Potato Tacos
We’re freshly back from a true holiday vacation. Two weeks on the road - one full week being spent with my parents for Christmas & one full week in with friends. With my parents, we spent so much time in the kitchen, cooking up our Christmas meals together (which was super fun!), & then so much time chatting about kitchen memories from when I was younger. Specifically re-living some of those old favorites Linda would bust out at the end of the day, and for the first time in my adult life repeating back to my mom those homemade dinners of her’s that were stand-out hits. I feel like I have this hearty handful of meals my mom would make that we’re a total treat in my eyes, and they were meals that got me excited for dinner. A feeling that I now try and evoke multiple times a week in my own kitchen. Long story short, the subject of Potato Tacos came up. and my eyes lit up.
Potato Tacos are a bite of childhood, & one of the most delish ways to serve up a plain old potato, and do so without clouding that flavor with a ton of extra stuff. Potatoes + tortillas + a little seasoning salt - you’re set! The end result - the French fries of the taco realm. They’re salty, savory, crunchy, & don’t totally fall apart the moment you bite into them (a big qualm I have with crunchy shells typically). The crispy tortilla adds crunch, and it’s the barrier to warm +fluffy potatoes on the inside. Very French fry like with some Mexican flare.
Simple + effective
They’re pretty straight forward. Potatoes are cooked to be fork tender, mashed (but not too mashed - you want them chunky) + stuffed to fill corn tortillas, and then fried to crispy. That’s how my adult self simplifies this situation. Just to do my homework, I did call my mom to get any tricks of the trade that I may have missed just watching her make them. And she dished out a doozy- boil your potatoes with a halved jalapeno to add flavor. Never been done before in my own kitchen, but honestly sounds kind of genius. So I did just as she instructed. Instead of letting that be the only jalapeno infuison, I took my cooked + tender pepper (it’s so soft + pliable post boil), minced it up, and then added that into right into my potatoes. My little spin for some real deal peño heat.
The potatoes are the meat of the taco, and here, mashed then fried, they’re super decadent. I’ll say it again - like a taco take on French fries. A little cojita cheese + seasoning mixed in to the potato filling - it’s enough to get you to the point of having a really flavorful + really tasty vegetarian taco. Simple? Very! But so so good.
Fry style
Frying these bad boys is the real bitch….as I learned. Stuffing potatoes into raw corn tortillas, folding them in half, & throwing them in the fryer isn’t quite how it’s done (though that’s what I chalked it up to). By just following this method, the issue I had was the tortillas split at the bottom. Not what I was going for. So this is how it’s done - add about 2 heaping tablespoons of potatoes to the tortilla, lightly pinch the tortilla closed at the top so it’s still pretty free + loose at the bottom, place immediately in the hot oil, + hold closed with tongs for about 10 minutes. Once the tortilla hits the oil, it’s pliable, and the tortilla will fry so it takes on that traditional hard taco shape, perfectly encasing the potato. Again, just 10 seconds of hold the tortilla shut with tongs is enough so that the shape will hold on it’s own for the rest of the cooking. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side. You want a really crunch to your tortilla, but the color won’t change too much.
You can also lightly warm up your tortillas before adding the potatoes + throwing them in oil so they’re easy to work with, and this will keep you from having any cracks in the tortillas. It’s kind of too many steps for me, and by just placing the tortillas in the oil first, then putting pressure on the fold, I was golden.
Seasoned tortillas
Seasoned tortillas are the final touch. The final sprinkle of even more flavor, & they’re really the only way to eat these tacos. You know when you’re eating a bag of chips & at the bottom of the bag, you find the super seasoned chips? Like a Cool Ranch Dorito with so much cool ranch powder caked on? This is like eating a taco made of these bottom of the bag, super seasoned chips. A sprinkle of seasoning salt right on the tacos when they come straight out of the fryer, and a sprinkling of cilantro right on the top. Delish.
A little finishing touch, + also my take on the potato taco, is some slaw right on top. Slaw with a Mexican twist (of course), + I just like the creamy, crunchy component. Just pry open the taco, spoon in some slaw, & it’s complete. Linda (my mother) might think it’s over-kill, but we loved it over here at our house.
Putting this meal together was a true project in the kitchen, + that’s what I was looking for. We shared them with friends (putting our a full Mexican spread - fiesta table runner and all), and then repeated making these 3 nights later for just us two. Jordan was on fry duty, and I sort of walked him through the process of making them. It was the foundation of our Tuesday date-night at home, a tradition we were religious about in AZ. Felt lovely to bring it back, have that quality time together while cooking side by side, and having both of us enjoy a special dinner that used to make me so happy as a kid. All the good feels.
PS - served with Elote Cauliflower, which I am safely labeling my new go to side dish for any Mexican meal.
For the slaw
1/2 a head of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 c. mayo
juice of 1 lime
salt + peppr
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
For the tacos (makes about a dozen - maybe a couple more)
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 jalapeno, stem removed
1/4 c. cojita cheese, plus a little more for serving
Salt + pepper
corn tortillas
vegetable oil (for frying)
Seasoning salt (Lawry’s or Johnny’s are the brands I like!)
Fresh cilantro, minced
1 white onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
Favorite Mexican hot sauce
Start my making the slaw. Place the cabbage + pepper in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayo, lime, and salt + pepper. Pour the dressing over the cabbage, toss to coat, top with cilantro, and place in the fridge.
For the tacos, place your potatoes in a pot, cover with water. Cut your jalapeno in half (seed if you want them less spicy), toss in with the potatoes, & place the pot over high heat. You want to bring the water to a boil, letting the mixture cook until the potatoes are fork tender. When they are, drain, keeping the potatoes in the pot, & mince up the jalapeno. Toss the jalapeno back in with the potatoes, + mash. Go for a chunky mash, so totally fine to have some chunks of potato in the mix. Stir in the cheese + just a pinch of salt + pepper (cojita is super salty, so go for the smallest pinch of salt).
Place a large skillet over medium heat. Fill with about an inch of oil. You want the oil to be pretty darn hot before you start cooking, so test by placing in on tortilla. It should immediately start to bubble, and be a crispy chip after frying on each side for a minute or so. Place about 2 tbsp of the potato mix on one of a corn tortilla, gently fold (do NOT creese the bottom), hold together at the top. placing the taco into the oil folded side first, then laying on one side. Hold shut with tongs for like 5 seconds (should then hold shape on its own), cook for 2 minutes, + flip to cook on the other side for 2 minutes. Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Sprinkle immediately with seasoning salt. Continue this process until all the potato mixture has been used. Depending on skillet size, you can cook 3-4 tacos at once.
Arrange the tacos on a platter, & sprinkle with about a teaspoon cilantro. Serve alongside the slaw, and the additional cojita, onion, cilantro & tomato. Serve “taco bar” style - opening up the fried tacos and adding in whatever extras you’d like. Shoving some slaw into the taco + adding a couple dashes of Tapatio is highly recommended!