Okay now this is something you’re gonna have to admit, out loud and publicly. You can do it, I know you can.
How many of you secretly LOVE those deep fried taco bowls you get at Mexican restaurants? You know those sinfully crispy and delicious bowls that house salads or other awesome stuff.
Admit it.. you know you do. It’s okay, I won’t tell. I love them too even though they are sooooooooooooooo unhealthy! I mean you’re soaking bread in hot oil and deep frying it. Yeah… wait, I think another artery clogged.
But wait, let’s back up a second here. Can one of you ‘splain the logic behind putting something relatively healthy (salad with meat and cheese – no sour cream at restaurants is NOT healthy. It’s full fat) into a grease laden bowl? But honestly, I kinda don’t care cause that damn crispy salty bowl is soooooooo good 🙂
Well tonight I wanted one however my thighs said “BAHAHAHAHA yeah right! You eat that and you’re wearing a Hefty Bag to work tomorrow!” Bastards…
So since I listen to them (and my conscious) I decided to try making them crispy but by baking them.
Tonight I opted for a crispy tortilla shells; next time I’ll show you how to make the bowls. Trust me, you’ll want them too!
This is SUPER easy and so yummy and a bajillion times healthier for you without any flavor sacrifice.
Print“Unfried” Tortilla shells
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Ingredients
- 4 10” round tortilla shells
- Cooking Spray
- Very slightly damp paper towel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 with the rack in the middle.
- Wrap the 4 tortilla shells in the slightly damp paper towel.
- Microwave for 15-30 seconds until steamed and soft/pliable.
- Spray each tortilla side with cooking spray.
- Pull out the rack slightly and carefully drape each tortilla over two bars in the rack.
- Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.
- Turn oven to broil.
- Broil for one minute or until golden brown and crispy.
- Using oven-safe tongs, carefully lift each shell up and lay them down on their sides directly on the rack.
- Broil for 1 minute to crisp that side.
- Flip over and broil up the other side.
So essentially we went from this:

After 5 minutes and flipping them onto their side to broil, we got to this:

Fresh from the oven, they super crispy and healthy shells turned into this…
You may want to sit back a little bit as I will not be held responsible for when your jaw hits the table on how awesome this looks 🙂

As for how I made that, I’ll post that recipe later. It’s made up of an unfried tortilla shells, some of the Mexican shredded beef, spinach, cheese and fat free sour cream. TOTAL YUM!
Now what’s awesome is that you can essentially use any size tortilla from smaller ones (for say housing dips – just take a 10″ shell and a biscuit cutter to make 4-5″ rounds) to larger 12-14″ rounds.
Next time I’ll show you how to make unfried tortilla bowls. All the flavor without the guilt!
This is awesome!!!! I literally have beef in the fridge waiting to be made into Shredded Beef Tacos…I’ve been waiting for a day the lighting was good so I could capture all my step by steps…Now I have the perfect shells to make with them! Such a brilliant Idea! I think I’ll borrow it and link back to you 😉
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Hey Lauren! First off.. LOVE your blog!!! And second, you are most welcome! If you want, you can also make unfried taco bowls too! I have the how-to here: http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2012/06/27/unfried-crispy-tortilla-bowls/
I love shredded beef tacos in a big way! Can’t wait to see yours!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
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You are so amazing…. I love how you come up with these ideas !!!! This is your calling gf… keep it coming !!!!
Well thank you so much my dear friend! As we get older, we do have to care about what we eat and sadly fried foods aren’t something we “really” should have. Yeah it’s okay in moderation however I can’t get past the whole “putting a healthy salad in a fried bowl”. It works and it’s friggen awesome tasting however it’s almost oxymoron-ish 🙂
I’ll post this weekend how to make “Unfried” Tortilla Bowls 🙂