A friend once told me that when she was a child she would go to her grandparents’ house for sleep-overs. The special dinner for the sleep-overs was always homemade tacos with hard corn tortilla shells that her grandma would fry up as a special treat for their special occasion. I loved this story and it’s been in the back of my mind for months.
I had never had a homemade hard corn taco shell before and the idea of a grandma frying them up just made them seem perfect and highly desirable to me, so a few weeks ago I decided to give it a try. My family loved it so much that I’ve made them at least a half dozen times in the last month. They are ten times better than the hard taco shells you buy at the store. Sure, we shouldn’t eat fried foods all the time, but this is a sure fire way to turn a Friday night into a party. Plus, it’s cheaper than going out for Mexican but is just as good.
Don’t fear the frying! You can do it, just give it a try and you’ll love the results.
Homemade Hard Corn Taco Shells
Printable Recipe
Canola, corn, or vegetable oil
Corn tortillas
In a small skillet add enough oil to fill the bottom of the skillet one inch. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and allow the oil to heat for 10 to 15 minutes. When the oil is hot carefully place one corn tortilla in the hot oil for 1 second. Using tongs or two forks take half of the tortilla out of the oil while keeping half in the oil. Bend the tortilla in half while cooking to make a taco shape. Let half of the tortilla cook in the oil until crisp and bubbly, about 30 seconds. Pull the tortilla out of the oil and drop the uncooked half back in the oil to cook while holding the cooked side out. Keep the tortilla open about an inch while cooking so that you can fill it later. Once both sides are cooked let the tortillas drain on paper towels to soak up the extra grease. Keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.
Serve with your favorite taco ingredients. This crock pot steak carnita meat is a great candidate.
Notes:
I’ve found that it is generally better to use a higher cooking temperature with a shorter cooking time for a crisp taco shell. A lower temperature with a longer cooking time produced a shell that was chewier than crunchy, although still quiet delicious. Play with it a bit; corn tortillas are cheap.
Anyone want to come over for lunch? I’ve got a hankerin’ for tacos now.
And just in case you missed it – I’m doing a fun little ‘favorite things’ giveaway this week, so be sure to enter via commenting on my DIY Sewing Kit in a Jar post.
Keep Calm and Fry On,
My grandma always made tacos by putting ground beef on one side of a corn tortilla, then folding in half and frying in oil. Flip them over after a few minutes to fry the other side and drain on paper towels when done! We always ate them with cheese and salsa!
Mmmm. I like your grandma already 🙂
This is how I grew up with tacos! My Mom made them the same way your grandma did. I called them taco pockets (my dad called them belly bombs ha!)
Ohhhh I love homemade shells!!!
I am not unknown!! It’s me!! Carrian!!
LOL. Glad it’s not a creeper!
I would love to come over and eat that. It looks fabulous. I made the carnita recipe last weekend. INSTANT win. 🙂
What a fabulous idea! I might have to try this at my next Mexican food night. Cute blog!
I’m trying the carnitas tonight! Am I able to use flour tortillas for this? or only corn?
I think your best choice is to fry up some corn tortillas. They have like 3 ingredients and you understand what frying is right? If that isn’t for you I’d use normal flour tortillas (whole wheat are so yucky if you ask me). They can be part of your 20% right! OR even better make white flour tortillas at home so that you know the ingredients. Find what you like! Can’t wait to hear how you like them!
We ended up using normal flour tortillas because that’s what I had on hand. They were delish! Thanks for the recipe! We are new to eating clean and I am loving your 2 week menu! Everything has been so yummy! Thank you!