HARD SHELL GROUND BEEF TACOS | Gringo Tacos with Crispy Fried Shells 

Hey Bri, I made this for our local soup kitchen/ homeless shelter. It was easy to upscale to feed 60 people. And everyone came back for seconds! They all raved about it. And my team was impressed also with the recipe, so lots of families were treated to a good taco Tuesday. I never cooked that much ground beef before- 30 pounds! Thanks again for a great recipe.

I grew up eating Pace Picante Medium. That's what was always in the fridge, and I still love it because it reminds me of eating breakfast burritos with my dad, who is no longer with us

Yeah, so… just made this… Clearly I’ve been doing tacos wrong all my life. Never again with the package. This was so amazing 💪🏾

I LOVE that you worked this hard to recreate this taco and even improve it. I’m quickly becoming addicted to your videos. Please do not burn out.

One of the best aspects of gringo tacos is that they are cheap and fast. What is so amazing about this video is that you stayed true to that concept here. With just a little bit more money and time you can have a way better experience that’s definitely worth the exchange for me. 🤙🏼

I have a modification for your tortilla frying process: When the oil is hot, lay a corn tortilla gently into the oil (flat) and allow it to cook for about 15 seconds, then turn the tortilla over and then make the bend by using the tongs you make an angle so one side is flat. Cook until crisp. Turn the tortilla on its back next for 10-15 seconds, then complete the bend by flipping the other side down to finish it (cook until crisp. This eliminates the bubble that you have to “pop”, which is the steam building up and exiting the weakest part of the tortilla (and the most moist!) but when you do it the way I described, it eliminates the bubble by getting rid of some of the moisture on the “inside” before it’s flipped and then slowly folded/formed by frying all outer surfaces. I’d love to see you try it out! :)

I had instant masa left over from Brian's Taco Pizza recipe, and I used it to make homemade tortillas. It's a really quick learning curve if you've never made them before. (It was my first time.)

My wife LOVES when I crisp up shells, but the Bri recommendations are ALWAYS going to improve what I can create for her. My fingies will thank you for the two tong recommendation for sure!

Just made this and my family loved it. Thanks for the recipe and the instructions. This one is going into my normal line up.

Made these over the weekend, and I am blown away at how good they are. Can't wait to try more of your recipes !

I can appreciate someone who accepts that sometimes there no point in making it yourself! As much as I enjoy making everything! sometime you have to know when to call it and just buy the stuff! And I used the same sauce as a kid. lol

I agree … Ortega was a staple when our family had ground beef tacos.

I actually watched this to see what corn tortilla you were about to use. Great pick 👏 it's a chicago brand and it's only like 60 cents a pack. Way better then anything else you will get.

We had a place in the kitchen where we kept all the sauces from the fast food places we went. That’s my nostalgia!! That’s a bit of home right there. Love all the videos keep them coming!

Mexican here! We put the meat into the folded tortilla, hold it w tongs & put the whole thing into the oil. This helps get that nice orange oil drip onto your plate. And we used Pico Pica taco sauce.

We've always done it the soft-fried way. Delicious as well. Just 15 seconds both sides, no bending required. lol. The taste of the lime in the tortillas (mineral not the fruit) really comes through. Like the steamed tortillas but better.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. My mom was the only mom in town making tacos and we didn’t have pre-made shells. She fried her tortillas. I had a classmate over one weekend and he ate 6. 😂 I use Pace Medium for my salsa nowadays. Love the stuff.

Made these this past weekend. Very good; very easy to make. I just make a huge mess when I cook! Good reviews from the fam. Thanks, Brian.

Dude your recipes are so reliable and amazing! Best taco shell ever 🤩👍

Ortega sauce all the way. Also want to add if you don't have two tongs use aluminum foil to make a mold to mold the tortilla around (thanks alton brown)

Grew up in Iowa in the 90s, I remember Ortega! It did hit the little nostalgia part in my brain, because I don't think I've had it in 20+ years.

