Authentic Mexican Fried Tacos (Tacos Dorados)

Fried tacos served with salsa and sour cream.

Authentic Mexican Fried Tacos (Tacos Dorados)

Crisp up your next taco night. Great Mexican recipe with a unique seasoning for the ground beef mixture. This is a recipe for fried tacos where seasoned and cooked ground beef are placed in tortillas, then pan fried for a wonderful crispy taco.

Course Main Course Beef

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 168kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

1 pound Lean ground beef 93 - 7% blend works well here
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
1 Medium Onion chopped, about 1 cup
1 Red Bell Pepper chopped.
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon Oregano preferably Mexican Oregano
½ teaspoon Hot smoked paprika
½ teaspoon Ground cumin
¼ teaspoon Dried red pepper flakes
¼ cup Tomato paste
⅓ Cup Water
12 tortillas for frying
½ Cup Neutral Oil Canola, Vegetable, peanut or Avocado oil work well here.
Sour cream and salsa for serving

Instructions

Cook the ground beef in a skillet until the pink is just starting to leave the meat. Stirring and breaking up with a spatula or wooden spoon and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Add the chopped onion, and chopped bell pepper and cook stirring for two minutes. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the herbs and spices. Add the tomato paste and stir well. Stir in the water Cover and cook on low for 10 minutes.
You can’t just take a corn tortilla out of the package and fill it with taco ingredients. They’ll be rubbery and break. You have warm them into a pliable taco shell. Use a tortilla warmer, or the Rick Bayless microwave method: Drizzle about three tablespoons of water over a clean kitchen towel. Wrap your corn tortillas in the towel. Slide the package into a gallon sized plastic bag. Don’t seal the bag. Microwave the tortillas at 50% power for four minutes. This creates a steamy packet. Let sit 2 -3 minutes inside package before making tacos.
Place 3-4 Tablespoons of beef mixture on each warmed and pliable corn tortilla and roll up. Secure with a wooden toothpick and fry for about three minutes in a little oil until golden. Turn the tacos over and fry for another three minutes. Move to a paper towel and cover with another paper towel while you fry the rest of the tacos.
Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Notes

Tips For Success:

Don't over fill the corn tortillas. Too much ground beef filling will cause the ingredients to spill out when frying.

It is very important to keep the oil at the correct temperature when frying tacos. If the oil is not hot enough, you'll end up with oil soaked tacos that will be very unpleasant to eat. You want to keep fried tacos light and fluffy.

Fry the tacos in batches. Don't over crowd the pan. Keep the tacos separated. A crowded pan will result in lowering the oil temp. Plus touching tacos will create a steaming effect that will compromise the crispy texture.

Always warm more corn tortillas than you'll need. There are bound to be a couple here and there that will break or tear when trying to secure them with the toothpick.

Nutrition