Fried Tacos have flavorful ground beef, shredded cheese, and your favorite taco toppings in a crispy tortilla. A delicious 30-minute meal and the perfect way to mix up your next taco night!
Taco Tuesday is super popular in our home. We are big taco fans! Once in a while, it is fun to mix things up and make deep-fried tacos. Ground beef is stuffed into tortilla shells and then fried until golden and crispy. Then sprinkled with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, taco sauce, and sour cream. I highly recommend adding these super delicious stuffed fried tacos to your next taco night!
I first tried the recipe with the tacos stuffed with both beef and cheese and I don’t recommend this. Because most of the cheese came out during the cooking process. The best result was to fry the tortilla and beef and then add the cheese after.
Ingredients for Deep-Fried Tacos
How to Make Deep Fried Tacos
- Heat the skill then brown the meat. Once fully cooked, drain any excess grease if needed then stir in the taco seasoning. Transfer the meat to a clean bowl.
- Carefully wipe the skillet and heat oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare the tacos by placing a scoop (approximately 2 tablespoons) of meat down the middle of each tortilla. Fold the tortillas in half once stuffed.
- To ensure the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of tortilla into the hot oil. If it bubbles right away the oil is hot enough. Using the tongs, carefully lower the halved tacos into the oil. Press down on the edges of the tortilla for a couple of seconds to ensure the meat will stay in. Fry tacos on one side, flipping halfway through until golden and crispy (2-3 minutes on the first side then about a minute on the other side).
- Once cooked, use the tongs to pick up the taco then gently tilt the taco over the pan to remove the grease. Place the tacos on a paper towel-lined plate to drain the excess grease. Continue until all tacos are cooked. (Place in the oven on keep warm if desired).
- Sprinkle with cheese on top of the meat then other desired taco toppings. Serve.
Serving Suggestions
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Avocado/Guac
- Sour cream
- Salsa/taco sauce
Frequently Asked Questions For Best Fried Taco
Are Fried Tacos Healthy?
Fried foods aren’t known for being the healthiest, but you can make some swaps to make them healthier. I used avocado oil, homemade taco seasoning, and 5 ingredient tortillas to achieve a little healthier taco.
Can you Freeze Fried Tacos?
You can freeze the tortilla filled with meat to later frying. Place frozen prepared taco in the hot oil. It will need a little extra cooking time to cook from frozen.
How to Make Fried Tacos with Flour Tortillas
For this recipe, I used flour tortillas which a prefer. You can use either uncooked or cooked tortillas and follow the directions for the best fried tacos!
How to Make Rolled Fried Tacos With Meat Inside
Instead of folding the tortilla in half you can always roll them up and fry them that way. Once in the oil, press down for a couple of seconds to make sure it stays rolled in the hot oil.
How to Make Tacos with Corn Tortillas
Corn tortillas can be made the same way. I recommend heating the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them more pliable which helps prevent ripping.
Variations for Meat
Easily swap the beef in this recipe for another meat. Just cook the desired meat first, fill the tortillas with the meat, then fry as directed.
- Fried fish tacos
- Fried shrimp tacos
- Beef alternatives like ground turkey, chicken, or even plant based meat
- Steak or Barbacoa Beef (scroll down for recipe)
- Fried chicken tacos-(scroll down for Shredded Mexican Chicken Recipe)
Products Used
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More Taco Recipes
Mexican Inspired Recipes
Fried Tacos
Equipment
- Skillet
- medium bowl
- tongs
- paper towel-lined plate
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20 ground chicken, turkey, or plant based meat may be used.
- 2½ tbsp taco seasoning see "Recipe Notes" for Homemade Taco Seasoning or use store bought
- 1½ cups oil for frying avocado, canola, etc.
- 15-18 taco size flour tortillas See "Recipe Notes"
Taco Toppings
- shredded Mexican cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa or taco sauce, sour cream, avocado
Instructions
- Heat a skillet on medium heat.Once hot, spray with nonstick cooking spray.Brown the meat and break up the large chunks. Cook until meat is fully cooked with no pink.Drain excess grease if needed then stir in the taco seasoning. Transfer meat to a clean bowl.
- Carefully wipe the skillet using some paper towels. Heat oil over medium heat.Meanwhile, prepare the tacos by placing a scoop (approximately 2 tablespoons) of meat down the middle of each tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half.
- To ensure the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of tortilla into the hot oil. If it bubbles right away the oil is hot enough.Using the tongs, carefully lower the halved tacos into the oil. Press down on the edges for a couple of seconds to ensure the meat stays in. Fry 3 tacos at a time or the amount that fits into the skillet. Cook each side, flipping halfway through until golden and crispy (2-3 minutes one the first side and about 1 minute on the second side). Once cooked, use the tongs to pick up the taco then gently tilt the taco over the pan to remove the grease. Place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess grease. (Place cooked tacos in the oven on "keep warm" if desired). Continue cooking until all tacos are cooked. Sprinkle with cheese on top of the meat then top with other desired taco toppings.Serve.
I have no clue why this recipe came up #1, I was expecting a recipe for the taco shell.
sorry it was not what you were expecting.
It’s a recipe for Fried Tacos. It says so right in the title of the recipe. Kook
These were delicious. Thank you for posting!
Thank you!