Tex-Mex Style Tacos
Submitted by HKmary
Tex-Mex style tacos with heavily seasoned ground beef, pan-fried homemade crispy corn tortilla shells, cheddar, fresh tomato, and shredded lettuce. Crunchy, messy, and the exact taco night you grew up with, no kit required.
YIELD
12 tacosPREP
10 minCOOK
40 minREADY
1 hrsForget the box of brittle yellow shells from the grocery aisle, real Tex-Mex tacos start with fresh corn tortillas fried into shells right before you eat. The difference is night and day, homemade shells taste like actual corn and stay crisp instead of shattering into splinters the second you bite in.
The beef is seasoned simply with chili powder and salt, nothing fancy. Breaking it up as it browns is what gives you that fine-grained texture that sits evenly in the shell, rather than the clumpy, chunky ground beef you get when it’s not worked enough.
The shell-frying technique is the fussiest part. Fry the tortilla flat for 30 to 60 seconds, flip, then bend it in half with a spatula to form a U-shape while the second side cooks. Temperature is everything here, too cool and you get a greasy, limp shell, too hot and it burns before setting.
Pro Tips
- Use 80/20 ground beef for flavor. The fat renders enough to saute the onions without adding oil.
- Test oil temperature with a small tortilla scrap. If it bubbles frantically around the edge the moment it hits the oil, you’re ready.
- Use tongs and a metal spatula together, tongs to handle the shell, spatula to fold and hold it while it crisps.
- Drain shells on crumpled paper towels or newspaper, and keep them warm in a low oven while you finish the batch.
- Fill shells only to about two-thirds, overstuffed tacos split along the fold.
Variations
- Swap beef for seasoned ground turkey, chicken, or chorizo for a different protein.
- Add black beans, pickled jalapenos, or guacamole for a bigger taco loadout.
- Use flour tortillas and skip the frying for soft tacos.
Ingredients
Directions
Brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a large skillet.
There should be enough fat in the beef to eliminate any need for extra oil and also to sauté the onions at the same time.
While you are browning the beef (it should be completely cooked with no pink or red color left), be sure to break it up so that it is granular in texture, as opposed to chunky, when completely browned.
Onions should be limp and translucent but not brown.
Drain off as much fat as possible.
Add salt and chile powder and continue to sauté until the chile is completely incorporated into the meat mixture.
Cover skillet and leave on extremely low heat, just enough to keep the meat hot.
Put about ½ inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet, and heat it.
Test the oil for proper temperature by putting in a small piece of tortilla.
When the oil reaches the temperature where it immediately begins to bubble frantically over the tortilla as soon as it is put in the oil and the tortilla piece becomes crisp quite quickly, you are ready to cook the taco shells.
This is important because there is nothing worse than a soggy taco shell (which results from the oil not being hot enough).
Using tongs, put the tortillas in the oil, one at a time, and cook for 30 to 60 seconds until the underside just starts to become crisp.
With the tongs, turn the tortilla over and, using a spatula, bend in half to form the shell.
Cook each side of the bent tortilla until crisp, about 30 to 45 seconds per side.
Remove the shell from the oil and drain on a newspaper-covered cookie sheet.
The cooked shells can be kept warm in the oven at very low heat.
To assemble, fill each shell about 2/3s full of the meat and top with cheese, tomato and lettuce.
We like to add extra zap with a shot of Tabasco sauce.
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