Making Tacos--2 Parts

I love adding mexican corn to the dinner....either as a side or as a taco topping. I like the taste of the canned vegetable over the frozen, but either works well.

I have added salsa and some cumin to my tacos instead of the seasoning packets and they are good, especially with shredded chicken. For sides you can do rice, whole beans, refried beans, guacamole, salsa.

Bless your hearts..
Not one Hispanic.. talking about Mexican Food.

I will at some point send out real recipes for real Mexican Food.

Tacos, Mexican rice, Guacamole, Pico de gallo, Margaritas..
Flan for dessert.

and NO milk in beans ever,..

J.:

Taco recipe? Sorry - I fry up hamburger and sausage, drain it, add taco seasoning, chopped onions, chopped bell peppers and let it set.

For sides? Guacamole, refried beans, black beans, salsa, Spanish rice

what do I put on them?
shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, sour cream.

the easiest dinner for a bunch of people with the least amount of mess?
Spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread.

Mainly, it's just browned ground beef with taco seasoning and water. Then you need to have tortillas, lettuce, tomoto, shredded cheese, black olives, jalapenos, sour cream and perhaps some guacamole.

Side item options:
Spanish Rice
black beans or charro beans if you don't like refried beans
chips & chili con queso (or salsa or guacamole)
margaritas
sangria
tres leches cake
flan
creme brulee

Tacos are easy enough without a package.

Stir fry ground beef adding salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and cumin powder. Drain the fat. Stuff them in a taco shell, add cheese (cheddar or jack or both). Place them in the oven and melt the cheese.

Have diced tomato, onion, and avocado and thinly sliced lettuce ready. Scoop a tub of sour cream into a dainty little dish and set it all out for everyone to help themselves.

You can add a side of rice and beans. Other side dishes would be gazpacho soup, guacamole and chips, albondigas soup (a light soup with hearty chunks of vegetables and small rice-filled meatballs). You can also purchase premade tomales from your favorite restaurant.

You may also just want to serve the whole thing buffet style and forget melting the cheese.

You can do chicken tacos. Get a roasted chicken at the grocery or SAMs is best, pull the meat off. Put the meat and 1/2 cup salsa and some taco seasoning in a pan and cook for a bit. That's hungry girl style. Taco seasoning has lots of salt in it so try to get the lower sodium kind.
Try different kinds of salsa, different heats, tomatillo is delish! Try cilantro lime rice. Martha Stewart's recipe is good. Guacamole is a standard. Get hard shells or soft corn tortillas or the standard flour. Corn salsa is great, lots of recipes on the web. If your friends ask if they can bring anything tell them what you need, ?desert? The easier you make this the happier the experience!

Don't forget Spanish rice!

Whats are with you people? No Pico? Tacos without Pico is rubbish!
Shrimp Tacos are my fav!
Then you need margaritas of course!

I use a carnitas recipe at Allrecipies for our taco meat.

For sides, tonight we are having grilled chili rellenos and rice/beans.

You can toss some chicken breasts in the crock pot with a jar of salsa and a bit of taco seasoning, then when the chicken is cooked, shred it up and serve it as taco filling with cheese, sour cream, gaucamole, lettuce etc.

Cilantro lime rice is good with tacos, and as some one else mentioned, Martha Stewart has a good, simple recipe, just Google it.

Make a pitcher of sangria and serve fruit sorbet from the store for dessert and you are all set.

I second the need for margaritas!! :)

You can do pretty much the same ingredients and make enchiladas, and by using soft tortillas, you don't have to deal with broken shells. And they can be made ahead.

I use whole wheat tortillas (burrito size), and assemble whatever fillings you want: cooked ground beef or turkey, or cooked diced chicken, any canned beans (refried, black, red kidney, white...), diced green or red peppers, diced onions, shredded cheese (cheddar or "Mexican"), and some frozen peas and corn. You don't have to defrost the corn & peas - they're already cooked and will defrost during heating. I used plain tomato sauce or puree, and add my own spices (cumin, and cilantro or coriander, pepper, anything you want). There's a lot less salt than the packaged taco sauce.

I put everything out on the counter. Take a tortilla and spread refried beans down the center. Add a little of each of the other ingredients (any order) except for the tomato sauce, and fold the two sides over toward the center, overlap a little, and secure with a toothpick. Put it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with all the other tortillas in the same way. Line them all up on the baking sheet, then spoon some of the tomato sauce over the whole array. Don't cover them completely - the ends will be open and you will be able to see some of the filling, but the stuff shouldn't be falling out. Top with some additional cheese. Pop in the oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. You can make some without meat if people are vegetarians.

