Learn how to make a Mexican tostada “great” by using the right textures and ingredients. Tostadas … fast, fun, fresh and infinitely versatile. And learning how to make a homemade tostada shell will turn that tostada experience into a true fiesta.
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. How to make a tostada a great tostada? It starts with homemade tostada shells. And ends with a good mix of ingredients that will insure a pleasant eating experience.
How many times have you made a tostada just to have the ingredients fall all over the plate or yourself and make a total mess. Build that tostada right by using ingredients that will stay put!
A great Mexican tostada is made snug and compact with texture and flavors to make a tostada manageable.
Why This Recipe Works: This tostada meets all of the criteria for greatness with a creamy layer of beans, melted cheese and chorizo.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Start with layer of something soft and creamy. Our choice is always refried beans.
- Add savory seasoned protein of any kind. Our favorite is cooked ground chorizo.
- And, of course, shredded cheese. Any hard cheese like cheddar is a good choice as it will shred well and melt well.
- Avocado: I like to keep in simple with simple smashed avocado. Just use the back of a fork to smash it to a creamy consistency. Add a little salt or my Southwest Spice Blend for seasoning.
- A good quality tostada shell.
Easy enough, right? And this formula leaves us with an endless lineup of combinations.
Variations
- Soft and Creamy: Replace refried beans with black beans or pinto beans that have been drained and warmed.
- Protein: Cooked and seasoned ground chicken, ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning. A stewed saucy meat is a good candidate for staying on that shell while eating. Try a Beef Machaca tostada. Want to keep it vegetarian? Omit the meat and just enjoy a bean, cheese, avocado tostada.
- Cheese: Use any cheese that will melt well. Monterey Jack, Muenster and Pepper Jack will work well here.
- Add some acid: I’ve gotten in the habit of serving any Mexican recipe with a wedge of lime. A quick squeeze will send it over the top with brightness. Another option is a dollop of your favorite salsa. Or Pico de Gallo is also a great choice.
- Favorite Toppings: If you want, add a dollop of guacamole in place of the smashed avocado. A spoon full of sour cream, or Mexican Crema is also a good choice.
- What To Avoid: Tostadas are always a bit messy, but you don’t want it’s entire contents to fall off. Avoid chopped avocado, big chunks of meat, or large pieces of lettuce. If you want to add lettuce or cabbage, make sure it’s very finely chopped.
How To Make a Tostada Shell
How to make homemade tostadas shells? This is a method for making tostada shells using store purchased soft corn tortillas.
Making your own homemade Tostadas shells using store bought soft corn tortillas takes just a few minutes.
- It starts with a good tortilla
- Corn, of course. Yellow corn tortillas or white corn tortillas will work.
- That’s cooked just chewy enough not to crumble in your hands
- And one that stays crisp for the duration.
Oven Baked Tostada Shells
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Lay soft corn tortillas on a baking sheet.
- Lightly brush both sides with vegetable oil, olive oil or even cooking spray will work.
- 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 or until crispy.
How To Make A Tostada Shell Stove Top
- Heat 1 cup vegetable oil in an 8 inch skillet over high heat until it bubbles vigorously when the edge of the corn tortilla touches it’s surface.
- Fry 1 tortilla at a time, turning once using tongs. Fry until it’s crispy, puffed in places and deeply golden brown, about 1 minute per side.
- Transfer the tostada to to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. Repeat wit the remaining tortillas.
- A cup of oil will make about 8 tostada shells.
Pro Tip: Homemade baked tostada shells are best eaten as soon as they’re cooked. So be sure you have all of your tostada ingredients ready to assemble.
How To Build a Tostada
- Step 1: How to make tostadas in the oven? Build tostadas directly on the baking sheet you’ll use to cook them in the oven. We’ll start with the creamy layer. Using a fork, smear warmed refried beans on the tostada shell. Canned refried beans will work well here, or use homemade refried beans.
- Step 2: Add grated cheese on top of the refried beans.
Pro Tip: Purchase good quality cheese and grate it yourself. Pre-grated cheese in bags includes additives to keep it from clumping, which will also compromise the melting factor. Grating cheese from a block of cheese will result in a creamier and more consistent melting experience. Plus, it’s less expensive.
