Fried Tacos
Fried Tacos Recipe Video
Most people have memories of Jack in the Box tacos — perhaps fond or not-so-fond. My memory is mostly of my high school boyfriend berating the drive-thru girl about whether she could or could not put cheese sauce on his tacos, rather than American cheese slices. She insisted that it was not allowed; he argued that since the cheese sauce was in the kitchen, there was nothing preventing her from splooging that onto his dumb tacos instead of the cheese slice.
He did not get his way and I began to realize that he was an asshole.
This is a very specific type of taco — a taco which is filled first and then fried, resulting in a perfectly crisp taco shell and a filling that is almost roasted around the edges — which, before moving to Los Angeles, I had only ever seen at Jack in the Box. But the filled-before-frying taco turns out to be the most common kind of crispy taco seen in LA, at least the places we go. And they are so, so, SO good. Savory, delicate, and somehow ephemeral in that before you can blink, they will all be gone.
My research began with looking at the JITB tacos ingredients list which is as long and uninviting as you can imagine. But it did inspire me to add some Worcestershire sauce to my basic taco filling recipe. That was a good choice. And the old trick I shared in my chili dog chili recipe, adding extra liquid to ground meat to make it crumble up small, is also necessary for the right consistency. In order to get the soft and sort of creamy texture that the JITB taco filling has, I added a couple tablespoons of masa harina to the mix as it cooks. It not only holds the filling together, it also adds a nice nutty flavor.
Masa harina is found near the flours in any grocery store and you can use what’s left to make corn tortillas. If you don’t want to or can’t buy it, use a little all-purpose flour instead; just about 2-3 teaspoons and be sure to cook it for a couple of minutes with the meat to get rid of the raw flour taste.
I’ve made these tacos with both ground beef and turkey. While we slightly preferred the beef, turkey is totally good, too. And of course you may use grated cheese instead of American slices (or splooge on some nacho cheese even) and you may add tomato or onion or any other taco filling you want. There is just something about the American slices melting into the filling that I L-O-V-E but I know not everyone has the same feelings towards processed cheese. But, hell. I’m from Texas, home of queso and chili mac and I will forever be a fan of that yellow cheese.
Fried Tacos Recipe
Fried Tacos
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup grated onion
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove minced garlic
- pinch dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons masa
- oil
- 8 corn tortillas
- Toppings:
- American cheese slices
- shredded lettuce
- hot sauce
Instructions
- Combine beef through oregano in a bowl and mix well. Mixture will be wet.
- Put into a skillet and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until meat is mostly cooked. Add masa to thicken. Turn off heat.
- Warm tortillas on an oiled griddle to soften. Spread about 2 tablespoons filling onto each tortilla and fold over. Press to seal.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate tacos for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours. (You can also freeze tacos for a few hours until solid, then store in a freezer container for tacos on a whim.)
- Heat 1 inch of oil in a deep skillet to about 350ºF. Fry 2-4 tacos at a time depending on the size of your pan. Cook them for about 2 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. If you are frying frozen tacos, do not thaw first. Just fry as usual, adding an extra minute or so.
- Drain tacos on paper for a few minutes.
- Once cooled slightly, gently open taco and stick in a half slice of American cheese and a sprinkle of lettuce and hot sauce. It’s okay if the shell cracks a little; it will still hold together.
- Enjoy!
Try these with homemade salsa verde, too!
Salsa Verde Recipe + Video
39 Comments
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These sound awesome. Thanks for the recipe.
Hope you try them, Dina!
Sounds awesome! I’ll have to try this when the weather gets cooler here in Texas!j
You won’t be disappointed! 🙂
I’m in a part of the country with no Jack in the Box. These are fantastic! I mixed a little lard in the oil, for that authentic taste!
I didn’t do this but a Mexican relative made his that every so often. What I did was make a taco meat filling with fresh deer liver (Hunting season up here & a nephew gave me it). I’ve always hated liver but should eat it as I have some sort of vitamin B deficiency…so I did it. I just used a taco flavoring,onions,garlic,peppers (sweet & spicy) cilantro & cumin. Really good without that metallic taste and if one shreds the meat after it’s done then no texture problems-which is my hate for it. I’ll try your recipe soon …a tacos are a staple!
That is one cut of meat I have never tried, Gary! Glad to hear it was good. You will love these tacos, no matter what you put inside them 🙂
The real, authentic way was to press a thin layer of raw ground meat on one side of a corn tortilla, fold into a taco shape and fry until the meat is cooked. Carefully pry open and add lettuce, salsa, cheese and any other ingredient you like. Delicioso!
I learned this method from a friend. Simple, delish and they never make it past the serving dish, never to the table lol. They used hamburger or bison, seasoning salt sprinkled on meat after placing meat on mixture, then sprinkling with the Worcestershire sauce and fry in oil. I use peanut oil .
