Go easy on yourself tonight and make crunchy, delicious tacos for dinner.
For the kiddos that don't like spicy taco meat filling, feed them bean & cheese tacos. Grown ups can enjoy crunchy tacos loaded with meat, beans, spicy salsa, sour cream, lettuce and jalapeños!
HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
Serves 4
- 1/2 pound fresh lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 2 to 3 teaspoons chili powder & cumin, as much as you prefer
- salt & pepper
- 1 box of taco shells
- 1 (15oz.) can of pinto beans, drain & reserve liquid
- 1 (2 cup) package of shredded cheddar cheese
- shredded lettuce
- lite sour cream
- jalapeños
- your favorite salsa
Heat oven for heating taco shells (see directions on box).
Start by browning beef in a medium size skillet over medium heat until fully cooked (there's no pink meat); stir occasionally. Add onions, chili powder, cumin, pinch of salt and pepper, and approximately 1/4 cup water; cook until onions are translucent; stir occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
Between the moments of stirring and cooking the beef, blend pinto beans in a one cup food processor until semi-smooth with chunks of beans here and there. If the consistency is too thick, stir in the reserved bean liquid a tablespoon at a time to thin. Careful not to add too much liquid or it gets soupy after it heats up. Move the blended beans to a microwaveable bowl and heat until hot, 1 to 2 minutes depending on your microwave.
Whether you stick clean spoons in the salsa, sour cream and jalapeno jars or you put each in their own small bowls, prepare a taco assembly line so everyone can build there own tacos.
Once the meat mixture is ready, fill taco shells with beans or meat or both, and shredded cheese and lay them on their sides on a cookie sheet. Bake for the amount time designated on taco shell box, 6-8 minutes usually. Then it's time to EAT!
These are yummy and super easy to make – family favorite!
Karyn Campbell
Ohio
Email Subscriber
Boxed taco shells always taste like cardboard to me. Here’s how to make fresh ones:
Get a stack of 4″ corn tortillas.
Heat about 1/2″ vegetable oil in a heavy skillet until it shimmers on top and “boils” when you dip a tortilla in it.
Using a set of tongs, hold a bit less than half a tortilla in the oil until it starts getting hard, about 30-45 seconds.
Flip your shell around and hold the hard part out of the oil. Use a metal spatula/turner with a long handle to hold the other side under the oil until it cooks up.
Rest upside down on a few layers of paper towels or paper grocery bags to drain.
I know this sounds complicated but it’s really easier to do than describe. After the first couple and you get the hang of it, feel free to turn up the heat so they’ll go faster. You can judge the “doneness” by the color. They start white or yellow then go yellow – dark yellow – brown – black. They sorta cook closed so you’ll want to hold them open at about a 45 degree angle when you do the second side.
THANK YOU, Eric, for sharing your way of making fresh taco shells. I will try it!