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These fried tacos are extra crispy and an absolute family favorite. We stuff soft corn tortillas with seasoned beef and then fry them until the shells are crispy and hot. This is the ultimate way to step up your taco night dinner!
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My love for tacos is pretty well known around here.
I can turn just about anything into taco flavored goodness – hello, taco mac and cheese, taco lasagna, and taco tater tot casserole!
But my real love will always be a classic fried taco.
I mean, I love soft tacos with all my heart and am never without flour tortillas in my house. We might be out of bread, but we’ll have a stack of tortillas. 😉
We usually reserve the corn tortillas for things like these fried tacos. They’re perfect for frying and they turn out so light and crispy, just begging you to eat one. more. taco.
I can’t wait for you to make these and give them a try – they’re going to change your whole taco dinner routine.
Once you’ve tried these, please take a snap and tag me on Instagram! I want to see your fried taco creations!
Highly recommend you serve these with our sopapilla cheesecake bars for dessert, too!
Ingredient Notes:
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Taco Meat – Seasoned beef is our go to and we often use my crockpot taco meat. Our turkey tacos also make a great filling!
Taco Seasoning – Try out this homemade taco seasoning to go with the meat, or just keep things simple and grab a packet of your favorite brand from the store.
Tortillas – White or Yellow Corn Tortillas are needed for this recipe.
Toppings – We keep it simple with shredded lettuce, cheddar, and hot sauce. Add whatever you like though.
What We Love About This Recipe!
It’s hard to improve something as simple and tasty as a taco, but when you take the time to fry one you’ll definitely notice the difference! These are nothing like the crunchy taco shells you get from the store – they’re so much better!
How to Make Fried Tacos:
Taco Meat: Brown the beef, crumbling it as it cooks. Stir in the taco seasoning and a bit of water.
Heat the Oil: Heat a large, deep skillet with about 2 inches of vegetable oil. The oil should be 375 degrees.
Warm Tortillas: Corn tortillas are quite delicate and break very easily when folded. We wrap a stack of tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave them for 30 seconds to make them more pliable and easy to work with.
Fry Tacos: Spoon a small amount of meat into the center of a tortilla, fold it closed using tongs, and gently place it into the hot oil. Fry for about 1-2 minutes per side.
Helpful Tip!
Frying Tacos
- Use a set of tongs to place the tacos into the hot oil.
- Hold the taco closed with the tongs for 15-20 seconds before letting go of the taco to be sure it stays closed.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan.
- Keep an eye on the temperature of the oil and make sure it hovers around 375. If it too cool the tacos will be very greasy. If it’s too hot, they’ll get too crunchy.
Drain: Stack about 10 full sized paper towels on top of each other and fold them in half and hold the paper towel stack with one hand. Carefully remove the tacos from the oil, letting excess oil run out of the tacos, and place one into the stack of paper towels. Gently squeeze any excess oil out of the taco. Place the tacos onto a paper towel lined plate.
Add Cheese: Once you’ve removed all of the tacos from the oil, start a second batch frying. By the time those are frying, the first batch should be cool enough to handle. Gently pry apart the tacos and stuff them with as much shredded cheese as you like. The tacos will still be warm and the cheese will melt inside the shell.
Serve: Once all of the tacos are done frying and are filled with cheese, it’s time to serve these up with your favorite fixings on the side. We keep it simple with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and Cholula.
Helpful Tip!
Got an Air Fryer?
While these fried tacos will always be the best, we understand that deep frying food isn’t always fun or practical. This Air Fryer Tacos Recipe is basically the same recipe, but tailored for the air fryer.
Jack in the Box Tacos:
Jack in the Box is a chain drive-thru restaurant that is known for their deep fried tacos. While this recipe is not meant to be a copycat of Jack in the Box, it does have a similar vibe, in that the meat and shell are both fried together.
Jack in the Box uses a slice of American cheese in their tacos and the filling is more of a paste, as it’s mostly soy combined with beef.
What Readers are Saying!
“I made these for dinner tonight? They were wonderful! I have to admit that I used two toothpicks per taco to keep them closed so the filling wouldn’t fall out, and also so I could make them faster. I was able to make 22 tacos? I will definitely be making these again, Thanks for the recipe.” – Corrine
FAQs:
If you have leftovers you can store them covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They can be reheated in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.
Part of the appeal of these tacos is the fact that they are deep fried. They’re going to be a bit greasy, but you can eliminate as much of that excess grease as possible by making sure your oil is the right temperature before cooking. When you remove the tacos from the hot oil, place them in a pile of paper towels and squeeze out the excess grease. Let tacos drain on a taco lined plate while frying up the rest of the batch.
Yes! It is best to us soft corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas. They will get crisper! Follow our recipe to fill the taco prior to frying and then fry them in a skillet.
What To Serve with Tacos:
The Best Fried Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 20 corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Oil for frying
- Taco toppings as desired
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, brown the beef crumbling it as it cooks.
- Stir in the taco seasoning along with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir to coat the meat in the seasoning. Remove from heat.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat to 375 degrees.
- Place the tortillas on a microwave safe plate and top with a damp paper towel. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until soft and pliable.
- Use a dinner spoon to scoop a small amount of meat right down the center of one tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half and grab it with kitchen tongs.
- Place the folded taco in the hot oil, continuing to hold it closed, and cook until the taco will hold it’s own shape, about 20 seconds.
- Let go of the taco and continue filling the pan with tacos, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Fry tacos about 2 minutes per side, or until as crispy as you'd like. They will crisp up more as they cool.
