TacoProject

taco documentation

Recipes

Horchata: The Taco Night Drink

Prep (min)

10

Cook (min)

0

Total

8 hrs (soaking)

Serves

6 glasses

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

1

Mexican horchata is an agua fresca made from rice and cinnamon. It descends from the Spanish horchata de chufa of Valencia, which uses tiger nuts. In Mexico, rice took over, and the result is the creamy drink that tames even salsa de árbol.

  • 1 cup long-grain white rice
  • 1 cinnamon stick (canela), broken up
  • 5 cups water, divided
  • 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
  • 1 tsp vanilla, optional splash of milk
  1. Soak rice and cinnamon in 2 cups hot water overnight.
  2. Blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
  3. Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.
  4. Stir in the remaining 3 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Serve over lots of ice.

Quick Vegan Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Prep (min)

10

Cook (min)

20

Total

30 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

1

🥄 Pairs well with: Pico de Gallo, Salsa de Cacahuate

Roasted sweet potato and smoky black beans are a combination that punches way above its weight. This is our go-to when it is 6:30 and nobody has a plan.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, salt
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 1 avocado (or a bowl of guacamole), pickled red onion, cilantro, lime

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss sweet potatoes with oil and spices and roast 20 minutes.
  2. Add the beans to the pan, stir, and roast 5 more minutes.
  3. Fill warm tortillas and top with avocado, pickled onion, cilantro and lime.
PrepCookTotal
5 minutes25 minutes30 minutes

Crispy Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Prep (min)

20

Cook (min)

15

Total

35 min

Serves

4 (8 tacos)

Difficulty

Medium

Heat 🌶

2

🥄 Pairs well with: Pico de Gallo, Chipotle Crema

Ensenada and San Felipe, on the Baja California peninsula, both lay claim to the battered fish taco. Wherever it started, the formula is simple and perfect: hot, crackly fish, cool shredded cabbage, a creamy sauce and a squeeze of lime. This version adds chipotle to the crema for a smoky kick.

Ingredients

Chipotle crema

  • 1/2 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 to 2 chipotles in adobo, minced, plus 1 tsp adobo sauce
  • Juice of 1/2 lime and a pinch of salt

Fish and batter

  • 1 1/2 lb cod, halibut or mahi-mahi, cut into 4-inch strips
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dredging
  • 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup cold Mexican lager
  • Neutral oil for frying

To serve

  • 12 corn tortillas
  • 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
  • Pico de gallo, sliced radish and lime wedges

Method

  1. Stir together the crema ingredients and refrigerate.
  2. Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot to 375°F (190°C).
  3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder, then whisk in the cold beer until just smooth. Lumps are fine.
  4. Pat the fish dry, season with salt, dredge in plain flour, then dip in batter.
  5. Fry in small batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden. Drain on a rack, not paper towels, to keep it crisp.
  6. Warm the tortillas, add fish, cabbage, pico, a drizzle of crema and a squeeze of lime.
PrepCookServes
20 minutes15 minutes4 (12 tacos)

Want more coastal flavor? Browse the Baja tag.

Rajas con Crema and Mushroom Tacos

Prep (min)

15

Cook (min)

25

Total

40 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

2

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Verde Cruda

Rajas means “strips,” and rajas con crema is a central Mexican classic: roasted poblano peppers cooked down with onion and cream until silky. We add well-browned mushrooms for a meaty depth and sweet corn for pops of color.

Ingredients

  • 4 large poblano peppers
  • 12 oz cremini or oyster mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 cup Mexican crema (or heavy cream)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
  • 2 tbsp oil, salt, and 12 warm corn tortillas

Method

  1. Char the poblanos directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning until blackened all over.
  2. Seal them in a bowl covered with a plate for 10 minutes, then rub off the skins, remove the seeds and cut into strips.
  3. Brown the mushrooms in a hot skillet with 1 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt. Do not crowd the pan. Set aside.
  4. Add the remaining oil and cook the onion until soft and golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and corn for 2 minutes more.
  5. Stir in poblano strips, mushrooms and crema. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes until thickened. Season with salt.
  6. Spoon into tortillas and finish with queso fresco.
Is it spicy?

Poblanos are mild, but every so often you meet a feisty one. Taste a strip before adding it all, and balance with extra crema if needed.

More meat-free ideas live in Vegetarian Recipes.

Slow-Cooked Birria de Res Tacos with Consommé

Prep (min)

30

Cook (min)

210

Total

4 hrs

Serves

6 (18 tacos)

Difficulty

Weekend project

Heat 🌶

3

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Roja de Chile de Árbol

Birria comes from Jalisco, where it is traditionally made with goat and served as a stew. The word itself is a joke: birria means something like “a worthless mess,” supposedly what Spanish colonists called the tough goats they left to locals. The locals got the last laugh. Here in taco form, the Tijuana-style beef version (birria de res) has conquered the world, thanks largely to the ritual of dipping crispy tacos into a cup of hot consommé.

Crispy red birria tacos
Photo: T.Tseng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Ingredients

  • 3 lb (1.4 kg) beef chuck, cut into large chunks
  • 2 lb bone-in short ribs or oxtail (for body in the broth)
  • 6 guajillo chiles, 3 ancho chiles, 2 chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
  • 4 Roma tomatoes and 1/2 white onion
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick (Mexican canela if you can find it)
  • 3 bay leaves, 4 whole cloves, 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano and 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 8 cups water or beef stock
  • Salt, corn tortillas, diced onion, cilantro, limes

Method

  1. Season the beef generously with salt and sear in batches in a heavy Dutch oven until well browned. Set aside.
  2. Simmer the chiles, tomatoes, onion and garlic in water for 10 minutes until soft.
  3. Blend the softened vegetables with the cinnamon, cloves, cumin, oregano, thyme, vinegar and 2 cups of the cooking liquid until silky. Strain for the smoothest consommé.
  4. Return the beef to the pot, pour the sauce over, add bay leaves and the remaining water or stock. Bring to a simmer.
  5. Cover and cook on the lowest heat (or in a 300°F oven) for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef falls apart.
  6. Remove the meat and shred it. Skim the red fat from the surface of the broth into a small bowl and save it. Season the consommé with salt.
  7. Dip a tortilla in the reserved fat, lay it on a hot griddle, fill with beef, fold and fry until crisp on both sides.
  8. Serve with cups of consommé topped with onion and cilantro, and lime wedges for squeezing.

The quesabirria variation

Quesabirria tacos with melted cheese
Photo: Missvain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Quesabirria, the cheese-loaded version that exploded out of Tijuana and Los Angeles taco trucks in the late 2010s, is the same process with one addition: lay a handful of shredded Oaxaca cheese (or low-moisture mozzarella) on the fat-dipped tortilla before the meat. Let it melt and crisp at the edges, where it forms a lacy, frico-like crust. Some cooks go further and make a mulita, sandwiching the filling between two tortillas.

Can I make this in a slow cooker or pressure cooker?

Yes. Slow cooker: 8 hours on low. Pressure cooker: 60 minutes at high pressure with natural release, using about one cup less liquid.