Name: Tex-Mex taco bowls recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 cups black beans, cooked; 1 cup corn, thawed if frozen; 1 cup salsa, store-bought or homemade; 1 cup red onion, diced (about half an average sized onion); 1 recipe Tex-Mex taco seasoning; 12 corn tortillas; toppings: grated monterey jack cheese, diced avocado

I know I say this a lot, but I love Tex-Mex food. If you want to get technical, I’m a first generation Texan. My parents weren’t born here, but grew up here. And their parents are from even further away. I may come from a long line of people-who-move-a-lot, but I really like Texas and I can’t imagine moving across the country – or to another one. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to travel. When Hubby and I were in college, we took a university trip to Egypt. We brought back a love of Mediterranean food, but it still doesn’t compare to our local cuisine. Today I’m sharing my own recipe for Tex-Mex taco bowls.

After a week in the middle of the desert, we had a layover in London on the way back to the States.

It was early spring, so the weather was… London-y. It was cold, wet, and not Texas-like at all. We had just enough time to run around and see all the classic tourist places. The London Eye. Big Ben. A double-decker bus. Picadilly Circus.

Oh, and the Texas Embassy.

Oh yes, my home state is so awesome that when it was a country, it had an embassy in London. (And also Paris, I believe, but I haven’t been there. Yet.)

Okay, so now that Texas is a state, there aren’t any ambassadors there.

In fact, it is a restaurant. A restaurant that serves Tex-Mex food and Dr. Pepper!

If you’re ever in London, go check it out.

In case you need some authentic Tex-Mex food now, here is my own recipe for messy, bite-sized taco bowls.

Tex-Mex taco bowl recipe

Ingredients

2 cups black beans, cooked
1 cup corn, thawed if frozen
1 cup salsa, store-bought or homemade
1 cup red onion, diced (about half an average sized onion)
1 recipe Tex-Mex taco seasoning
12+ corn tortillas
toppings: grated monterey jack cheese, diced avocado

Instructions

Step 1: prep the bean filling

I usually cook my black beans in a slow cooker for several hours while I’m doing something else. You can just open a can, too. The same goes for the salsa: homemade is great, but there are plenty of tasty jarred versions.

Combine the beans, corn, salsa, and onion in a skillet. Cook over medium heat until warm. Add taco seasoning and stir. Reduce heat and let that simmer a few minutes. Keep it warm while you make the tortillas.

Step 2: cook the tortillas

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay out a set of tortilla pans on a baking sheet and pace one tortilla in each one. If you don’t have a tortilla pan, you could use the back of a muffin pan like The Lean Green Bean does or an empty metal can like The Kitchen Whisperer.

The tortillas might not stay exactly in place, but mine settled down as they cooked. Bake the tortillas in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until crispy. Remove and set aside to cool. Repeat until you have enough cooked tortilla bowls.

Step 3: assemble

For each of the Tex-Mex taco bowls, place a tortilla on a plate and add a scoop of bean filling. Top with grated cheese, diced avocado, and any other toppings you like.

These Tex-Mex taco bowls are easy to make. They’re also easy to change up to suit your own taste. Add meat if you prefer. Leave out the corn or add a little lettuce. This recipe will make a dozen or so little bowls. I used fairly small tortillas – about 5 inches across. This would be fun to do with much bigger ones too, or perhaps flour tortillas.

I like to serve my Tex-Mex taco bowls with a cold drink in a souvenir glass. Cheers.

Yield: Serves 4