Copy Cat Chico's Tacos with my own spin!
Some of us are not fortunate enough to travel all over and enjoy these iconic dishes made famous by people who love their favorite take out foods! The next best thing is to try and recreate those dishes in your own kitchen!
Servings 4 Servings
Ingredients
Beef Filling
- 2 tbsps. avocado oil
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 1 large ancho pod(stem and seeds removed) softened in very hot water, then minced
- 1/3 tsp. oregano
- ¾ cup onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 large Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 1 large jalapeño, quartered
- 1/2 cup water
Caldillo, Mild Tomato Salsa
- 5 1/2 cups water
- 6 large Roma tomatoes
- 1 serrano pepper, stem removed
- 1/4 med. white onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3-4 tsps. tomato/ chicken bouillon optional
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 1/2 tbsps. avocado oil
You Will Also Need
- 12 six inch corn tortillas
- 2 c vegetable oil for frying
- 3 cups A lot of shredded cheese. I used a Mexican blend but traditionally it's all yellow shredded cheese
- Your favorite Salsa Verde
- Diced onion and cilantro optional and not in the original recipe at the restaurant.
Instructions
Beef Filling
- In a skillet at medium heat, preheat the avocado oil for 2 minutes. Add the beef, salt, pepper and cumin. Cook, stirring as needed for 7 minutes.
- If using the ancho pod, transfer it to a heat proof bowl and cover with water. Microwave it for 3 minutes. Let it sit for 1 minute. Drain the water and chop it finely. Mix it into the beef along with the oregano.
- If using the ancho powder, mix it in when you add the other spices.
- Quickly, blend the tomato, jalapeño and 1/2 cup of water on high until smooth. Pour into the skillet with the beef. Stir well to combine. Reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated. Let cool completely.
Caldillo
- Cook tomatoes, serrano, onion and garlic in 5 1/2 cups of simmering water at medium heat for 12 minutes. Carefully remove the skins from tomatoes. Transfer the ingredients to the blender jar including all of the water. Blend on high until smooth. In a saucepan, fry the blended sauce in avocado oil that was preheated for 2-3 minutes for 10-15 minutes. Taste for salt. Set it aside.
Assemble and Plate
- Lightly brush the corn tortillas with some of the reserved oil on each side. Slide them into a plastic storage bag. Do not seal the bag. Heat them in the microwave on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Carefully remove them. Fill each tortilla with 2 1/2 tbsps. of cooled beef filling. Roll as tight as you can. Set them seam side down onto a plate or baking sheet. Repeat until you are done.
- On the back burner heat the caldillo sauce on low.
- Preheat the remaining oil in a skillet at medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until the oil has reached a temperature of 365 degrees F. Place a few taquitos seam side down into the hot oil. Push them together while they fry. After 3 minutes, you can begin to turn as needed and continue frying until crispy all around. Transfer the taquitos standing up, to a bowl that is lined with paper towels.
- To a shallow bowl add three taquitos. Ladle on plenty of hot caldillo sauce. Top with generous amounts of shredded cheese. Garnish with onion and cilantro. Serve right away. Enjoy!
Notes
So, now that you have conquered this recipe for copycat Chico's Tacos imagine the possibilities of the different variations that you can create using different fillings and switching out the red caldillo for a salsa verde or salsa negra??? DELICIOUS!
If the corn tortillas are not the best quality, I will shallow fry them before filling and rolling them. Then later I will fry them until crispy!