S/O taco thread, how do you make yours?

[DLmama]

It depends on what we have on hand or how we want them prepared that night. We've done ground turkey with the McCormick taco seasoning packet, ground turkey with green chile, chicken with chipotle, lime, or green chile, fried fish, carnitas, barbacoa. It's all delicious! Whatever the protein, we top them with sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, hot sauce, and sometimes cabbage.

 

[Micca]

I've always been curious - what's "officially" the definition of a taco v.s. burrito?

This may not be technically correct, but here's my distinction between the two. A taco is usually a crisp corn tortilla, or a soft flour tortilla with a spicy meat filling, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and taco sauce. A burrito is usually a flour tortilla filled with spiced meat, cheese, refried beans, and maybe a bit of taco/burrito sauce (I think it's the same stuff.)

Somehow burritos in restaurants like Chipotle have come to include all kinds of stuff like rice (because the tortilla isn't enough carbs?) and just about anything you can think of. They might be tasty, but I think it stretches the definition of burrito. But I make no claims to authenticity, it's just what I grew up with.

 

[tvguy]

Anymore, it's what ever Taco seasoning packet was on sale. Lowry's, Shilling, Great Value or Taco Bell are the usual suspects.
Never had a bad Taco.
I won't even try to define what an "authentic" taco is. The one's I've had in Mexico were very bland compared to any here in the U.S. that claimed to be "authentic" and usually had a lot of potato in them.
My Spanish teacher in high school grew up in Mexico. His advice was to avoid any restaurant in Mexico that served heavily spiced food, that's a sign they are trying to cover up rancid ingredients.

 

[marthachick]

I had never heard of putting potato in tacos before. You learn something new every day.

And we usually use Old El Paso mix and ground beef or turkey. I like crunchy corn shells and DH likes soft flour tortillas.

 

[disneychrista]

I've always been curious - what's "officially" the definition of a taco v.s. burrito?

Burritos are larger and contain beans. Tacos are smaller and usually do not have beans.

 

[wenrob]

I grew up with ground beef w/packet taco seasoning, refried beans, corn and flour tortillas both fried. Toppings: salsa, lettuce, tomato, onion, black olives and shredded cheddar.

Years ago I had a friend coming to dinner who didn't eat red meat so I grabbed a pound of ground turkey breast and a packet of chicken fajita seasoning. I think I've made them with ground beef only 3-4 times in the years since. I also now make my own beans. I've made homemade tortillas but only younger DD and I prefer them so use the packaged ones. Never the hard stand up on their own ones though. DH and DS will share a couple of avocados and while I'll eat sour cream on the taco salad the next day I don't like it on my tacos.

Those are our basic, weeknight tacos. We probably make them at least twice a month and have taco salad the next night. We also do shredded chicken or beef and carne asada (DH makes great pic de gallo). I made shrimp tacos (w/cabbage, queso fresco and lime/cilantro crema) for the first time Friday night and my family pretty much demanded I add them to the regular rotation.

 

[AustinTink]

for the meat filling:

browned ground beef
chopped cilantro, diced onion, and finely diced tomato
cumin
chile powder
garlic powder
salt
paprika
occasionally finely diced potato sauteed in Adobo seasoning first until potato is soft, then add into meat mixture at the very end. (mostly if I need to stretch the meat for more people)

Toppings:
queso frecso cheese, crumbled
sour cream
green salsa left over from the best little taco stands in our area
DH occasionally likes lettuce and tomato, but the rest of don't, so he usually goes without.
DS10 and I like finely chopped onion and fresh cilantro on top of ours.

Tortillas:
Corn heated on a flat griddle with a tiny bit of oil
flour warmed up in a damp towel in the microwave

We never use those seasoning packets. Yuck!

This is how I make mine, except I add a healthy dose of black pepper as well. I fry my corn tortillas in oil if I'm craving my comfort food "greasy tacos". Otherwise, i just heat the corn or flour tortillas in a skillet with a little butter.

 

[MataHari22]

I did a battered fish filet, on a soft shell, with guacamole and a slaw, for something different, instead of the regular old school tacos I had growing up.

