My awesome little mama has been cooking up a storm for me during my stay in Ottawa and I thought it only fair that I return the favor by making her lunch earlier this week. My mom can make pretty much anything, but she had never made taco salads before. And I know that she loves the taco salad at a certain Mexican fast food joint south of the border. So I figured that homemade taco salads would be a nice little lunch that we could enjoy together.
I first came across the idea of making my own tortilla bowls over at Emily’s blog, Ordinary Arts. It seemed kind of too good to be true until I Googled and YouTubed my way through dozens of ways to make homemade tortilla bowls. After trying it for myself, I realized that it’s really easy and such a great way to serve and eat salads. I’ve since perfected a method that works best for me, and I hope you’ll try making your own tortilla bowls at home too.
My mom can’t eat spicy or super-acidic foods, so she opted for a creamy cilantro dressing instead of salsa, and yellow bell peppers instead of red ones. Be aware of your guests’ dietary requirements and adjust topping options accordingly – they’ll love you for it!
My taco salad, filled with lettuce, black beans, bell peppers, corn, carrots, avocado, cucumber, salsa, cilantro, and green onions.
Filling Ideas
- Beans (black or kidney are my favorite)
- Serve them cold
- Serve them warmed-up
- Serve them in a refried style, mashed and sautéed with oil and onions/garlic/cilantro
- Salad greens – Lettuce/spinach/kale, shredded
- Bell pepper (capsicum), sliced
- Carrots, shredded/julienned
- Cucumber, shredded/diced/sliced
- Corn kernels
- Mushrooms, sliced and sautéed (portobello are awesome here)
- Tofu strips, sautéed (to mimic chicken)
- Rice or Quinoa (with Mexican seasoning)
- Salsa (store-bought or quickly made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime, cilantro, chili)
- Creamy cilantro dressing (in a blender, whiz soft silken tofu with a bit of water, olive oil, garlic, and cilantro)
- Guacamole or avocado
- Vegan shredded cheese
- Vegan sour cream
- Fresh cilantro (coriander)
- Green onions
- … whatever you have on hand and love in your salads!
- OR, fill it with Avocado Mango Black Bean Salad
I love Garden Fresh Gourmet salsa. If you’re in Canada, you can get a huge container of it at Costco for about $5!
Vegan Taco Salad with Homemade Tortilla Bowls
Make your own taco shell bowls, and fill them with healthy and tasty vegan ingredients!
- Cook Time: 7 mins
- Total Time: 7 mins
- Category: Salad, Main
- Cuisine: Mexican, Southwestern
Ingredients
- Flour tortillas (make sure they’re vegan)
- vegetable oil (canola, peanut, etc)
- Medium oven-safe bowl
- Kitchen string
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400C.
- Find a medium-sized bowl on which you can lay the tortilla – ideally, a bit bigger than the tortilla so that it doesn’t go beyond the edge of the bowl.
- Flip the bowl over. Brush the tortilla with oil on both sides, and place it over the bowl.
- Fold-down the tortilla so that it “hugs” the bowl. Tie a piece of string half-way down, to help keep it in place (easiest if you have help, but I’ve done it alone too).
- Place the bowl on a baking sheet, and bake for about 5-7 minutes, or until it is slightly brown and can hold its shape.
- Using oven mitts, remove the bowl from the oven, and carefully remove the tortilla shell from around the bowl. Place upright on baking sheet (with string intact) and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes, until browned inside, but not burnt on the edges.
- Remove from oven, remove string, and let cool before filling with desired fillings.
Other Uses
- Host a taco salad party! Pre-make all your tortilla bowls the day before, and then set-up a station with all the fixings, so your guests can make their own salads. Kids would love this!
- Don’t stop at salads. Next time you make guacamole for a party, serve it in a tortilla bowl. Or serve your fajita condiments, such as guacamole and salsa, in tortilla bowls.
I’m going to try this with small pie tins. I have 24 of them which cost around Au $3.00 for a pack of 4, at K-Mart (an Australian variety store) You can cut rings to suit the size using a pastry cutter and place the rings of tortilla over the inverted tins. This way you can make many smaller ones on multiple trays and can serve more people. There’s no need to waste the off-cuts either; these can be baked in the spaces between tins, and eaten as dipping chips on the side. Yum! Can’t wait.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jazz up taco salad night by making Homemade Tortilla Bowls! They are fun to make and fun to eat! And the best part, you don t have to do any dishes. You eat your bowl so clean up is a breeze!
yum! these look delicious and i love all the party ideas! i added this to:
http://fuckyeahvegantacos.tumblr.com/post/17440331333/up-close-and-personal-with-vegangelas-taco-salad
xotaco!
Thank you!! 🙂
Am really excited to make for a small potluck gathering. My husband and I have been trying to go completely vegan for a while now, just need to break free from those old habits. Thought I would use the small tortillas for the potluck.
Hi Cheryl – Good luck on going vegan. It may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but eventually you’ll get into the groove of it – let me know if you have any questions at all! Good luck also with the pot luck. Let me know how these turn out! 🙂
I love making taco salad bowls. Like the idea of draping over a bowl – I typically stuff mine down into a bowl.
Hi Heather – Do they cook evenly when you make them that way? I tried making these a few different ways but found that this way resulted in the crispiest bowls 🙂
It depends on if I make them in the oven or my toaster oven. Every once in a while I find that the bottoms don’t get quite as crisp. So your method makes more sense.
The bowls look super cute! And so perfect for serving a salad to guests!
I’m so doing it for the next saturday dinner :))) Thank you!
Hi Nadia – Thanks so much, let me know how they turn out for you! 🙂
In our family we make the taco shells like this all the time! So much better baking it than the deep-fried version at many restaurants. I don’t feel so guilty eating the shell after filling myself with a healthy salad 🙂
Hi Jodi – I totally agree! I just wish that I had discovered these sooner. Oh well, I guess I have to make up for lost time, ha ha! 🙂
Wow. I’m not vegan, but your creations always leave my mouth watering. This is no exception. These look absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much Jamey! 🙂
This is awesome!! Im loving the tortilla bowls. I cant wait to try this!
Thanks Cherie! Let me know what you think of it! 🙂
Looks fantastic! YUM!
Thank you! 🙂
Angela, you are amazing! This is so beautiful and healthy. Lucky Mama! And welcome home to North America. <3
Thanks Laura! I’m loving my time here – it’s so beautiful in Ottawa right now! 🙂
This is my kind of salad! This looks excellent. Love how you’ve done the taco salad bowls!
I know, right?! We’re both big Mexican food fans… I think it’s the best, and makes for perfect salads. Thanks for your comment! 🙂