- When the taco is ready to come out of the oil, fold up a thick wad of paper towels in your hand. Pick the taco up with the tacos and gently tilt to allow grease to drain out, place in the wad of paper towels, and squeeze lightly to remove more grease. Make sure you have enough paper towels in your hand so that the grease does not soak through and burn your hand.
- Place the taco in a paper towel lined pie plate and repeat with remaining tacos.
- When the tacos have cooled enough to handle them, stuff each one with a bit of the shredded cheese.
- Serve with your favorite taco toppings.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in June 2014. It was updated with new photos in January 2022. Original photos below.
Carla says
So long as the Taco sauce is mild I will make it, I have mild taco sauce in my cabinet, so thank you for the recipe.
Diane says
This method is how
tacos were originally made except
the
ground meat was put in the
tortilla raw, seasoned with S&P and fried
until
meat
was
cooked.
Then
filled with
shredded lettuce, cheese and salsa. Delish!
vicki Blackmon says
I’ve been making tacos for 30 years, to the ground beef I add garlic powder and finely chopped cilantro, mix together well then load the raw beef covering only 1/2 of the tortilla. Fry until meat is almost cooked then fold taco in half until the shell is crispy(4-5 minutes for me). Drain, then add the cheese first so it melts then add sour cream and lettuce, top with your favorite salsa.
Karly says
Delicious!
Sal says
This is how my grandmother made them. I omit the taco seasoning and instead add garlic salt or powder, salt, pepper. Toppings: Cheese, then I cut up lettuce and tomatoes mix them together with mayonnaise and top it. So good!
Mary Badalucco says
Why do my shells break when I try to fill them with lettuce and cheese
Karly says
Hi Mary! They do stay tight together after frying, so you have to gently open them just enough to fill them. You won’t want to pull them all the way apart. Other than that, maybe try different corn tortillas? We’ve never had that issue.
Mamita Mexicana says
Hi Karly!wanted to let you know that fried tacos have been made originally forever in Mexico.there are different states that do em fried in half like these in other states they fry them rolled up .my Family and grandparents fry them in half like this .we use other cuts of meats, fajitasor chicken,or other stuffingchhese and potatoes,not ground beef.we also use the lettuce tomatoes and cheese,onion. So happy to hear you love Fried tacos from MexicoToo!!they’re the Best ??
Mamita Mexicana says
question marks are supposed to be exclamation points*Fried Mexican Tacos are the best!!?
Donna says
GREAT, this is the only way I’ll ever make tacos again, instead of hamburger next time I’ll try leftover pot roast (shredded beef), great idea to add cheese first, when turning use a spatula in case they stick you won’t tear them. All I can say is thank you.
Christy says
We make a Salad to go with these
Shredded lettuce, stewed tomatoes, onion & shredded velvet Tera!!!
SO GOOD
Christy says
Shredded velveeta
Donna says
Just open them up and add avocado,tomato, lettuce and sour cream. Then eat with some Spanish rice and beans.
Maggie Martin says
Been making these forever! Just stack them on their ends in a colander that is ovr a wad of paper towels, remain crispy but you still get that nice greasy bit too!
Thanks Karly
Maggie
CANDICE B says
My family makes fried tacos way different than this with bacon grease. You spread uncooked taco meat (ground beef with taco seasoning mashed) on half a corn tortilla with s bitter knife (spread thin patty) lay them in the bacon grease so meat and she’ll are submerged. When meats mostly cooked before she’ll hardens you fold in half with tongs and hold her down. We line a broiling pan with foil and then paper towels and make two rows to fill the whole thing and drain. Stuff with shredded cheese as you go. My grandma had 3 boys and her husband to feed so she made 50 and they ate them all. Plus we have a super chunky secret family “salsa” ghats more like a diced veggies salsa salad that goes in them. Try it. I’m telling gu it’s worth it. (Ps every woman in our family have their own bacon grease strainer tins to prepare for all the grease needed.)
Karly says
Ooh, never tried them this way! Sounds good!
debbie s. says
Candice B., this is exactly the way my family has made tacos for 60 years 🙂 we LOVE them cooked like this.
Tiya Campbell says
Thank you! I love tacos and I really love fried tacos, but I would get so frustrated because I could never fry the shells right. I see now that I let the fire get too hot and I was using too much oil or not enough. Thanks again.
Trevor says
Which type of oil do you prefer for frying the tacos?
Karly says
I use vegetable or canola oil for frying. Both work fine.
Gregory Anderson says
Jack in the Box actually does do Fried Tacos in the classic style, as many other commenters stated clearly. I’m reminded of Taco Bell’s Enchirito, which was a popular ranch meal in the 19th century provided by a Spanish landowner to his workers. But critics who wield their rapier tongues, which are the only sharp-edged weapons that eternally self-sharpen with use, speak amiss of many things of which they no little to no real data.
You are my hero for posting this. I’ve been searching for a “better than Jack in the Box” taco for a long time. I tried to end that search today, and just to let you know that I found someone explaining the same technique posted here. The main difference is what seasonings a person uses, or cuts of meat, cheeses, et al.
I’ve asked for your newsletter yet again. Thanks.
Jennifer Taggart says
Best way to eat a taco. Even better – after cooking, dip/place taco in grated Parmesan cheese to coat.
Corrine says
I made these for dinner tonight? They were wonderful! I have to admit that I used two toothpicks per taco to keep them closed so the filling wouldnt fall out, and also so I could make them faster. I was able to make 22 tacos? I will definitely be making these again, Thanks for the recipe.
Karly says
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed!
SandyToes says
I grew up in SoCal eating fried tacos. These are the best! I stuff them like Jack-in-the-Box, with a triangle of American cheese instead of grated cheddar. The cheese gets all melty and gooey.
Karly says
Ooh, I’ll try that next time!