There is something a little extra festive about a taco salad being eaten out of a crispy tortilla shell bowl. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants serves their salads up this way and you can buy pre-made shells at the grocery store, but you can make the whole thing at home in just a few minutes. Plus, if you make it at home, you can shape your tortilla bowls any way you want… from cute little individual bowls to this big sharing sized bowl just perfect for a cook out or shareable appetizer.
A great taco salad should have everything you like about taco centric meals. Shredded lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, your favorite cheese, some ground beef (or your favorite protein), a flavorful dressing and this crispy tortilla vessel to keep all of that goodness contained.
If you happen to have leftover protein on hand or a rotisserie chicken in the fridge, you can have this whole thing ready to eat in under 15 minutes and even if you don’t, it will only take about 20.
Let’s get started…
Begin by gathering your ingredients. This is one of those recipes that comes together pretty quick, so having everything together will make things go smooth.
Your taco salad elements are up to you and what you love, but to make the tortilla shell, you are going to need some large soft flour tortillas, non-stick cooking spray or a neutral oil and an oven safe skillet or bowls.
Your first step is deciding whether you want to make individual sized bowls or one large bowl. Today, I am making a large sharing size tortilla bowl. I’m using 4 tortillas and a 10″ cast iron skillet. If you prefer individual sized bowls, use oven safe cereal size bowls.
The next step is to generously spray your bowls or skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
You will also want to spray the tortillas to help prevent them from sticking and develop a nice brown color as they bake.
Press the tortillas into the skillet overlapping them slightly and sprinkling with cheese. You can do the same in the individual bowls.
Bake the tortilla bowls in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until your bowls are as brown and crisp as you prefer.
Once your tortilla bowl is nice and crisp, it is time to fill it up with your favorite taco salad ingredients…
Today, I am layering some shredded romaine, rinsed black beans and corn, diced tomatoes, shredded queso fresco and some leftover ground beef from last nights dinner.
Last, but not least, I am drizzling my favorite ranch dressing and adding some fresh cilantro and a few lime wedges before I dig in.
If you haven’t broken off a piece of crunchy tortilla shell and used it to scoop up your taco salad, you are in for a real treat. That crunchy, cheesy tortilla soaks up all of that salad goodness and you technically don’t even need silverware!
Just crack, scoop and enjoy!
Taco Salad in a Tortilla Shell Bowl
Ingredients
Crispy Tortilla Shells
- 4 large soft flour tortillas
- non-stick cooking spray
- shredded cheese
Taco Salad Filling
- lettuce, shredded
- roma tomatoes, diced
- black beans, rinsed
- corn, rinsed
- fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- your favorite cheese, shredded
- your favorite dressing
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°
- Spray a cast iron skillet or 4 oven safe bowls with non-stick cooking spray
- Spray the tortillas with non-stick cooking spray and form them along the inside of the cast iron skillet layering with shredded cheese or press them into oven safe bowls forming them into individual sized bowls
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until as crispy as you prefer
- Add your salad ingredients
- Enjoy!
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