- Step 3: Add cooked chorizo. Adding a ground meat such as chorizo, taco hamburger meat, or ground cooked chicken will make a better tostada than chunks of meat like shredded chicken or shredded beef. The ground beef mixture will simply stay on the tostada better.
- Step 4: In a 400 degree oven, cook the tostadas until the cheese is nice and melted. This should take less than 5 minutes.
- Step 5: Plate the hot tostadas and add a dollop of smashed avocado. Using smashed avocado rather than avocado chunks will make for a less messy tostada. Cubed avocado will have a tendency to fall off when you eat the tostada.
- Step 6: We like to garnish with slices of fresh jalapeno, cilantro and crumbled Cotija cheese.
Pick them up and eat them with your hands. It’s the only way. A knife and fork will only make a mess.
Traditionally, tostadas are made with crispy corn tortillas. However you can prepare flour tortillas for tostadas by brushing the tortillas with oil, then placing topping on top and then baking. See this post for flour tortilla pizzas for step by step instructions.
Corn tortillas are naturally gluten free, and if you follow this tostada recipe using refried beans, meat and cheese … yes they are gluten free.
Make Ahead Tostadas
To make ahead, simply have everything stored in the refrigerator. When ready to make the tostadas, warm the meat and beans in the microwave and then assemble and bake the tostadas.
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.
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How To Make A Mexican Tostada with Refried Beans, Cheese and Chorizo
Ingredients
- 6 tostada shells
- 1 pound chorizo Bulk, cooked.
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese grated
- 15 ounces refried beans canned, or about 1 ½ cups homemade refried heans
- 2 avocados smashed
- 1 cup salsa
- ½ cup Mexican queso cheese
Instructions
- To make homemade tostada shells in oven: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of tortillas with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and a dusting of chile powder. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes, flip, add more salt and chile powder and bake for additional 3-5 minutes. Or until the shells are crispy. Once tortillas are done baking, begin to assemble tostadas. Oven baked tostada shells are best served right out of the oven, so while tortillas are baking make sure all toppings are ready to go.
- How to make tostada shells stovetop: Heat 1 cup vegetable oil in an 8 inch skillet over high heat until it bubbles vigorously when the edge of the corn tortilla touches it's surface.Fry 1 tortilla at a time, turning once using tongs. Fry until it's crispy, puffed in places and deeply golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the tostada to to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. Repeat wit the remaining tortillas.A cup of oil will make about 8 tostada shells.
- In a fry pan, cook the chorizo until nice and crispy and cooked through.
- For The Beans: Place beans in a microwave safe dish. Gently heat. Set aside and keep warm.
- Grate the cheese and set aside.
- Build that Tostada: Spread each tortilla with 2 – 3 tablespoons of refried beans. Top each tostada with about ¼ cup of grated cheese. Carefully add the cooked chorizo to the top of the cheese.
- Bake the tostadas in the 400 degree oven until the cheese is nice and melted. All oven vary, but this should take less than 5 minutes.
- Toppings: Smashed avocado or guacamole. Rings of fresh jalapeno pepper, or pickled jalapeno slices. A dollop of sour cream, or crumbled cotija cheese.
Notes
- Soft and Creamy: Replace refried beans with black beans or pinto beans that have been drained and warmed.
- Protein: Cooked and seasoned ground chicken, ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning. A stewed saucy meat is a good candidate for staying on that shell while eating. Try a Beef Machaca tostada. Want to keep it vegetarian? Omit the meat and just enjoy a bean, cheese, avocado tostada.
- Cheese: Use any cheese that will melt well. Monterey Jack, Muenster and Pepper Jack will work well here.
- Add some acid: I’ve gotten in the habit of serving any Mexican recipe with a wedge of lime. A quick squeeze will send it over the top with brightness. Another option is a dollop of your favorite salsa. Or Pico de Gallo is also a great choice.
- Topping: If you want, add a dollop of guacamole in place of the smashed avocado. A spoon full of sour cream, or Mexican Crema is also a good choice.
- What To Avoid: Tostadas are always a bit messy, but you don’t want it’s entire contents to fall off. Avoid chopped avocado, big chunks of meat, or large pieces of lettuce. If you want to add lettuce or cabbage, make sure it’s very finely chopped.
