Tostadas, fast, fun, fresh and infinitely versatile. For this version, fresh baked tostada shells deliver creamy beans, savory chicken and a surprise tangy seasoned romaine topping. These Black Bean Tostadas with Tangy Romaine make a great little dinner idea.
Black Bean Tostadas – Easy Mexican Dinner
Many years and many tostadas later, I’m still hooked and think they’re about the best Mexican food going. With that beautiful warm tortilla shell, it seems you could throw about anything on it and have a good snack.
But it should be a great snack. What makes a tostada a great tostada? It starts with homemade tostada shells. Let’s take a look at how to build these black bean tostadas with chicken.
How to Make Easy Homemade Tostadas Shells
How to make homemade tostadas shells?
- It starts with a good tortilla
- corn, of course
- that’s cooked just chewy enough not to crumble in your hands
- and one that stays crisp for the duration.
The purchased packaged tostada shells are great for a super quick fix, but making your own homemade Tostadas shells using store bought corn tortillas takes just a few minutes.
I’ve had hit and miss results from frying soft tortillas, seems they can easily end up heavy and soggy. So let’s bake them.
- I like to bake them 400 degrees for around 6 minutes.
- Just lay soft corn tortillas on a baking sheet.
- Lightly brush both sides with vegetable oil or olive oil.
- Sprinkle with light dusting of salt and chile powder. I like to use Chimayo Chile Powder, or Ancho chile powder works great also.
- Slide them into the oven and bake for about 3 minutes.
- Turn them over, repeat salt, and chile powder and cook 3 minutes longer.
Homemade tostada shells are best eaten right out of the oven. So be sure you have all of your tostada ingredients ready to assemble.
Build it Right
A great tostada is piled high with texture and flavors. Here’s how to make a great tostada.
- Start with something soft and creamy, beans or avocado for example.
- Add Savory seasoned meat of any kind.
- A crunch of fresh vegetable …raw onion or radish come to mind.
- Topped with crisp lettuce.
- Add a creamy topping. A dollop of sour cream or Mexican crema adds a cool tangy finish.
- And, of course, shredded cheese or crumbled cojita are standard.
I’ve gotten in the habit of serving any tostada with a wedge of lime. A quick squeeze will send it over the top for an easy Mexican dish.
Easy enough, right? And this formula leaves us with an endless lineup of combinations.
Seasoning Lettuce For Tostadas – You’ve Got To Try It
Flavoring the lettuce will bring any tostada to a new level of excitement. It almost turns these tostadas into a tostadas salad.
One I prefer is the chopped Romaine tossed with red wine vinegar and olive oil. Try it sometime, you’ll be surprised the flavor it brings.
Salsa for Black Bean Tostadas
And, of course, a good salsa is a must. With the tangy romaine, bring even more bright flavor by garnishing these black bean tostadas with Homemade Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
If you’re the red salsa type, take a look at this Essential Restaurant Style Salsa.
Recipe for Black Bean Tostadas with Chicken and Tangy Romaine
To make this easy Black Bean Tostada recipe even easier, I used a purchased rotisserie chicken and canned black beans.
Why This Recipe Works: This tostada meets all of the criteria for greatness. The creamy layer of black beans that have been flavored with garlic and onion, a savory layer of seasoned chicken breast, all topped with the crunch of a beautifully flavored lettuce.
I hope you give this black bean and chicken tostadas recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And if you have a favorite black bean tostadas recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
You Might Also Like:
- Chicken Tostadas with Feta Cheese Shredded Chicken Tostadas recipe. Classic Mexican Tostadas with a Greek Twist. Just add Feta Cheese and Olives. So easy, this is a great weeknight quick easy meal.
- Chorizo Potato Shiitake Mushroom Tacos, An earthy combination of flavors bringing the taste of Mexico to your table. A delicious mushroom taco recipe and especially with healthy shiitake.
- Savory Swiss Chard Vegetarian Tacos, With crunchy caramelized onion, salty Queso Fresco and a bitey salsa. A delicious surprise for these easy, vegetarian Mexican tacos recipe.
- Adobo Grilled Shrimp Tostadas, Shrimp is tossed with smoky adobo sauce, then grilled. Served with a fresh cabbage slaw stirred with sour cream, lime and chile powder, this is a healthy light easy dinner.
And if you love Mexican food as much as we do, don’t miss my Mexican Food Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes, including the most popular on my site for Hatch Green Chile with Pork.
Black Bean Tostadas With Tangy Romaine
Ingredients
- 6 corn tortillas
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- 15 ounces black beans canned, drained with liquid reserved
- salt
- 3 cups Cooked Chicken Rotisserie, or roasted chicken breasts, shredded
- 3/4 cup crema creme fraiche, or sour cream thinned with a little milk
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup Mexican queso cheese grated, or parmesan or romano
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups romaine lettuce sliced about 1/4 inch wide
Instructions
- The Beans: Saute the onion until golden brown, then add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes. Add the beans and mash them up along with the onions. Add the reserved liquid as you go. Taste for salt.
- The toppings: When ready to serve, set out bowls of the crema, chicken, beans. Toss the lettuce with the olive oil and vinegar and set it out.
- Layering: Spread each tortilla with a couple tablespoons of beans, chicken, then about 1/4 cup of the lettuce. Drizzle some crema on top of that.
- Spoon on the tomatilla salsa and dust with cheese.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of tortillas with olive oil. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes, flip, and bake for additional 3 minutes. Once tortillas are done baking, sprinkle with salt and begin to assemble tostadas. Oven baked tostada shells are best served right out of the oven. While tortillas are baking make sure all toppings are ready to go.
Notes
Nutrition
Black Bean Tostadas … It’s What’s For Dinner
From the Kitchen of Lea Ann Brown, A Denver Area Food Blog, recipes with Western flair
