CINCO DE MAYO BAKED TACOS w/ SALSA & QUESO

They may not look the prettiest, but they are little bites of spiced, cheesy, crispy comfort and are easy to make in bulk to freeze for upcoming easy dinners.

Secret time. Tacos are life. There I said it, you can’t change my mind. There are a million and one different ways to make tacos and they are all equally delicious. I can go on like Forest Gump for an hour about the different kinds of tacos you can make, but I won’t to save my sanity for another day.

Meet my super easy crispy baked tacos. They might not be stuffed high with fresh lettuce and tomatoes and slaws and sauces, but they pack a punch of their own. These style of tacos can be made with almost any kind of meat or beans, any kind of cheese, and both corn or flour tortillas and they are incredibly easy to make in bulk batches to freeze for later. We like to keep these tacos on hand in our freezer at all times, because you never know when you’re going to be too exhausted to cook a real dinner and anything from the frozen food aisle always pales in comparison to homemade.

The best part about these tacos is they’re absolutely perfect for dipping in your favorite salsa, queso, quacamole, hot sauce, sour cream, or whatever kind of dip you feel like. Or you can eat them nacho style with an assortment of fresh toppings piled high. The possibilities are endless.

Here are a handful of tips to keep in mind for these recipes:

You can literally use any kind of meat you want with my super simple homemade taco seasoning. Our favorites are lean ground turkey, lean ground beef, or on extra lazy nights I’ll use some shredded rotisserie chicken. They can also be made with shrimp, tofu, jackfruit, Beyond Beef meat alternatives, chorizo, shredded pork, you name it. The only thing I’ll point out is that I’ve only had success freezing the beef, turkey, and chicken, I have no idea how the other meat options will hold up to freezing as far as their texture is concerned. Every time I’ve made these tacos with an experimental new meat, I’ve only made a small enough batch to last just that evening.
To make these tacos vegetarian, my favorite meat substitute to use is tofu, I’m not really a Beyond Beef or jackfruit fan personally. To make them with tofu I like to drain and freeze my tofu ahead of time, it makes the texture slightly more chewy and “meat” like. Then I crumble the tofu and mix it with 1 tablespoon of avocado or canola oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce (I use Braggs Liquid Aminos), and 1-2 tablespoons of my taco seasoning depending on how many packages of tofu I use. Then I bake the tofu crumbles at 350° for about 20-30 minutes stirring periodically until crisp and mix with a spoonful or two of homemade salsa. It’s more labor intensive, but it’s really delicious.
For my resident vegans, you can try using a cheese substitute and the tofu crumbles I mentioned above, but vegan cheese doesn’t freeze well at all. To up your protein count, try adding some beans mixed into your tofu crumbles.
These bake the best and most consistently when you top them with the extra baking tray, otherwise the edges curl up and they aren’t as easy to dip.
I always like to make my salsa the day before serving. The longer you can let your salsa sit and marinate in the fridge, the more developed your flavors and spices will become.
YOU CAN ALSO FREEZE YOUR SALSA! That’s my favorite part about everything where this taco night is concerned. I make large batches of my salsa at one time and then portion it out into perfect serving sizes for one night’s dinner and freeze them for later so I always have fresh salsa on hand. I can make 4-5 times the amount of homemade salsa for the price of one jar of store bought salsa.
You can’t freeze the leftover queso, but it will last in your fridge for up to a week or you can make a half batch if needed.
To heat up frozen tacos, just pop them in your air fryer at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or bake them in the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes.