We never, ever had McDonald’s when I was a kid, but Taco Bell was on the “okay sometimes” list. I don’t remember ever eating Taco Bell when we weren’t in the car, so it must have been some kind of back-up plan for food emergencies on the way to important places like the post office, but that part really doesn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the crispy tacos. Me and li’l brother would always get crispy tacos. I guess because he was so little, li’l brother didn’t really know how to eat a crispy taco without breaking it all to pieces, or else he was too young to understand that that’s just a fact of life when you eat crispy tacos.
Either way, once that taco was broken, IT. WAS. ALL. OVER. Like, mayhem and chaos and crying in the back seat and his day was absolutely RUINED, probably also ruining my mom’s day. It could have ruined mine, too, if I weren’t always so occupied stuffing my taco-loving face as quick as I could. Poor mama would try to convince him that a crispy taco held sideways is “just like a sandwich!” Travis knew that was horse shit and he was no longer interested in that G.D. crispy taco and was wishing it had never come into his life.
I don’t know why my mom let us keep ordering crispy tacos.
Another time, as I was wolfing down my taco, I started choking on a piece of taco shell and barfed in the car. Fortunately, we still hadn’t even left the drive-thru line and the car was parked so I was able to open the door and get it (mostly) outside. Oh yeah, I guess it was also fortunate that I didn’t die. But that should also tell you something about how desperately I LOVED crispy tacos as a kid. I still love them, but I no longer devour them like a feral dog and can usually manage to eat them without spilling taco sauce all over myself.
Serve these with Spanish rice and refried beans if you like! For my salsa verde muy deliciosa, click HERE.
- 8 corn tortillas
- Cooking oil spray or vegetable oil and a basting brush
- ½ cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed (or ½ teaspoon ground cumin)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 teaspoons)
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ cup water, beer, or beef stock
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For serving: shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, avocado, salsa
- Make the tortilla shells:
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Sprinkle the tortillas with a little water and microwave for 30 seconds or so to soften. Spray or brush lightly with oil. Lay each tortilla over 2 oven rack bars. Bake for 9 minutes, then remove tortillas from bars and set upright on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and turn oven OFF while you make the filling.
- For the filling:
- Saute onion in about ½ teaspoon or oil (or use cooking spray) for 10 minutes over medium-high heat until translucent and slightly browned.
- Add cumin and chili powder and stir for 10 seconds.
- Add garlic, jalapeno, red pepper, and beef.
- Break the meat into large chunks and add water.
- Continue to stir the meat, breaking it into smaller pieces with the water.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
- Add oregano and salt and simmer another 5 minutes to evaporate excess water.
- Fill the taco shells with the beef and serve with the toppings of your choice.
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Bell invented the hard taco shell so he could speed up production of tacos. Really.
Seriously try watching a good Taco Bell employee knock those suckers out. They liter take a hair over 2 seconds to make and wrap them. Kinda freaky and at the same time amazing.
I know. Their assembly line is ingenious.
wow thank you we dont get these in england thank you. By the way you are really beautiful xx
Yay! Happy to spread the crispy taco luv throughout the universe.
I like your website very much because of its simplicity and information… God bless Hila
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy it!
Soooo Yummylicious!!! I just made beef tacos this last weekend. I usually simmer my beef for about 30-40 minutes to soak up all the goodness. I also add a can of Ro*tel to the beef. Lastly, I ALWAYS add California Chili Powder to my Mexican dishes.
You rock Hilah!!
Yu-u-ummy! RoTel pretty much makes everything better. Thanks, Brady!
Dude! For awhile, taco bell used to make these crazy soft/crispy taco hybrids where they smeared refried beans on a flour tortilla which they wrapped around the crispy taco. Totally solved the disaster cracking and frustration of crispy tacos that had made me a loyal mexi dips and chips girl. Tell Travis! Tell taco bell to bring them back!
Shoot yeah! The double-decker or double-layer or something. That actually was pretty smart. But Mexidips and chips is SO fun to say and eat! I’ll talk to TB for you. XOXO
hi…
love read your blog…
nice
I’m a taco freak and love making them. I’m always looking for ways to improve my “spice mixture” and can’t wait to try yours! Would the spices be different if using ground turkey?
The shells…What a great use of an oven rack!
Thanks Randy!
I think I’d increase the spices a little if I were using turkey, but I haven’t tried it so I can’t be certain. Hope you like them!
We had these for dinner last night…and breakfast this morning. I will never buy pre-made crispy taco shells again! Delicious! Thanks Hilah, you rock!
P.S. to Randy, I use ground turkey often and don’t change much but add a few dashes of worcestershire and let the flavors stew together longer.
That’s great to hear! And thank you for sharing the turkey tip.
Thanks Nicoleincos for the info…I’ll try it next time.
OMGosh, Hllah! I laughed so hard reading this. But I can’t decide whether I want to make these beef tacos or your recipe for shrimp tacos. Maybe both! Meanwhile, I am supposed to be on the Lean Cuisine wagon. I think I just fell off. Thanks!
Thanks Ellecat! I’m happy to make you laugh!
I think maybe you could do this recipe with lean ground turkey if you want and you won’t have fallen too far off the wagon.
Never went to a Taco Bell as a child. My Mom made exactly the tacos as per above, American-style tacos like Taco Bell but much better. When I started drinking and went to Taco Bell I appreciated the idea it. I use Hilah’s method for ease, economy and cleaning. But if you fry the tortillas it’s worth it. I’ve got a springy gadget that takes 3 inches of oil for rare big time production. But I only need two forks and about an inch of oil. It takes practice to nail the fork method. But it’s like learning to ride a bicycle, once you’ve got it you’ve got it They crunch as much as they can crunch without exploding. I’ve been doing it a long time. I’d love to put my 2 cents in and then watch Hilah do it in an episode.
Hi Bob!
I guess I’d better get to practicing! I’ve never tried this two-fork-shallow-oil method but I think I can picture how it works. Thanks!
In short, tortilla flat in 350 oil, flip over, but not too late (causes big square ends and narrow “waist”), and start sculpting. I try to round out the bottom curve and squish the ends for a pita-like containment benefit. You can seriously impress the ladies, like the sushi dudes do, but without the expense. Waiting for your video…
Thank you!
I have been making tacos for about eight years now, I love to cook but I am nothing compared to Hilah. She is so awesome, showing us how it is done! And these tacos look great. I can’t wait to try her recipe.
But Hilah, there is no recipe for Carne Asada Tacos! You know those street tacos that we all love with Tapitio sauce, Pico Galileo and those little tortillas (I call em bullet tacos) . I have been trying to master that for years and have gotten pretty close.
But I would love to see how you would do it, I am sure your implementation would be a master piece! So I would love to see a video for that, I hope your fans agree.
Oh and dont forget the burrito edition if you do decide to show us how to make the bomb tacos!
Oh man! That’s true, Jason. It’ll be on for next season, along with carnitas. And burritos! Although I don’t see them much around Austin, they are fun.
Hilah,
Great meal! The shells and meat spices were great! We both have food issues and this allows us to pick and choose what goes into our tacos. With Celiac disease I have tried the corn tacos and they less than great. Your method made them fantastic!!!
Going to try more of your good cooking tomorrow !
Thanks, Janet! I’m so happy you enjoyed the tacos. I also like to do crispy tacos with shredded chicken sometimes. Have fun cooking!
Great idea for making crispy taco shells! No need for expensive special racks, just use your oven rack. We mostly eat soft tortilla shells with tacos, but next time I sill make some of these for sure. Thanks, Hilah.
Thanks Larry! They are so easy it’s a nice chance from soft tacos. Hope you like em!
I’ve always just made taco meat by adding Ro*Tel, diced onions, and diced serrano’s to 2 lbs meat (beef and turkey 1/2 and 1/2). Thought it was time to learn to use some spices also, so I threw in your suggestions as well. Turned out some great taco meat, we’re having the leftovers tonight…my reasoning for the 2 lbs of meat, in addition to the tastiness of beef, balanced by the leaner and healthier (?, which way is the wind blowing today) turkey.
Thanks!
Hi Rod! Thanks so much! I’m glad your taco meat was a hit. I love making extra – I put it on salads for lunch the next day and sometimes make “taco soup” with whatever vegetables I have around, some chicken broth, and top it with chips and cheese.
Thank you for the beef-turkey combo idea, too. Seems like a good compromise, since, yeah, recommendations change all the time.
everything went perfectly thank you for your recipe
Thanks for the update, Hardthi!
Happy to hear that.
I tried your beef taco recipe and it was completely amazing! Wow! Also, we recently tried the chicken pot pie and it was gone in one night. I will next be trying the gluten free pie crust.
I am currently trying to remove all wheat products from our kitchen and any recipes are greatly appreciated.
Yay! Thanks, Christina! I’m so glad you liked them both. I hope you like the GF pie crust. Check out Kate’s site, too, for other GF recipes.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I made this for lunch and it was delicious! I’ll use the same filling for nachos. Thank you again!
Thanks for writing, Victoria! I’m so glad you liked it.
These look amazing! I think i’m going to try and make them for my friends and I tonight! Do you know how much
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Fibre
there is per taco?
That’d be really helpful! Thanks again for the recipe
Hi Will!
I plugged the ingredients into an online calorie counter and got this, not including any toppings, this is just the taco shell and filling, per taco:
Protein 19g
Carbs 12g
Fat 4.6g
Fibre 2.2g
Thanks! – can’t wait! I’ll let you know what everyone thinks!
So… I had these with my friends last night, they went down a treat!!! Definitely will be cooking these bad-boys again! Thanks Hilah!
Hooray! That makes me so happy!
Hi Hilah. I tried your recipe for tacos al pastor and migas and they were excelente. Can you make a video on how to make puffy tacos? Thanks.
Hi Lynda! I’m happy you’ve enjoyed both of those recipes! I love puffy tacos and we will be doing an episode on them later this summer so stay tuned! Thanks for writing.