Recipe: Tortilla Taco Cups
Jackie Alpers is a food photographer and the author of the Taste of Tucson cookbook.
Beautifully presented, crunchy air-fryer flour tortilla cones served with a curated selection of customizable taco fillings.
How to Pick the Best Flour Tortillas
There is a world of difference between good quality-flour tortillas and the fluffy, white mass market ones readily available at many grocery stores.
High quality Sonoran-style flour tortillas are made with minimal ingredients, White Sonora Wheat flour, water, fat and salt. Look for pre-packaged flour tortillas that are very thin, light beige in color, slightly pliable and stretchy, and have dark brown char spots from where the dough came into contact with the comal. La Mesa Tortillas in Tucson, Arizona and Caramelo Tortillas in Lawrence, Kansas ship Sonoran-style flour tortillas worldwide.
The Silicone Kitchen Tools Used:
The Silicone Kitchen Air Fryer Liner
The Silicone Kitchen Jumbo Baking Cups
The Silicone Kitchen Regular Baking Cups
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients
4 6-inch good quality flour tortillas
Taco Cup Fillings Options
Shredded green cabbage or lettuce
Whole pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Halved cherry tomatoes
Shredded Mexican blend cheese
Shredded or diced beef, chicken or pork, warmed
Diced red onion
Lemon or lime juice
Pico de Gallo chunky salsa
Hot sauce and/or blended salsa
Sour cream or Greek yogurt
Prepared guacamole
Instructions
Preheat a 6-quart air fryer to 350°F (175ºC). Place four jumbo Silicone Kitchen Baking Cups inside of the Silicone Kitchen Air Fryer Liner. This will prevent the tortilla cups from tipping over while cooking. Fold the tortillas in on themselves to make a modified cone shape then place one tortilla, pointy side down, in each baking cup.
Place the basket in a preheated air fryer and cook for 5 minutes or until the tortillas are crispy and golden brown. Keep the tortillas in the baking cups to add structural support while filling and serving.
Fill the regular sized baking cups with a selection of fillings and toppings. The options shown above from left to right are: pico de gallo, shredded green cabbage, pinto beans, lime wedges, diced chicken, red onion, shredded beef, blended salsa, guacamole, sour cream.
Gently fill the Tortilla Taco Cups then pick up the baking cup to eat. The taco cup shown above is filled with shredded green cabbage, shredded beef, pico del gallo salsa and guacamole.
This Tortilla Taco Cup is filled with shredded green cabbage, whole pinto beans, cherry tomatoes, Mexican cheese blend, cherry tomatoes and blended salsa.