Crispy cheese shell beef tacos
The shell is baked cheddar that crisps into a crunchy taco, filled with browned beef and a spoonful of cool sour cream.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $4.79 a serving
- 1070 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 cups shredded cheddar
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded lettuce (optional)
- ½ cup pico de gallo (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 1070 calories, 70 g protein, 6 g carbs and 84 g fat, and costs about $4.79 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or mexican blend cheese or monterey jack cheese works.
- No ground beef? Lean ground beef works.
- No sour cream? Plain greek yogurt works.
- No shredded lettuce? Iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce works.
- No pico de gallo? Salsa works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F and line a with .
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
Put the beef in a large over medium-high heat and break it into chunks with a wooden spoon.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Cook without for 3 minutes, until underneath, then break it up and cook 4 minutes more, until no pink is left.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Leave it alone at first. The brown bits are where the flavor comes from.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
with the salt and pepper, then turn the heat to low to keep it warm.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Low heat
Make 6 mounds of cheddar on the , about ⅓ cup each, and spread each into a 5-inch circle with space between them.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
for 6 to 8 minutes, until bubbling all over and at the edges.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Pull them when the edges are golden. Pale ones stay floppy and dark ones taste bitter.Cool 1 minute, then lift each round with a spatula and drape it over the handle of a wooden spoon laid across two glasses to form a shell.
Dolly’s tip: Work quickly: they bend while warm and set crisp in about 2 minutes. If one sets flat, it’s a tostada now.Fill the shells with the beef and top with sour cream, plus lettuce and pico if you like.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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