I 👏🏻 made 👏🏻 potato 👏🏻 tacos. CHEESY potato tacos! And I'm SO excited about it.
Back in LA, we used to take quick trips out to Camarillo and Ventura and there was this one little order at the counter restaurant that I'll never forget for the rest of my days: Bobbi's Mexican Food and they're out of this world potato tacos. I could eat those every day for the rest of my life and die happy. If you're ever in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by.
Now as much as I love Seattle, we are sadly lacking in the Mexican food department. Sure there's a couple good restaurants here and there but nothing like the Mexican food I grew up with in LA. SO! What's a cook to do?
Make them myself 😎. Cheesy potato tacos to feed my Mexican food nostaliga? Don't mind if I do!
Usually when I make a recipe to photograph and share on the blog, Dan and I will eat it for the next couple days. These tacos were gone in one day. ONE day. This particular batch made 15 tacos...15 CHEESY POTATO TACOS IN ONE DAY!
I'm not even sorry.
Cheesy potato tacos. Get. Some. 👊🏻.
Cheesy Potato Tacos (Tacos de Papa)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12-16 Tacos 1x
Description
Perfectly crispy tacos on the outside filed with creamy, flavorful, cheesy potatoes on the inside. These tasty Mexican treats are vegetarian and gluten free!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese + extra for topping
- 12-16 corn tortillas
- ½ - 1 cup vegetable or canola oil, for frying (should fill about 1 inch of the frying pot)
- Diced red onion, green onion, and tomato for toppings
- Salsa for garnish
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, cover potatoes with salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
- In a large bowl, mash the potatoes and then stir in the sour cream, cheese, paprika, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and salt until completely combined.
- In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat oil until shimmering. While the oil is heating, wrap 3-4 tortillas at a time in a paper towel and warm them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds (they're much less likely to break when you fill them with the potatoes if they're warm!).
- Place 2 large tablespoons of the potato mixture on one half of a warmed corn tortilla. Gently fold the tortilla in half and press together around the edges. Repeat with the remaining tortillas*.
- Working in batches of 3-4 tacos, fry tacos in the heated oil about 90 seconds to 2 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel to drain excess oil.
- Top tacos with red onion, green onion, tomato, salsa and any extra cheese. Serve piping hot and enjoy!
Notes
It is best to either start with warming just 4 tortillas at a time, filling them, frying them, and then starting another batch OR make sure to keep all the filled tortillas warm. If they cool down, they can still crack in half after being filled!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
Gina says
LOVE me a good taco de papa!
Ana says
Don’t said if it is 1 potato and 1/2 or 1 pound and 1/2
Aberdeen says
1 1/2 lbs, fixed it thank you!
Sara Cannon says
Can you make these in an air fryer instead of pan frying?
Aberdeen says
Hi Sara! I havn't tried that, if you want to give it a go, brush the tacos with some oil first and then air fry. If you try it out I'd love to hear how it goes!
Jessica says
I’m going to make these for dinner tomorrow. Would it be okay to dip them in enchilada sauce before frying or would that put them more at risk for tearing?
Aberdeen says
I haven't but I think you can, just be careful with them!
Sandy Martinez says
Perfect for Lent!
Thanks for the inspiration!
~Sandy