Colette’s Tasty Turkey Tacos

At a previous job there were a group of us that instituted Taco Tuesday lunches. My friend Colette brought an electric frying pan to the office and we had access to a microwave and refrigerator. That was all we needed to make some of the tastiest tacos I have ever eaten!

We were each assigned to bring various taco ingredients for Taco Tuesdays. My coworkers, Aida, Jeanne and I worked a stressful job and we always looked forward to Colette’s delicious tacos. The three of us brought the taco toppings but Colette always insisted on bringing the taco meat and frying up the taco shells in her electric skillet right there in her office.

Before I was a part of the taco club at work, when I made tacos I would purchase the hard taco shells at the grocery store, and heat them up in the oven. I never thought much about the shells, they were just the vessel that kept all the ingredients together, until you took your first bite and they crumbled and all the filling fell out.

Colette taught us how to fry up corn tortillas and sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese. Total taco game changer!

The first secret ingredient: a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese added to the fried corn tortilla shells.

It only takes a few extra minutes to fry up corn tortillas and it takes ordinary tacos to a whole new level!

I like using my electric skillet for this because it has a thermostat that allows me to get the oil to just the right temperature and keep it there as I fry up golden crisp tortillas. 370 degrees is the perfect setting on my electric skillet for the job.

Depending on the type of skillet you have, the optimum temperature may vary a bit. You can just as easily use a frying pan on the stove for this if you don’t own an electric skillet.

Your goal is to get the oil hot enough so the tortillas fry up nice and crisp, but not so hot that they start to burn when they hit the pan.

Heat about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in your skillet. Once the oil is hot, gently lay a corn tortilla into the hot oil and fry on one side for about 30-45 seconds. You want it to just start to crisp up, but not brown. It will get too tough and chewy if you overcook it, so keep a close eye on it. Practice makes perfect. Once you do this a few times you will get the hang of it and easily tell when they are cooked just right and need to be flipped to cook on the other side.

Turn the tortilla and fold it in half with a pair of tongs. Continue to fry it until the tortilla starts to brown just a tiny little bit on both outside halves. Using tongs, remove the cooked shell from the oil, allowing the excess oil to drip back into the skillet.

Place the tortilla on a paper towel lined platter and sprinkle the outsides with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. For extra cheesy shells, open the tortilla and sprinkle the inside with a little extra Parm too. YUM!

Once you master this technique you will never go back to eating tacos with the hard shells ever again!

On to the turkey meat.

The second secret ingredient: an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce. Adding a can of tomato sauce to the meat gives it a rich tasty flavor!

In a large skillet break up a pound of ground turkey meat and cook over medium heat until nicely browned.

Add an envelope of taco seasoning, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce and an 8 oz. can of water. Stir to combine the ingredients and simmer on low until the liquid has evaporated and the meat mixture is thick and saucy. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

While the meat is simmering away you will have time to fry up the tortillas.

Serve with your favorite taco toppings, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and sliced black olives are a few of our favorite toppings…

The third secret ingredient: chopped cilantro and onion. Combine in your food processor until finely chopped. If you love Cilantro you will love adding this to your tacos!

Serve tacos with chips & salsa, and add a side of rice & beans to round out the meal.

You can find my favorite recipe for an easy restaurant style Spanish rice here.

Try my favorite refried beans. I call them Monster Mash. You can find the recipe for them here.

Want to try your hand at making homemade salsa? It’s a lot easier than you think and tastes so much better than anything you can buy at the grocery store. My favorite salsa recipe comes to together in a flash. Go ahead and give it a try, it’s delicious. You can find the recipe for it here.

Round out the meal and serve Beer-ga-ritas to wash it all down! You can find the recipe for how to make them here. They are crazy good and super easy to make!

You can easily make nachos, burritos or a taco salad with any leftovers you might have.

Everyone loves a good taco! Whether you dedicate Tuesdays as taco night or want an easy casual meal for entertaining, you can’t go wrong with these tasty turkey tacos. They will be a huge hit, guaranteed!

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