat under 10% of daily calories.
Scale up to one large taco, 150 g, and both jump: 365 calories, 5.8 g of saturated fat at 29% of the Daily Value and 539 mg of sodium at 23%. Two of those is most of a day's saturated fat allowance. If sodium is your concern, the salad version at 319 mg per 100 g is the better pick, and rinsing canned beans before they go in helps more than swapping the meat does.
How does taco meat compare?
| Taco style | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taco, meat, no cheese | 243 kcal | 1 taco (100 g) | 243 kcal |
| Taco, NFS | 246 kcal | 1 taco (100 g) | 246 kcal |
| Taco, corn tortilla, beef, cheese | 249 kcal | 1 taco (100 g) | 249 kcal |
| Taco, flour tortilla, beef, cheese | 257 kcal | 1 taco (100 g) | 257 kcal |
The 100 g serving used across this table is our own arithmetic, scaling every row to the same weight so the styles can be read side by side rather than through four different household measures.
Our take: the four rows sit inside a 14-calorie band per 100 g, which means the corn-versus-flour argument and the cheese question are close to noise. What you eat, and how much of it, is set by weight. For weight loss, the taco salad with meat at 179 per 100 g is the honest win — it is a genuinely different dish, not a smaller taco. For staying full, take the plain meat row: 36% of the Daily Value for protein in one cup is the best return on the page, and pairing it with beans buys fiber at the price of protein.
Most popular taco meat brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Hormel Taco Meats | 184 cal |
| Hormel Taco Meats Beef Crumbles | 209 cal |
| Tyson Chicken Taco Meat | 199 cal |
| Kevin's Natural Foods Mild Beef Taco Meat | 186 cal |
| Cocina Lista Traditional Ground Taco Meat | 200 cal |
| Wampler's Chorizo Taco Meat | 281 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Taco meat FAQs
How many calories are in taco meat?
292 calories in a 1-cup (120 g) serving and 243 calories per 100 g, using the USDA row for a taco with meat and no cheese. One regular taco is 243 calories, a miniature one 122 and a large one 365. Packaged taco meat alone runs 184 to 281 per 100 g.
How many calories in 1 cup of taco meat?
292 calories per cup, which USDA weighs at 120 g. That cup carries 18.2 g of protein, 15.8 g of fat and 431 mg of sodium, 19% of the daily 2,300 mg value. It is nearly two and a half times a miniature taco, which is 50 g and 122 calories.
How much protein is in taco meat?
18.2 g of protein in a 1-cup serving, or 15.15 g per 100 g, which is 36% of the 50 g Daily Value. That is the strongest column on the label. Switch to the version with beans and a cup drops to about 12.1 g, because beans replace some of the beef.
Is taco meat high in sodium?
431 mg per cup, 19% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, and 359 mg per 100 g. Two cups clear a third of the day before cheese, salsa or tortilla chips. Oddly, the beans version is saltier per 100 g at 382 mg even though it carries fewer calories.
How many calories in taco meat with beans?
246 calories in a 1-cup (120 g) serving of taco meat with beans, against 292 for the plain version, so 46 calories less. Per 100 g it is 205 versus 243. Fiber rises from 2.2 g to 3.4 g per 100 g, while protein falls from 15.15 g to 10.07 g.
How many calories in a taco salad with meat?
218 calories in a cup (122 g) of taco or tostada salad with meat, at 179 calories per 100 g. Add sour cream and the cup is 221, at 181 per 100 g. The salad reads lighter because half the bowl is lettuce and tomato rather than beef and shell.
Is taco meat keto friendly?
19.1 g of carbohydrate per cup, minus 2.6 g of fiber, is roughly 16.5 g net. That figure belongs to the USDA taco row, which includes the shell. Eaten as a bowl the count is lower, though USDA does not publish a shell-free taco meat record to put a number on it.
Chicken vs beef taco meat: which has fewer calories?
199 calories per 100 g for Tyson chicken taco meat against 184 for Hormel beef taco meat, so the chicken one is heavier of the two. Kevin's mild beef sits at 186 and Hormel beef crumbles at 209. Chicken is not automatically lighter; what goes in the pan decides it.
Similar foods
- Asada taco — 243 cal per taco
- Top Sirloin Steak — 413 cal per 6 oz steak
- Tempura shrimp — 109 cal for 6 large shrimp
- Chicken — 203 cal for 3 oz roasted
- Roast Chicken — 203 cal per 3 oz
- Street Taco — 125 cal per street taco
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the skillet or the plate and BodyPal counts the taco meat for you, shell and all.
