It's so much fun to set up this "choose your own ingredients" meal for company and watch the choices and how they build their own tacos. As for the taco shells, you can make it easier on yourself by simply serving soft shells by heating the corn tortillas in a microwave tortilla warmer instead of frying them ahead in oil.
Here's a list of my favorite taco ingredients to prepare and set out. The bonus is that any leftovers can be used to make your own personal "build your own taco salads" the next day including crumbling any leftover chips into it.
Set everything out and let the fun begin!
Besides the taco ingredients I make corn tortilla chips by deep frying them instead of serving store bought and make a simple guacamole and con queso for an alternative dipping sauce other than just salsa. Oh, and black olives on the side to help cut the heat for the jalapeno lovers ;-)
By Deeli from Richland, WA
This page contains the following solutions.
We love tacos, the kids can add their own toppings so it satisfies everyone.
I warm the corn tortillas with a small amount of butter on each side. Fill them with the meat, bean mixture add the cheese and now I add black olives and chopped tomatoes, lettuce, onion, or whatever you like...
I just love 'tacos' filled to the brim with everything I love the most!
Easy to put together. Great fundraiser for outdoor event. Fry ground meat in a large skillet. When meat is browned, add taco seasoning mix and water or broth.
Cold tacos are simple, quick and nice in hot weather or a quick snack, brunch or lunch.
Combine first 3 ingredients with 1/2 teaspoon salt in bowl, mixing well. Knead on floured board until smooth. Divide into portions and roll out individual fry breads.
After browning off your meat and making the sauce, use your food processor to almost puree the sauce. Taco Bell copycat?
In a hurry to make taco meat for supper? I bought Old El Paso Taco Seasoning in a shaker (instead of a bag) and used what I thought would be good. I added Old El Paso mild salsa and a little bit of garlic salt. It was wonderful!
Thinly slice the steaks (as for stir-fry). Sprinkle steaks with salt; set aside. For sauce, in small bowl whisk together coffee, ketchup, and chili powder.
Cover the bottom of 6-inch non-stick frying pan with 1/2 cup of the Mexican-blend cheese. Fry until it is lightly browned on one side.
Cook your ground beef, add onion, salt, pepper, garlic and anything else you like. Set it aside in a bowl near the pan. Clean the pan or use a clean frying pan. Put about a Tbsp. of oil in the pan and let it get hot enough to sizzle if you flick a drop of water at it (stand back, lol).
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Traveling some years ago in South Dakota we stopped at a small town tavern. Their special was a deep fried type of taco. Anyone have a recipe to make a deep fried taco?
I found this recipe on www.recipezaar.com. I hope this helps!
Jack-in-the-Box Tacos
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup refried bean
1/4 teaspoon salt
PS I am originally from Arthur, IL - I am now a Yankee Transplant in Mississippi! :)
Sounds like your talking about chimichangas, they are prepared that way, too, filled with chicken or beef.
I too am from the Champaign, Illinois area.
I got a recipe from this site for baked chimichangas. I've made them several times over. Yummy! It was originally from Connie from Oden, Arkansas.
The deep fried tacos are made with a flour tortilla . Put your meat mixture in a soft tortilla then secure closed with a toothpick. Make sure your oil is really hot before frying or they will come out grose and soggy.
After tortilla is nice and crispy remove toothpick and add your cheese lettus and tomatoes and sauce.
When I lived in Florida for a year I was shocked at the unavailabilty of a lot of different mexican food items.
Maybe this is what you are looking for. Its kinda long but it came from "Champions" "Favorite Foods of Indy Car Racing" (bought of course at the Speedway) and are called Super Sullivan Tacos. I will try to simplify.
1 3-lb can Crisco
12 corn tortillas
2 lbs ground beef
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, Accent
Prepared toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc..)
Heat Crisco in a 12" cast iron pan to "frying temp". When melted, add 1/2 tsp each salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir to mix well. Press a piece of beef about twice the size of a golf ball on half of each tortilla and press to 3/16" or 1/4" thick. Sprinkle each with salt, pepper, Accent and garlic powder to taste.
Fold each in a U shape and cook (hold in oil for 10 seconds to make shape then lay on side till crisp. (Can do more than one at a time.) Flip and cook other side till done (timing depends...) Drain standing up in a loaf pan lined with paper towels. Be careful when loading with toppings as to not break shells.
The best part? After cooking, cool and pour Crisco back into the container, refrigerate, and reuse next Taco dinner. The author says their Crisco was 4 years old and they give parts away as Taco Starter. Just add a little Crisco each time and the flavor gets better and better.
Side note - I tried it and it was really good, over the years I forgot about this recipe, and thank you for reminding me. I think tomorrow night may have to be a Taco Night!
This came from "Champions - Favorite Foods of Indy Car Racing" (bought at the Speedway, of course) and is called Super Sullivan Taco. The original is a little long, so I will try to make it simple.
1 3 lb can Crisco
12 fresh corn tortillas
2 lbs ground beef
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, Accent
Favorite taco toppings (cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, etc)
Heat Crisco in a 12" cast iron skillet. When warm, add 1/2 tsp each salt, pepper, and Accent. Stir till mixed.
Take a piece of ground beef about twice the size of a golf ball and spread 3/16" to 1/4" thick on half of each tortilla. Sprinkle each with salt, pepper, Accent, and garlic powder to taste.
When Crisco is frying hot, fold each tortilla in half and hold upright in oil about 10 seconds to form. Lay on side and cook till crisp (can do more than one at a time). Flip over with tongs and cook other side till done. Time varies.
When cooked, stand in a loaf pan lined with paper towels to drain. Be careful when filling with toppings so you don't break shells.
The important secret? Cool Crisco, return to container, refrigerate and reuse every time you make tacos - just tastes better and better!
The Author says their Crisco was 4 years old, and they give parts away as Taco Starter.
I made this a long time ago and it was awesome! Over time and a couple of moves, I forgot about this. Thank you for reminding me - I think tomorrow is Taco Night!
I am originally from South Dakota. Here is how we make the Indian Tacos served in the Badlands:
INDIAN FRY BREAD
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 cup water (or enough to make a soft dough)
Mix all ingredients. Using a large spoon, drop dough onto a floured surface and pat down to about 1" thick. Fry in 1"-2" of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown.
TOPPINGS
2 16 oz cans of refried beans
1 lb ground buffalo meat*
1 or 2 packs of taco seasoning
Brown meat, drain, and stir in beans and seasoning. Spread meat mixture on top of fry bread.
Let people take their choice among the following toppings: Shredded Lettuce, Chopped Tomatoes, Grated Cheese, Guacamole, Salsa, and Sour Cream.
*Of course, you can substitute ground beef (or other ground meat) for the buffalo meat.
Hello from Southern Illinois in Maryville!
I don't have a deep fried taco recipe, but I do have a pan-fried taco that is the bomb! Everyone I've ever made these for just loves them!
Get some flour tortilla shells found usually by the cheese in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Buy a can of refried beans (I like the ones with the green chillies added), 1 pound of hamburger and some canola oil or oil or your choice.
Brown the ground hamburger, drain the grease. Add the can of refried beans to the cooked hamburger mixture, heat it up and mix it all together. Take a spoonful of this mixture and put it in a taco shell and carefully fold it over without creasing the taco. Get a pan and turn it to medium heat. and fill with oil (I usually cover the bottom of the pan), and when the oil is hot, place the taco in the hot oil carefully watching it and brown it on each side. Once in a while you'll get a a big bubble on your taco shell. Just take your tongs and pop the bubble back down. As I take the browned taco out of the oil, I slant it from side to side over the pan and let some of the oil drain off. Place on paper towel covering a dinner plate to allow additional oil to drain off.
I serve with all my favorite toppings including parmesan cheese. These are absolutely a hit in my family and everyone loves them. I can actually multi-task and cook two tacos at once. Brown one side on one, one on the other and then flip very quickly.
You won't be disappointed! Try them and let me know!
Good Eats!
Melinda
FYI
All this yummy is making me wish it was dinner time right now! Thank you, all for such excellent recipes!
Use a waffle maker to create this taco like omelette. If you add cheese to the maker first you can even enjoy a nice crunch without the tortilla. Add your favorite fillings, fold, and enjoy.
Try these taco shells made from just cheddar cheese instead of carb loaded tortillas. They are crispy and chewy. This page contains recipes for cheddar cheese taco shells.
Traditional chorizo originated in Spain and Portugal and is a pork sausage seasoned with paprika. Some current versions are significantly more spicy than the original sausages. Use a spicy chorizo blend when making tacos instead of ground beef.
A simple, quick meal can be rolled up in a soft taco with precooked chicken and many ingredients you probably have at home. This page contains an easy soft tacos recipe.
Weave some bacon together to make a crispy breakfast taco shell. This is a page about making a woven bacon shell breakfast taco.
Tacos are a dinner option that is easy to make inexpensively. This is a page about $10 soft tacos dinner recipe.
This is a page about making taco shells. It is easy to make your own taco shells at home while preparing the rest of the meal.
A delicious alternative to the typical meat taco is a seafood taco. This page contains seafood taco recipes.