 

[tvguy]

I had never heard of putting potato in tacos before. You learn something new every day.

.

They did this in Mexico. And one of the local chains that claims to be "authentic Mexican food" does this.

 

[blana]

No where close to authentic, but I brown the meat in chili powder & then add between half and a whole jar of picante sauce to the meat & continue cooking that down. Really simple.

 

[Parker Clan]

Walking tacos with Doritos!
Learned about it several years ago from by best friend in PA

 

[monorailsilver]

I just had a baby and was in the hospital with nothing to do, want to say it was snowing so my DH left to take car of the other 2.

I was watching Rachel Ray and tried her recipe for nachos and pretty much use it still to this day:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-nachos-recipe.html

 

[Lilacs4Me]

I had never heard of putting potato in tacos before. You learn something new every day.

And we usually use Old El Paso mix and ground beef or turkey. I like crunchy corn shells and DH likes soft flour tortillas.

Pretty much every real taco place around us does it, as do most Mexican families I've eaten tacos with (gotta stretch that meat somehow for all those people! lol). Diced carrots, too. But only in their ground beef tacos. I've never seen veggies added into Carne Asada and Al Pastor meat. These are the places/people who don't use Old El Paso packets as their seasoning base....there is a difference between a good "real" taco and a Taco Bell-type taco.


Oohhhh.....and today is Taco Tuesday. $.94 tacos at my favorite little taco shack!

 

[Astryd]

These are two of my favorite taco recipes. We make extra of the chicken and freeze it for latter. And we use soft corn tortillas with ours. Love the hint of sweetness they give the meat.


http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...con-queso-pork-belly-cheese-tacos-recipe.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/01/chicken-tinga-spicy-mexican-shredded-chicken-recipe.html

 

[soccerdad72]

Boring American here - we just use the kits with ground beef. Also use the enchilada kits as well with chicken. I'd love to get more creative, but I'm afraid my kids wouldn't eat any of it.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Beef or chicken with, yep, a season packet. Warm wheat shells or heated in a tiny bit of oil corn shells.

For toppings, it depends on what you like. We generally have: cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, hots of some sort, olives, salsa and sour cream.

 

[luvsJack]

We have gone from making the kit tacos with ground beef, to shredded chicken to now liking pulled pork tacos. Just cook the roast however (crock pot, oven, pressure cooker) then shred the meat. Add taco seasonings (the packet or your own combination) and heat the meat in the seasonings and a little water.

I use corn tortillas. Heat the oven to 425. I spray each side of the tortillas with cooking spray and then lay over the oven rack so it makes a "taco shape". (I do it so its more like the stand and stuff kind of shells). After filling with meat and cheese, I bake them to melt the cheese. And then top with tomato, lettuce, avocado, sour cream and salsa. I have no earthly idea if this is in any way "authentic" but we like it.

This same method will work with any kind of meat but we like the shredded pork most of all.

 

[Minnesota!]

I forgot about the pork ones we do. Cook a pork roast all day with some lime juice, chili powder, bay leaves, cumin, and some pineapple juice. Shred. Serve on corn tortillas with cabbage, a little cheese, hot sauce, avocado, and fresh lime wedges. YUM!

 

[Liberty Belle]

My sons will only eat the old-fashioned ground beef tacos, so that's what I make (though we also do bean burritos and chicken fahitas).

I used ground beef seasoned with Ortega powder, add shredded cheeses, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and Ortega sauce. I also add green chilies to mine. Oh, and we prefer soft flour shells.

 

[Dancind]

We like the "less is more" style of taco, I guess food cart tacos? The Farmers Market here has really good ones with just soft small corn tortillas, carnitas, crema and pico. Craving right now.

We have made carnitas in the Instant Pot that was really good, but this is probably my favorite recipe. I get the small organic corn tortillas and use the warming technique in it. They're perfect! A bit of trouble, but DH went nuts over it:

http://www.thedailymeal.com/recipes/wahoo-fish-tacos-recipe

The best fresh crema is just equal parts sour cream and heavy cream with sea salt. No additives.

Also, don't skip the onions in red wine vinegar. So good. Takes a lot of RWV, but I usually just put more onions in it. They're good on lots of things.