Baked taco cups

A fun new way to enjoy a family favourite!

In our family’s treasure chest of food stories, one that gets hauled out regularly involves the fact that when young, our kids were hopeless with hard-shell tacos. One bite, and the whole thing would implode, coating them, the table, and likely whoever was sitting next to them with taco fillings. For years it was soft-shell tacos or nothing. Thankfully, they have grown out of their taco klutziness, but I recently made this dish as a fond remembrance of those meals. Not only are they super cute, even little hands should find these taco cups easy to grip and eat. Note that the fresher your tortillas are, the easier it will be to fold them into the muffin pan. Use all your family’s favourite toppings and spice up your next Taco Tuesday! If you like this twist, you might also enjoy this taco pizza or these taco biscuits.

Ingredients

• 6 six-inch (15 cm) corn or flour tortillas
• vegetable oil, for tortillas
• 2/3 cup (100 g) cooked, seasoned taco meat (ground chicken or beef; or vegetarian alternative)
• 2/3 cup (157 g) grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup (130 g) salsa
• Toppings: sour cream, additional salsa, chopped avocado

Method

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Brush or spray both sides of each tortilla with a little vegetable oil then stack and wrap in foil. Place in the oven for 3 – 5 minutes while it preheats, to soften the tortillas. They should feel warm but not hot when you take them out.
• While tortillas heat, stir together the taco meat, cheese and salsa.
• Gently fold each softened tortilla into a muffin tin compartment. With a small spoon, fill each tortilla cup with the taco meat mixture.
• Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until filling is sizzling and taco cups have crisped up.
• While taco cups bake, place toppings in bowls. I like to peel and dice the avocado and squeeze a little lime juice overtop to prevent browning.
• Transfer baked taco cups to a platter and serve warm, with toppings on the side.

Makes 6 taco cups; recipe can easily be multiplied.