Here's the tacos I grew up with, made by my Mom from Illinois, but she learned her method in Southern Cali: Tortilla in the oil just to soften, then fill with meat, then back in the oil (well, Lard, actually - she didn't play!), until crispy. Red grease running down my arm. It's been over 40 years since I had those! But I like your method, and will try out on the fam!!

I'm 46 and grew up on everything ortega on friday night taco night. But now I just finely dice a white onion, garlic and a pablano pepper with the ground beef. my seasoning is cumin, ancho chili powder, chili powder, coriander powder, smoked paprika, ground thyme, and some cyan pepper.

Looks soooo good. Try this for salsa though. 1 can Herdez salsa casera, 1 can diced tomatoes and green Chiles, 1/2 to 1 full jalapeño depending on your love of the heat factor. Blend in food processor or blender for a few seconds until it’s not chunky. Refrigerate and eat with your tacos or chips when snacky. Hopefully you’ll agree that’s a good semi-homemade salsa 👍

I live in San Diego, so finding fresh tortillas isn't any kind of a problem. I grew up on my dad's tacos. The taco meat was similar to yours, but the hamburger wasn't broken up so much. And La Victoria was (and is) the best choice for taco sauce.

I am always impressed by how easy you make it look to cook great food, but I gotta give you extra props for eating a taco on camera without getting it on your shirt.

Absolutely love your vids!

So easy. So yum. Thank you!

Tacos look amazing!!! Definitely going to try this recipe out. Great job Chef!

As I watch your video, I am split in my focus between the technical aspects of creating the video to the ingredients, tools and methods involved. It is clear that you put a lot of thought into your planning of the video and handle the editing remarkably well. Thank you for sharing this. I would like to say that my Mexican-American mom used to slice the iceberg lettuce, and then she would add mayonnaise and salt to it to balance the iceberg`s bitterness. To this day, it is what I prefer - chalk it up to childhood memories. My stomach remembers. Now, I live in Ukraine, where you are lucky to find a dozen Mexican ingredients, definitely no corn tortillas, and heavily processed flour tortillas. I do with what I`ve got. At least there`s lard at the farmers market so I can use it in frijoles and flour tortillas.

The “snack” bit made me laugh so hard I had to pause the video. Great stuff as always Brian

Ortega taco sauce is, I think, best used in hard shell operations. Usually for soft tortilla I prefer a salsa type but Ortega does, for Tex-Mex purposes, work well with hard shell.

This is what I am making Tuesday. Thx!

I was feeling lazy and didn't make the shell myself, it still came out great. The beef is so much better than what I'm used to in tacos.

Beautiful execution!!

"The nostalgia factor needs to be taken into account." Ha! Nuggets like this is what makes the Lagerstrom Method shine!

After just making a big mess, "kept my shirt clean dude!" LOL

I love the cooking snack!

You’re killin it! Looks delicious, love the extra effort!

¡Perfecto!🎉. Gracias

Those look delicious! I use Tostitos chunky medium hot salsa on my tacos. I just recently got some masa flour and I'm going to make my own shells. You can get alot more out of a full sized bag of that than you get from the pre-made ones at the store.

A few tips for basic bros like me. Do actually shred your own cheese, it’s cheaper and so much better. I make a ton of quesadillas and stuff and when I switched to shredding my own, the quality skyrocketed. Next, use a biscuit dough cutter thing to dice up your ground meat in the pan. It’s easy, fast and gets a very consistent nice result pretty quickly without sitting there and mashing and poking with a wooden spoon or spatula for ten minutes… pick up a biscuit dough cutter thingy… you can use it for chunky mashed potatoes, ground meats and mixing salads like tuna or chicken salads. It’s super useful in the kitchen for basic meals. Last one is for the first tip, buy a rotary shredder. Period. You push the cheese in and crank and it shreds SO FAST! If you have a dishwasher it’s no big deal, but even without it’s not hard to clean. It makes having fresh shredded cheese so easy and fast and takes away any of the reasons to not use fresh blocks of cheese. They typically come with multiple shred wheels so you can make shredded veggies, zucchini noodles and more with the one tool. If you plan to make any amount of pizzas, grilled cheese, hot sandwiches, Mac and cheese or anything else like that on a regular basis… you absolutely need a rotary shredder. Crank dat cheeeeszzzee boooiiii! So fun.

These gringo tacos are the bomb. I'm making them tonight for the secondtime. My husband constantly requests these for dinner. I make the recipe exactly as Bri dictates it, no changes. I never shop at commercial grocers (Safeway yuck) where Monsanto is king, but hey, I gotta hit Safeway for my Ortega taco sauce ! Nothing compares....

Ever since the one pot spaghetti I've been using better than bullion beef base whenever I cook ground beef. Can't wait to try it with fried corn shells

Catching up on your videos now. So glad I found this channel. You are killing it!

When the taco fell over I died 😂 so glad your channel blew up! I subscribed about a month ago and I’m going back and watching older videos now.

Lol you guys are so funny. Gawd, all these recipes and technique are so good!! Nice piping bag action with the sour cream. I'll have to try this for taco night!

Doing these tonight! Got a tortilla press, so making them myself. Sure it will be awesome like everything else of yours I've made.

I just made these shells with just the cheap preservative filled corn tortillas I found at Wally World. They were still delicious. Don’t be afraid if you can’t find the good ones. Solid content Bri!

I’ve never even heard of Ortega sauce until now… lol For me, Taco Bell Mild Sauce is basically my taco seasoning. After I have my seasoned ground beef or chicken I always drizzle some Taco Bell sauce on my taco, in my quesadilla or mix it into my sour cream/crema mixture to make my own special sauce! My sauce is 1pt sour cream, .75 pt crema, and .25pt Taco Bell mild sauce and I mix it up. Dip your quesadilla into it or drizzle on a taco… so good! Add a bit of lime juice if you have it on hand for a nice fresh kick. Hell yeah. I’ll have to try Ortega, I wonder if it’s similar to my Taco Bell sauce. I buy the Taco Bell sauce in a bottle and keep the packets I get for my motorcycle/onewheel picnics when I need a hit of yummy on the go! Haha It’s funny, I sound like an advertisement for Taco Bell all the time to my friends and family.. I rant about the awesome sauce, my favorite burrito to order and Crunchwrap supremes! Haha

Love it!

Bri, had me at tacos. Can't wait to try. Thanks

Chi-Chi's is my go to mexican dip & sauce brand, it does beat out all others & if you do not believe me & think I am wrong you'll need to taste it for yourself. If you only see Herr's mexican dips & sauces, it is the same thing, Herr's is selling Chi-Chi's under their label since Herr's is a family owned chip brand & growing up in PA I do have a bias towards it. btw Chi-Chi's went out of business in 2003 closing down their restaurants in North America, they were a Chili's style restaurant in size & decor that was always my go to fast food restaurant a few steps higher than a McDonald's or a Wendy's... but today if I want Cheeseburger & Fries type meal I would go to a pub, local & hopefully family owned and with the insane prices at fast food restaurants today (the days of the dollar menus are long gone) a pub is a much better deal & the quality of food is many times higher ...and you can sit down & have a beer. btw like a casino, the price of the food is usually at cost or even at a loss for the owners where they make their money is in the sale of alcohol, as in how a casino makes money with gambling. when I lived & worked in Philly my favorite was the Irish Pub at 20th & Walnut, on Tuesdays they had a Poor-Richard which was an unchangeable discounted menu item and on Tuesdays the unchangeable item was a hot roast beef sandwich & a bowl of soup for around $3. In the cold & dreary philadelphia winter this was a ray of sunshine every week. They also have the best steak fries, crispy outside & creamy potato inside. They have really nice seating in the back, if you try & order food in the front in their bar area they can get pissy, this includes the tables in the front.