She does not ever say anything about it being authentic. I think that is very fantastic and well tasting taco definitely will make them more often this way
I’ve been trying to track down the origin of the method you mention: pressing a thin layer of raw ground meat on one side of the corn tortilla before frying, which is how my mom makes tacos. So delicious–hard to stop at only two!
I haven’t had a Jack in the Box taco for years because I got fed up with the long drive-thru line that’s always at that place. Plus my preferred taco is carne asada, no cheese, no lettuce. Just some lime, onion, cilantro and garlic.
But I remember loving those tacos. So, for this recipe, I bought items I would never buy – a 2 pound bag of masa (smallest size at my store), a jug of canola oil and American cheese.
When I put the tacos on the table, my 16 year son looked skeptical and asked where the sour cream was. I said, “These tacos don’t take sour cream.” He took a reluctant bite and his eyes widened with joy. Literally. “Surprisingly delicious,” he said. “Are there more?!” This is before he took his third bite and already had three tacos on his plate.
The recipe was a tad laborious for someone who doesn’t really enjoy cooking, like myself. But worth it. Thanks Hilah. I’ll make them again. Now I got to figure out what to do with all that masa. Guess I gotta buy myself a tortilla maker. Sounds laborious. But I’ll do it.
I meant a jug of corn oil. I’m stuck with a jug of corn oil. Thought it would go better with the corn tortillas. Didn’t use as much oil as I thought. I really do like corn oil, just feel guilty using it. From all the bad press. But I’ll use it anyway.
Hi Diana!
So glad your son liked these tacos! Of course, unless a person hated American cheese I can’t see how anyone could not like them 😉
I wanted to suggest making gorditas with the rest of your masa harina. They are shaped by hand and don’t need a press https://hilahcooking.com/gorditas/
Hmm. I am going to try that later this coming week. With the puerco al pastor recipe the gordita page links to. Pretty sure I’m overreaching on my cooking skills, but I’ll give it a go and post results.
These are so delicious! Super simple to make. I’ve made these twice now. They are great for snacking…but don’t last long! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this amazing recipe! It’s my family’s favorite taco Tuesday meal! My son and husband aren’t in competition of who can eat the most.
I’m so happy to hear that, Renee! Tacos forever! 🙂
This chick is awesome..Cant wait to try dem dare tacos…
Made this today with Gardein Vegan Meat crumbles. It worked great even though the texture was different. They were delicious and the family devoured them!
Great to hear, Nici! 🙂
If you freeze the tacos, should you un thaw in fridge before deep frying?
No. Just fry them frozen and add an extra minute or so to the cooking time
These were damn good. Thank you for the recipe!
what does : Combine beef through oregano mean? i
Mixture will be wet.
Combine all the ingredients listed between (and including) ground beef and oregano. IE beef, water, grated onion, etc, oregano. And I’m letting you know it will look wet until you cook it
Love your article. The boyfriend ( can you imagine him now. Lol
Thanks for reading, Janet! 😛
Made them last night for dinner. JITB can’t even be compared to how delicious they were! They’re definitely worth the extra time they take to make.
I am making these tonight. Along with some chicken tostados, beans are in the crockpotl
What a feast, Wendy!
I grew up in California and now live i. Minnesota no jack in the box, ok Mexican food. I crave these tacos ALL the time, trying recipe tonight!
These are to tacos of my husband’s youth 50 years ago in El Paso, TX! Masa to thicken is the key & they are terrific. Making again for dinner tonight. Thanks, Hilah!
HOLY SHIT. I made these with a 2lb pack of ground turkey from Sam’s Club and pretty much quadrupled the seasonings/water…..used 2 tbsp of flour bc I didn’t have masa and WOW – meat is scrumptious – and kid friendly. Oh, I added CUMIN to the seasoning as well. Fire flame, obsessed…this will be a regular at my large family gatherings – thank you! Loved the water/flour trick in the meat mixture. Heading over to IG to start following you ASAP – you’re hilarious, too.
Omg, it’s jack in the box greasy good tacos!! Thank you!
Yes!!
OMG THESE ARE BOMB!!! I made a massaged kale salad alongside just to feel better about my choices, but hot DAMN! I used Impossible meat, thick handmade tortillas, and La Victoria taco sauce – they taste just like the real deal, but a little bit better. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these (for the first time 😱) for my fiancé’s diaper party along with tacos de papa (crispy tacos with a potato filling). I made over 40 of these (and 30 of the other tacos…at 35 weeks pregnant)! They’re not too laborious in my opinion. I was nervous! I was skeptical of the wet meat mixture but trusted the process. I prepped ahead and froze them. I fried them up when it was time and they were a HIT! I’ll definitely be resorting to this recipe for ground beef tacos! 100% recommend!
First time making these, WOW, really really good! I am not the most experienced cook so it did seem to take forever to make but now that I have gone through the process it will be much easier. Thank you for this wonderful recipe from me and my hubby.