Nutrition
This post was originally published January of 2013 and updated July, 2022.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
Great tutorial, Lea Ann! Now if you could just add another on making tacos for a crowd without falling apart!!
Such a nice, simple dish. And using the oven to prepare the shells makes so much sense. Good stuff — thanks.
HOW DO BAKE A TOSTADAS?
Love this, Lea Ann! Especially the tip on baking the tostada. Mine often puff when I try to fry them.
Thanks for the tip about baking the tortillas…I’m going to have to try that.
You’re welcome Karen. Of course fried are better, I’m just not a good fryer.
Hi Lea Ann, Just wanted you to know that you won the cookbook I had for a giveaway. Please email me with your address so I can send it to you.
Thank you so much Penny. I’ve emailed you.
I love tomatillo salsa! The best. Thanks for sharing this recipe, love your blog!
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment Jessica. I couldn’t tell you what kind of salsa I like best, they’re all good to me. 🙂
What a great way to use up left over chicken!
I love the flavor combo…
Thanks RMW. Always good to hear from you.
Nevermind 🙂 I see above the recipe that you mentioned rotisserie chicken.
Sounds like I need to add it to the recipe. Thanks for letting me know.
ps: I don’t see chicken listed in the list of ingredients. Are you using grilled chicken breast?
Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you for the instructions on baking tortillas, Lea Ann! I can’t wait to try it and these delicious-looking tostadas. Tostadas are one of the very first Mexican foods that I tasted and I still love them.
And they are so easy for weeknights.
I love tostadas too! And I’m loving this one with the tangy romaine.. sounds delicious!
You’ve got to try that tangy romaine Jenn. Thanks to Rick Bayless for that trick.
Thanks for the recipe for making a great tortilla. I’ve never tried it like that and am anxious to try
I actually have a corn tortilla with an egg inside every morning for breakfast. But I just toast it lightly in the same pan as the egg….just firm enough, but not so firm I can’t fold it.
That corn tortilla/egg is a great idea for breakfast. My nutritionist friend would love you for that one.
Looks good! I’ve never put the torts in the oven.. will have to try that.
I just learned to use the oven for these Karen. I don’t have a deep fryer and just never quite got it right.
These tostadas looks really tasty! Next to good southern BBQ, Mexican food is my next favorite. I love almost all the traditional dishes.
Me too Curt. I’m so pleased that you stopped by my blog and the comment. I love all the traditional dishes and find myself being a little snobish about “good” Mexican Food. Some of can be too cheesy and greasy.
I am all about Mexican food. I like to bake my tortillas too when I’m in a mood to be on the healthier side. When I’m going for super crispy I stick my tortillas in the freezer for half an hour to an hour and fry them in super hot oil until nice and brown. They might fall apart on you but what a delicious mess! Your tostadas look really wonderful.
That’s my problem Karen. I’m not a good fryer. Probably don’t get the oil hot enough.
I’ve always had problems with tortillas too and now thanks to your instructions about how to bake them, those problems are out the window. Thanks. I’m always ready for Mexican food and love anything with black beans.
Sam
Thanks Sam. I find that corn tortillas can be rather finicky. Even when I’m heating a tortilla for soft corn tacos they don’t always behave as they should.
I love the formula for tostadas … genius! And I have two giant bags of tomatillos in the freezer from last summer’s garden. I am inspired! Thank you.
P. S. that salsa photo is beautiful!
Genius????? 🙂 I swear I’m going to grow tomatillos this next year. Never knew you could freeze them. What did you do to them? Just throw them in a bag? That salsa photo just got accepted by one of the big food porn sites who never accept my photos. I was floored.
Congratulations! The colors are wonderful in that photo – very eye catching. As for freezing tomatillos, I just cut them in half and put them on a cookie sheet to freeze. Once frozen, I put them in a bag. I chop them for chili and soups during the winter. You can bet I’m going to try them in a salsa. 🙂
Thanks for the freezing tomatilla instructions. And, btw, those dishes are a new set I got for Christmas.
yes to everything about this recipe !
Yes! 🙂
I love recipes that start with rotisserie chicken. Great food without the hassle of roasting a chicken at home. Funny, I am roasting a chicken tonight for dinner! I will use leftovers in a tostada this week.
Me too Holly. Love the texture and flavor of rotisserie chicken.