Homemade Crunchy Taco Shells Recipe | Molé Mama

Make crunchy homemade taco shells in 20 minutes. And if your friends and family taste them, you won't be allowed to buy taco shells ever again.

Crunchy tacos(tacos dorados) are one of my all-time Mexican food favorites. I have countless memories of happily eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm somewhat obsessed with their crispy magical goodness.

I was five years old the first time my sweet mama Rose made them for me. My younger brother and I ventured into our forbidden pasture for a quick game of hide-and-seek. My brother was chasing me when everything around us began to shake. There was a cloud of dirt coming our way, and we instinctively knew what it was! Stampede! We ran to the closet oak trees and reached safety just in time. We hung on for dear life and screamed for help while five giant bulls snorted and kicked dirt around us, expressing their disdain for our trespassing their favorite fields.

When they finally left, we ran all the way home and immediately recounted our near-death experience to our mama as tears rolled down our dirt-covered faces. She kept her I told you so’s to a minimum and made everything better by making us crunchy tacos for dinner.

I took a bite of the crunchy deliciousness, and my bull drama terror completely disappeared. The fried corn tortillas were stuffed with flavorful ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and avocados, and that’s when my love affair with crunchy tacos began.

My mama would put just about anything in her crunchy tacos, beef, chicken, chorizo & papas, carnitas, fish, beans, mashed potatoes, etc. and every single variety was yummy. I always ate a little more than I should have. I can't share my all-time tacos eaten at one meal record, but let's just say its more than six, and I was a growing kid working on a dairy farm. I was an adult when I realized that my mama used the versatility of tacos as a way to use up her leftovers and make her children happy.

I thought everyone made tacos like my mama's until I was a young adult. I was grocery shopping with my college roommate for taco ingredients when she put a box of taco shells in our basket. I had no idea that tacos came premade, and that’s how most people made them. Well anyway, I put the box back and taught my roommate just how easy it was to make crunchy taco goodness from corn or flour tortillas, corn oil, and a skillet.

I often make crunchy tacos for friends and family, and I may be guilty of spreading the taco love obsession!

Happy cooking!
Molé Mama

WHAT YOU NEED
Some think you need a deep fryer to make crunchy tacos, but Molé Mama prefers a nice large skillet. It also helps to have LONG metal tongs, a wooden spoon to test the oil heat, and plenty of parchment paper to soak up the Mazola corn oil.

INGREDIENTS
Molé Mama's homemade crunchy taco shells are best when made with king-size corn tortillas by Guererro and corn oil by Mazola. Non-traditional chefs may substitute olive oil or low carb tortillas, but the flavor and texture often suffer. For the crunchiest, most memorable tacos, try Molé Mama's recipe!

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Edited by Caron Modern Media
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@caronmodmedia