On the side, I make brown rice but use tomato sauce instead of half the water, with any spices/herbs I like (my husband doesn't like super spicy but you can do whatever you want). You can serve extra enchilada sauce and any other sides you like such as guacamole or sour cream if you want those same flavors as with the tacos. So your entree and all your veggies are in the enchiladas, and the rice is the only side dish.

I start the rice since it takes about 40 minutes, and assemble the enchiladas while it's cooking. But you could assemble the enchiladas ahead of time except for the tomato sauce on top, and refrigerate covered with plastic. I don't put too much that's liquid-y in them if I make ahead (e.g. tomatoes) because things get soggy.

For fun, you can serve Mexican beer or any favorite regional cocktails.

We use shredded cabbage in our tacos instead of shredded lettuce as it has a bit more crunch.

Here's my recipe, though it's written sort of off the cuff and the measurements are based on what I often use:

!/2 sweet pepper, sliced in bite size chunks
1/2 sweet onion, sliced in bite size chunks
1/2 T minced garlic
1 can Mexican or "chili ready" diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1/2 to 1 lb ground chuck or turkey (you can sub other cooked, diced or shredded meat, like chicken, turkey, roast, etc.)... or go meatless
1 cup instant brown rice
1/2 to 1 T cumin
Sprinkle of paprika, black pepper, oregano and salt

Serve on whole wheat tortillas with these options
Salsa
mexican blend or cheddar cheese
sour cream or plain yogurt
fresh cilantro

Saute onions, peppers and ground chuck until the beef is browned and the onions are translucent. Drain on paper towels to remove some fat. Add back to the pan. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so, till fragrant.

Add the beans. Into a measuring cup, drain the juices of the tomatoes. Add water to make 1 cup. Stir in tomatoes, juice, water, and rice.

Simmer, covered, on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is completely cooked. If it's too "juicy" and the rice is cooked, remove the lid and simmer on low for a few minutes to get the liquid to evaporate.

Add seasonings and stir well. Serve immediately.

If you want easy, here it is:

-cook grd beef using Taco seasoning mix (the ratio is on the jar/packet
hint: use less seasoning than they suggest if you don't want it too spicy
-serve in warmed up tortillas
-for toppings: sliced cheese of your choice, diced tomatoes, diced avocado, diced red onions, shredded lettuce
-serve w/refried beans & spanish rice (find a boxed kind to make it easy
on yourself)
-serve w/margaritas and beer like (Tecate, Corona, Modelo)
-chips & pico de gallo

i have no recipe but if it has cilantro im in love

Here's one recipe I use for tacos:
ingredients
chicken thighs, adobe chiles, red enchilada sauce, cumin, chopped garlic - the amounts of all listed is dependent on your personal preferences
Place all into either crock pot or stock pot, heat til boiling over medium/high and lower to simmer over low temperature until meat shreds apart easily.

I tend to serve it with rice, guacamole, chips, roasted corn....for ideas other than beans.

Don't stress, tacos are so easy. Get your lettuce and cheese shredded, your tomatoes diced, etc., on Thursday evening, and put them in covered bowls ready to go. Buy or make some salsa and guacamole, have some sour cream, too, as additional toppings. I like to serve refried beans (add a little milk to them to make them creamier, a trick I learned from a friend who owned a Mexican restaurant), canned corn with red and green peppers in it, and Spanish rice (a mix is fine) as sides.

Friday all you'll have to do is make the rice, cook the meat, heat the beans and corn, and fry your shells. Set up a taco bar with all the toppings out, and let people fix their own plates. Takes some work off you and gets everyone involved. And flan makes a great dessert after a Mexican meal, you can buy it made or make your own.

Easiest recipe ever for chicken tacos:

1 pound of chicken
16 oz jar of your favorite salsa

Put raw chicken in the crock pot. Dump in the salsa. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3 hours. After an hour or two, shred the chicken with a fork. Once it's done cooking I usually throw it in the food processor to REALLY shred it, but it's fine done just by fork.

THAT'S IT! It is so simple and so easy!

For filling, I like avocados, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and more salsa.

For a side dish, I usually have chips and guacamole - also very easy!

For each avocado, add one tomato (I use Campari - they're about the size of a golf ball), 1/2 tsp minced garlic (from the jar), sprinkle in cilantro, salt and pepper to taste and add a little lemon juice to prevent browning.

So good!

This is my go-to dinner when I'm in a hurry!