These spicy potato tacos are delicious. Especially when you want to have a meatless and inexpensive meal!
So far I have only featured meatless recipes (like this previous one)… which may make me seem like a vegetarian to you all. The truth is I am not a vegetarian, but that does not mean I can’t enjoy an inexpensive meatless meal!
The key word here is “inexpensive”. Since I took the jump and began working freelance, I have had to learn how to budget my finances a little better, which is a great thing. Part of that includes being a little stricter with the amount of money I spend on food.
Those of you who know me well, know that I will probably never become a vegetarian. I love burgers, bacon and seafood way too much. With my new budget though, I am trying out ways to incorporate meatless meals into my diet, because meat is not cheap!
What does this mean for all of you? Well, I plan to share more meatless recipes like these spicy potato tacos. But I don’t want anyone to get the idea that this is a vegetarian blog… because trust me, you will be seeing some meat-y recipes within the next few weeks.
On that note, here is my spicy potato taco recipe. Potato tacos are made many different ways. Usually the potatoes are boiled, then mashed, stuffed into corn tortilla shells, and then the whole thing is fried. I like to cook the potatoes in a skillet so they create some awesome browning action. I then deglaze the pan with white wine vinegar, mash it all up, season it, and stuff the spiced potato mixture into crispy taco shells.
My favorite thing about these tacos is the different textures. The crunch of the taco shell and the soft mashed potato with crisp cabbage is AMAZING. The flavors are super tasty as well. Adding avocado and queso fresco brings a nice cooling contrast to the spiciness of the potatoes.
My friends who go meatless know that potato tacos would make for a great dinner. For those of you who don’t know the amazingness of meatless meals… give it a try! You won’t be disappointed.
Spicy Potato Tacos
Ingredients
Taco Shells
- canola oil
- 10 corn tortillas
Taco Filling
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 2 medium russet potatoes cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tbsp. hot sauce like Tapatio
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 cup crumbled queso fresco or other mild, fresh cheese
Instructions
Taco Shells
- Add a 1/2-inch or so of canola oil to a medium skillet and bring to medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot place half of a tortilla in the oil while holding the opposite end with tongs, fold the tortilla in half so there is a gap between the halves of the tortilla (basically hold it so it looks like a cooked hard taco shell). Continue to hold the tortilla with the tongs and cook until the half in the oil is browned, about 2 minutes. Flip the tortilla and cook, continuing to hold the tortilla with tongs to maintain the shape, until the other side has browned, about 2 more minutes.
- Once the tortilla is browned and maintaining its shape, remove from the oil and place upside down (so it looks like an upside down “U”) on a sheet pan lined with paper towels.
- Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Taco Filling
- Add 2 tbsp. canola oil to a large skillet with a lid and bring to medium heat.
- Add potatoes and cover. Cook until the potatoes are tender and browned, removing the lid and stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- There will be a layer of browned potato stuck to the bottom of the pan. Slowly pour the vinegar into the pan and vigerously scrape the brown bits off the pan (you are deglazing the pan here!).
- Add the onion and garlic, and cook and stir until the the potatoes and onion are softened, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and mash the potatoes well. Mix in the cilantro, hot sauce, salt, chili powder, and cumin.
- Evenly distribute the potato mixture into the taco shells. Top with avocado, cabbage, and cheese.
Michelle – these look so tasty! I love home-fried taco shells.. though I tend to try to stay away from them as a general rule. But when I do make them they are even that much more amazing! And your photography is looking GREAT! Keep up the good work.
Hi Raquel! I completely agree, normally I am all for soft corn tortillas since fried foods aren’t the best option, but they are great for this recipe. And thanks so much for the complement, I appreciate it coming from you since I think your photos are awesome!
Your tacos are looking foo good… Great shot.
Thanks so much, coming from you that means a lot!
Do you peel the potatoes?
Nope, I don’t peel the potatoes when making this recipe. If you want to peel them you totally can, but you don’t have to!