My bad, you did add the cheese second. I'm going to try the home spice mix,I've always been the packet guy, but I always smear the tortilla with retrieve before building, shell,beans,meat then stuff. The beans glue the shell all together. Plus it rocks! Love you bud!

We grew up eating Ortega also. But, those shells remind me of the ones from the Mexican restaurant that our cousin would take us to as kids while she was in college.

I occasionally make this type of taco. Almost exactly that way. I've found I like them better when I season the beef a little less. Also, I think Pico Pica makes the best bottled taco sauce. This may sound odd, but I actually prefer feta for the cheese.

I buy El Milagro tortillas all the time! Best corn tortilla ever!!

These turned out AMAZING!!! Thanks for the recipe!

OMG Ortega!!! I literally just use Ortega instead of tomato sauce when I make taco meat. I learned that from my dad who always does it that way!

Made your tacos, excellent, very favour full , not drippy, very crunchy, will always make these when wanting tacos 👍👍

I grew up with La Victoria taco sauce. So good my mom had her ship it from Florida to Massachusetts cuz they didn’t have it up here!

Thanks for showing us how to make taco shells. I've made homemade tostadas many times b/c it's easier but now I know. IMO if you've got homemade taco shells, good quality meat sauce and cheese the "taco" sauce is optional or at the very least up to your own preference.

Ortega is where it's at. nostalgia factor for sure

pico pica all the way! that's what I grew up with and still eat We grew up on turkey tacos, because ground beef is kinda iffy and my stepdad had heart issues, but my mom fried the tortillas on both sides and let them firm up folded on a paper towel. nice trip down the ole lane here, great vid c:

That's an awesome-looking recipe. I have to make the shells from scratch as there are none in the Philippines...

Pio Pica sauce use to be my go to, but taco bell fire is my current favorite

Great videos and recipes.

Chalula for American style soft/hard tacos. Soft tacos also get a bit of fresh salsa. For authentic street tacos - I make a run to the Carniceria a couple of blocks away and purchase a tub of the salsa Verde they make/sell/use at their taco trucks. Whenever I try to make homemade salsa Verde, I end up with a big bowl of tomatillo jelly.

Love your videos.

I grill or flat grill no stick pan, cooked my tortilla shells to medium dine no oil 6" torillas . Found this the best way so far no fuss quick and easy multiples at once . Homemade salsa is the secret to good tacos, picante, fresh cilantro onions and chunky and fine diced tomatoes makes a thick sauce. You might not even season your meat with good salsa .

Well this looks insane. I will definitely make this.

ism making these on Friday and they look sooo tasty, and i think they're going to be great!

I grew up learning to season with spices and not seasoning packets. I honestly thought that was how everyone did it. Have never tried to make my own crunchy shells though, will be giving that a try!

Looks great! I always use lean meat for ground beef tacos. Sometimes, if I'm feeling like a bad boy, I'll just mince it myself. I actually never use chili powder, since thats essentially just chilis, cumin, and garlic, and I can get a lot better flavor with a little more work using whole spices and either grind them before or make a sauce and blend it. I've never made my own hard shells, so I will definitely have to do that next time!

We Used Ortega Green Chili Salsa on Tacos Nothing Was Better and They Stopped Making it Years Ago.Thank You for These Videos

I love to see some Aldi love.

Taco Tuesdays come and go but this recipe will keep um coming back for more. You took the scare out of making your own shells.

Just made these awesome tacos! Super crunchy 🌮🌮🌮

For me it's store-bought Pace picante sauce or my own homemade salsa. When my son was deployed overseas Taco Bell hot sauce was what he missed the most in his food. I got him a case and mailed it out to him!

Looks good I'm going to try it tonight but with ground turkey... Due to gout issues. Keep up up the good work!

Why did I laugh so hard when the taco fell? 😂 Then he was like dang it..... Get in my tummy 🌮

Every time I watch one of your videos, I'm like....dang, I have to make tacos now, or shrimp cocktail or bread, or hey...let's make pasta! Keep 'em coming!

My mouth is literally watering lol. Homemade taco shells is clearly a game changer. Did you know they actually sell Taco Bell’s sauce in the grocery store? It’s pretty solid 👌🏻

This is awesome! We grew up with La Victoria Green taco sauce and Red taco sauce..... Trying this Friday

Dude, I buy ortega in doubles. Mom taught me well. So happy to see you using it!!!!!

In my house we use siracha and cholula. The sour cream goes first on the shell, so does the rooster sauce. If its underneath everything else it wont burn your lips! Im gonna try your beef seasoning! Thanks!

Thanks for the Ortega sauce suggestion. I'm going to add it to my shopping list this week! I can't wait to try it.

I laughed so hard Chef Brian went "Ortega" on us.... No judging just not what I expected AT ALL... Love the technique, this is mostly what I've been doing for years and it makes all the difference.

brian is just adorable

You and I are in sync. This vid popped up as I sat down to eat nachos topped with....pepper jack and cheddar cheeses. Taco seasoning mix is mainly salt so I appreciate your recipe, and true corn tortillas last a short while on the store shelf only if there's enough turnover. My only sauce choices are made by Herdez in Mexico. Their salsa casera singularly does not use vinegar as an acid. Instead, it's citric acid which provides tartness but has no distinct flavor to compete with the other components. Your meat filling is also excellent for making enchiladas topped with mild red chile sauce and the cheese blend. So good !

"Kept my shirt clean, dood" 😂 (My Mom wouldn't let us eat tacos when we were kids, so I didn't experience the amazingness of tacos until I was in college. I gotta say, I do like Taco Bell's sauces. Nothing else from there tho, just the sauces.)

I'm ridiculously late to this vid, but I'm fairly certain my sauce for tacos is way the hell out at Pearl. I put a drizzle of thousand island dressing on mine. It's weird, I know, but I grew up seeing my dad put it on his tacos instead of sour cream and, well, I wanted to be like my dad so I did it once...and it was phenomenal. That was 40 years ago so it's ingrained at this point. My sister does it, too, and I scarred one of my kids enough that he loves it on his.

Looks yummy

I question the brown sugar, but I understand (just not in mine). Totally agree, though, with the fat ratio of the meat. That is very important. And, of course, frying the shells yourself makes a world of difference. Good video, and now I want tacos.

I'm lucky to have a mexican grandmother so we've always fried our own shells - somewhere along the line someone gringo'd it up so now there are always black olives on the table, but whatevs. I'm usually lazy and add a good pico de gallo instead of cut maters, but i like to have diced white onions on there too - even some avocado if i'm feelin' fancy. Interesting choice to add ACV and brown shugga into the meat - will have to give that a try next time I give it a go - which will probably be this week because a week without tacos is, well.... let's just say I don't want to live in a world where there's more than a 1 week wait between tacos.

Sun gold tomato’s are the best cherry tomato. I grow at least 60 to 70 plants of 8 to 9 varieties of tomato’s every year. I found the Sun golds last year. No tomato from my garden has been as good as those little fellas. Tacos looked good too.

I like to add a caribe pepper or two to a habenero salsa. Absolutely delicious, and I find the caribe pepper adds a subtle fruity ness.

I love Mexican food recipes that are not covered in cilantro. Well done. When you love Mexican food but have the cilantro hating gene, going to a Mexican restaurant is like being in a minefield.

Ortega🎉in my house when I was a kid🙌

Add a soft tortilla with some refried beans to cover the hard shell, yeah like taco bell, could help keep it less messy and I think it would taste great. I will have to try it.