When Mr. Crumbs and I lived in Texas, we ate Tex-Mex all.the.time. We would split a single order of beef and chicken fajitas and with the never ending bowls of chips and salsa, we ate until our bellies literally held no more food – all for under $12.
And that INCLUDED tip.
Nowadays with food prices going up and living on the West coast, dinner doesn’t come by as cheap anymore. Also, there’s no such thing as “Tex-Mex” in California. With FIVE taquerias on the one mile main street in our tiny beach town, we officially live in the land of tacos.
It took us a little bit to warm up to the idea of tacos instead of fajitas, but we’ve come to enjoy the different flavors that the various shops have to offer. In fact, we now have taco night at home at least a couple times a month and use the local restaurants as inspiration for flavor and taco combinations.
While tacos are relatively cheap in California (about $1.40 for one), you know as well as I do that it doesn’t take long for the price to quickly add up for a family of four.
Taco nights at home are extremely affordable, and you can even serve meat!
Here are three simple ways to have affordable taco nights at home:
1. Offer several taco options.
You could easily call taco night “clean out the fridge and stick it in a tortilla night” since that’s often how we determine what’s being served, but if you plan ahead – just a little bit – you could really knock this meal out of the park. In fact, we often serve tacos to guests and it’s great, every time!
Note: As a clear out the fridge kind of meal, tacos work great when you are trying to stretch the budget just a bit at the end of the month. Learn more ideas on how to make your budget work for real food in Grocery Budget Bootcamp!
For a family of four, start by offering at least two fillings to go inside the tacos. Serve at least three fillings for groups of six or more. Some ideas include:
- coconut rice
- mexi lentils
- ground beef
- chopped steak
- shredded or chopped chicken
- carnitas (shredded pork)
- grilled fish
Next, offer two or three different relishes to also go inside the taco.
- southwestern corn
- sauteed onions and zucchini
- sauteed onions and bell peppers (fajita style)
- black beans
- refried beans
- cabbage slaw
Then, offer a few different types of salsa.
- homemade red salsa
- salsa verde
- mango salsa
- guacamole
- pico de gallo
Finally, serve a few traditional (and non-traditional) toppings for every one to top their tacos with.
- sour cream
- shredded cheese
- fresh cilantro
- fresh tomato wedges
- lime wedges
- chopped olives
- bacon pieces
- shredded lettuce
- lime crema
2. Serve everything in their own dish, pre-measured before dinner.
I learned this trick early on in our frugal adventures: If you bring an entire chicken to the table, the entire chicken will get eaten. So then, don’t bring the whole chicken. When food on the table is pre-measured, people are less likely to take as much.
I’m not saying skimp out on the food by any means, but I am saying to be conservative with your feeding efforts. Usually 1-1/2 cups of each dish you’re serving (including the relishes, salsa and toppings) is more than sufficient.
Taco night is a lot like Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, the table is filled with so much good food that you only take a tiny bit in order be able to try it all, right? Tacos are the same. You can only fit so much food inside a tortilla at one time. If someone wants to put rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, lettuce AND chicken in their taco, they’ll only take a little bit of each.
PS – It’s perfectly okay to cook extra chicken and leave it in the kitchen. Just in case someone is extra hungry.
3. Make your own tortillas.
Yes, homemade tortillas take a little bit of work. However, it is well worth the effort! Tortillas are one of those foods that are expensive to buy, yet incredibly inexpensive to make. One batch of corn tortillas costs only 25¢ and a batch of flour tortillas costs 50¢.
Homemade Corn Tortillas
It’s easily a toss up between corn tortillas and flour tortillas. We like to mix it up between the two, giving us even more variety to our tacos. You can find our favorite flour tortillas here.
- 1½ cups corn masa flour
- scant ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup warm water, plus extra as needed
- Preheat a griddle to 400F.
- Combine masa, salt and water in a large bowl.
- Using your hands, knead the mixture into a dough whose texture resembles play-dough. If necessary, add water to the mixture by wetting your hands and kneading. If you add water directly to the mixture it might become too wet and you will either have to let it sit to dry (approx 5-10 minutes) or add more masa.
- Pinch of a small portion of dough and roll into a ball, 1-2" in diameter. Place in a tortilla press and press into a 6" round tortilla. (You may use a rolling pin or a glass jar if desired.)
- Cook on the griddle for 1 minute. Flip and cook again for 1 more minute.
- Remove from the heat and keep covered. Serve warm.
Additional Tips to Make Taco Night a Success:
- Serve a simple side salad or a vegetable to stretch taco fillings even more.
- Taco night is ideal for serving small amounts of leftover meat, so freeze and save even the smallest amounts!
- Fresh ingredients taste better, so aim for fresh produce whenever possible.
The best part about taco night is leftovers: Simply divide whatever is left evenly into two or three containers (depending on how much food you started with) and you’re done!
Pair your tortillas for Mexican night with any of these dishes:
Slow Cooker Carnitas // Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken // Tortilla Soup // Southwestern Salad // Slow Cooker Refried Beans // Southwestern Corn // Mango Salsa // Spanish Rice // Red Salsa
Can this be doubled and frozen after cooking? Thinking that, if doubled, I might be able to knead it in a food processor. 🙂
You can definitely double, but I can’t vouch for freezing just yet. Corn tortillas seem to be a bit more sensitive when it comes to being leftovers and re-heated. Although, I bet undercooking a hair would make them a bit better later. Maybe make just a couple extras and experiment? If you do, please come back and let us know!
I’ve been making corn tortillas since moving to Ireland at a time when you couldn’t buy them. I brought the equipment for making tortillas with us when we moved from the States. Life without Mexican food just didn’t seem worth the move. I always freeze my tortillas when I’ve used what I need in the first day or two as I don’t have a family to feed. Maybe they’re not quite as wonderful after being frozen but not by much and so handy to be able to reach into the freezer and grab what I need. Mexican food has become really popular in Ireland in the last few years, the burrito bars are pretty good although I don’t trust the ingredients. Corn is very much a GMO crop. I go out of my way to find Masa that is GMO free. The corn tortillas we can purchase in supermarkets are made with wheat, corn and shortening. What [email protected]$%! I’m really looking forward to trying the carnitas recipe. Thanks very much for all the wonderful recipes and money saving tips.
My favorite taco is made with tiny cubes of pork that’s been pan-fried with cumin; a salsa of tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro; shredded cabbage (or coleslaw mix if we’re in a hurry); and a squeeze of lime on top. It’s light, fresh, and very flavorful. We eat it on corn tortillas that I’ve “fried” in a dry skillet.
YUM!
My fave taco filling: Thinly sliced apples, avocado, green onion, shredded cabbage and Sriracha.
Mmm – that sounds really good!
I just signed up and cannot figure out how to print these wonderful recipes! Help!
Hi Barbara! I just replied to your email. You should be able to print using the “print” button under the picture in the recipe box.
Made taco night tonight, but no tacos instead a baked potato. BTW Tiffany, the southwest corn is soooo delish in my mouth right now. If you have an IG for this website would love to tag it in my pic. Thanks a mil for your blog.
LOVE southwestern corn! Here you go Gaynel: http://instagram.com/tiffanycrumbs
I bet taco night over baked potatoes would be yummy!! You’re most welcome!
Do you have a recipe for the ‘mexilentils’? Thanks! Kara
Not a specific recipe, per se. I’d cook lentils according to the package, but add 1-2 Tbsp of taco seasoning plus a hefty dash of cumin and a pinch of cayenne. 🙂
About how many tortillas does this recipe make? Thanks!
Hi Cherith! I believe this makes about 10 tortillas. 🙂
Wait, where’s the link to the flour tortillas?
Here you go Debbie: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/03/yummy-recipe-homemade-flour-tortillas-white-or-wheat-with-soaking-option/
Are these supposed to turn out crispy or soft? I’m a tortilla-making first timer!
Soft!
Hi Tiffany! I just discovered your blog, and would love to sign up for the newsletter, but I’m having a little trouble finding just where to do that. Can you help? Thanks!
Hi Diana! You can do that on the black box near the top of the page, in the sidebar.
Hey Tiffany!
I love having tacos with beef and ranch dressing! They taste delicious! Since I’m blind, what would be the best way for me to make homemade taco shells? I usually buy the Old El Paso Stand-N-Stuff taco shells, and they taste amazing! However, I’d love to learn how to make a homemade version of them. I bet they would taste 100% better than the store-bought version! I love the hard crunchy kind, and my sweet love likes the soft kind. Are those Stand-N-Stuff Taco Shells like the recipe you make for your corn tortillas? To me, the stand-n-stuff taco shells sort of have a square bottom, rather than round. Mom says I could get some kind of form, which I’m guessing she means a mold. Maybe a tortilla press? I’m confused on that one!
Would this recipe work for making the Stand-N-Stuff version of taco shells? Is there a way to make them crunchy? I like hard-shell tacos, and my sweet love, Johnny, says he likes soft-shell tacos.
The only way I know to make soft tortillas crunchy, would be to deep-fry them, but then you’d need a mold too so that they hold their shape. I’m sorry I’m not much help here Annabelle!
What would be the best mold for the shape of Stand-N-Stuff tortillas? Also, is there a safe way to deep fry them without being spattered with hot oil?