It’s Taco Tuesday! I thought I’d try a new twist on one of our family favorite dishes- tacos! Old El Paso makes a really cool taco boat made from soft flour tortillas. It kinda looks as if a taco shell and a tostada chip were going to make a baby, they would end up with this cute little tortilla boat. The taco boats make Taco Tuesday even a little more fun for kids, because they can fill them by themselves.
Now you can use these soft taco boats just as they come, just follow the directions on the package by heating them in the microwave, and you have a simple soft taco boat ready to be filled. But when I saw this Grilled Chicken Taco Boat recipe on the Publix Flavor Excursion page, I knew the perfect and simple way to adapt it- make it crispy! The only difference between my recipe and theirs is that I used Wesson Vegetable oil to fry the boats to make them crispy. Easy! Crispy Taco Boats just like that.
Here are the ingredients I picked up from Publix: Kraft Natural Cheese, pre-shredded Mexico Taco Cheeses; Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing; Ro*Tel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, Hunt’s Petite Diced Tomatoes; green onions, cilantro, limes, Avocados From Mexico, chicken breasts and of course, the Old El Paso Soft Tortilla Taco Boats Dinner Kit.
First, I added the Ro*Tel tomatoes and green chillies, black beans and green onions to a bowl. To this I added some of the taco sauce from the dinner kit and the Kraft ranch dressing.
Next, I chopped the cilantro and I took two of the Old El Paso soft taco shells and sliced them into strips. (I will fry these strips and use them as a garnish, because my Little Made Man loves to sprinkle his own little “chips.”)
I followed the directions from the original recipe to grill the chicken. And then put it aside.
Next add Wesson oil to a frying pan and carefully put in the taco boats. You will need to rotate them on all sides and the tops and bottoms to get them crispy. 
After finishing the boats, I added the strips of tortilla. 
The boats and the tortilla strips get a nice, golden brown to them. 
Fill the boats with the spicy black bean salsa, then the chicken. Top with cheese, avocado, and the crispy tortillas strips. Olé! Crispy Taco Boats for your next Taco Tuesday!
Quick note: The Ro*Tel tomatoes and green chilies were just a tad to spicy for the Little Made Man, so I made him a second batch using the Hunt’s diced tomatoes. If your little ones want to skip tomatoes all together, these crispy taco boats would work perfectly with just grilled chicken and cheese, or even ground beef!
- 1 can (10 oz) