During the holidays we have often found ourselves having friends and family over, sometimes at the last minute. It used to be a struggle to think of putting a meal together that would feed everyone and not look like it came out of a take out box, but then we started thinking outside that box. 🙂 One of my family’s favourite weeknight meals are tacos. The leftovers even go to work and school for lunch. We love the variety of the toppings you can put on and with the neat selection of shells from Old El Paso, we are never bored. I have always enjoyed the hard shells, but my kids totally love the soft Tortilla Bowls. I like that they come in a mini size so there is less waste. And those fit in a lunch box a lot easier than the big ones.
Knowing that we have a small gathering of family and friends over for Halloween each year, this time we decided to try out our new go-to taco rescue meal instead of having the usual pizza. What resulted was a spread that would work perfectly for any get-together or party you have planned for the upcoming holiday season. The kids loved our idea so much, that my daughter promptly said this is what she wants to serve at her next sleep over. 🙂
Cheese and sour cream and lettuce, oh my!
Our newest additions – loaded salsa and bean sprouts!
Tasty Taco Sliders
This recipe came from a desire to have good and hearty food to serve our guests, but in smaller amounts. Kind of like appetizers, but a little more filling. We have a small home so I liked the idea of setting up a station where people can pick their own toppings. We used the Old El Paso Mini Tortilla Bowls and mixed in some smaller, hard nacho scoops. The variety was well received and the kiddos loved having everything served be “their size.”
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of ground beef/chicken/turkey
- 1 large can (796ml) of crushed tomatoes, drained well
- 1 large can (540ml) of chick peas, drained
- 1 large onion
- 2 packages of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
- 2-3 packages of Old El Paso Mini Tortilla Bowls
- 1-2 bags of nacho chips shaped like little scoops
Toppings:
This is where you can go wild! We always have the standards of sour cream, shredded marble cheese and lettuce, but we also mix things up with bean sprouts, corn, refried beans, salsa, diced tomatoes, shredded cucumber and onions.
Directions:
1) Combine the can of drained crushed tomatoes and chick peas in a blender. We also chop up the onion and add it to the blender because the kiddos do not like onions if they can see them. 😉 Blend until the chunks are gone.
2) Cook the ground meat in a frying pan, starting at medium-high heat, lowering the temperature a little as the meat cooks. I like to chop the meat up into smaller pieces so it is easier to put in your taco. Once your meat is cooked, drain the excess oil and add in your taco seasoning mix and water, following the package directions. Stir in the seasoning until it is blended.
3) Pour the contents of the blender into your frying pan and mix completely into your cooked meat. Let this simmer for awhile, on low heat, while the excess water cooks off. Stir occasionally to avoid the meat mixture sticking to your pan.
4) While your meat mixture is cooking through, prepare your toppings. Shred the cheese, scoop out your sour cream and chop up the lettuce. Our newest addition to the taco table is bean sprouts! My son loves their crunchy texture. We like to place each of the toppings into smaller serving bowls and place them buffet style on the table.
5) When your meat has reduced, you can transfer it to a large serving bowl to make it easier for your guests to serve themselves.
6) Just before calling everyone to make their Tasty Taco Sliders, I like to pop some of the Mini Tortilla Bowls in the microwave to heat them up, just a little bit. Place your bowls and nacho scoops on a plate or bowl and watch your guests have fun!
By adding a festive tablecloth, some funky napkins and cool dinnerwear (you can even use paper plates with a holiday theme), you will keep your guests happy and well fed. The best part is, the leftovers get to go in your lunch. 😉
What is your favourite go-to meal for when guests come over?
FT&PD
Suz
**Read more about our adventures with Old El Paso here and here. 🙂
This post is sponsored by Old El Paso. In exchange for this review, I have received special perks in the form of products and/or compensation. All opinions on this blog are my own.
These would be great appetizers for holiday entertaining.
This is a great idea for entertaining. I am always looking for something different.
Thanks for sharing the recipe for your Tasty Taco Sliders,i can’t wait to give them a try !
Nice indeed, I like the idea of taco sliders, I could nibble on one or two right now 🙂
mmmm tortillas, burritos, tacos LOVE LOVE !!! such a yummy dish! my go to when guests come over are spring rolls, sliders, sausage rolls, veggies, nachos & nacho dip 🙂
fun snack or dinner ideal
Tacos are one of our favorite meals. I haven’t had them like this before. Sounds delicious!
I’ve just recently seen the little taco bowls in stores. Super cute. And a great idea for bringing to Christmas parties when you want to contribute something a little different.
I would never have thought to include tacos in lunches! What a great idea.
What a great idea- perfect for the holiday season
I love tacos and these look yummy.
We had these for lunch today,i sure love Old El Paso
I discovered these wonderful little “boats” a couple of years ago while shopping over the border and have been hooked ever since. I am so glad we can get them in Canada now. Makes taco night so much easier
Love that – boats! My kids will not eat anything else for Taco night now. They have to have the boats! They do make it easier to clean up after too, which is a huge bonus!
tacos are a favourite in our house!
We do mexican food often in our house. Theses look like a fun food night.
My go to meal for guests is a mini muffin quiche; I also keep a lot of foods on hand (frozen) like indian curries and meals (so all I have to make is fresh basmati rice which only takes 30 minutes).
These look yummalicious!! I’d have these for a snack with or without company lol
I love these Mini Tortilla Bowls. It’s great for when guests come over because they can choose any topping that they prefer.
My kids LOVE taco night. I want to try these soft shells sometime!
My family would love these. Especially the kids.
This is a great idea and I plan on trying it with my nephew. Thanks!
I enjoy tacos, such an easy and enjoyable meal.
yummy we love taco , i haven’t tried the taco bowls yet , i will def be trying them out after seeing this , yummy i’m drooling 🙂
These tacos sound and look delicious. I’ve never seen the Mini Tortilla Bowls before only the larger ones but I’ll be trying them. I also love all of your toppings because I’d never thought of bean sprouts, cucumber, carrots and chick peas but they all sound and look delicious too. Thanks for all the great ideas !
I did this recipe last night and OMG it was really good. The tomato & chick peas help give it a really new flavor that using just water doesn’t give it. We also did the different toppings and they were so good that my family agrees that we’re not going back to the original recipe or toppings because we love the new way much more !
The only thing we’d change is to make the taco bowls a little bigger because although they taste great we’d like a little more to hold onto! Thanks for your recipe Suzanne !
I’ve never tried the mini tortilla bowls before just the soft ones.
These taco bowls look amazing and we love them and have them often.I like to
have lots of different toppings like yours! 🙂
I will have to try out the taco bowls
I would make these taco sliders out of Turkey. I think that would taste fantastic.
Mmmmm I want these for dinner tonight!
I love these little taco mini bowls as I have used them also and they are great for making small amounts….but even with that said they fill us up!! I like your recipe for filling so I am pinning it too. I’m always looking for new things to make or change up with recipes.. thanks for sharing.
I love the mini bowls and so do my kids. We have them at least once a week. When we want a snack we just add grated cheese and chopped onion and put them in the toaster over to melt the cheese. So good.
Thanks for sharing these recipes for the Taco Sliders. They sound delicious and I am going to give them a try.
Oh yummy, my grandkids would love this recipe, It looks very easy and very good
Thanks for this recipe for the taco sliders My daughter and I will make them this week-end.
We really like Mexican food in our house. These would be great for dinner.
I love easy recipes for entertaining. A go-to of mine is slow cooker roast chicken and potatoes.
These Taco Sliders look so yummy! I just love Mexican food and Old El Paso is my favourite brand.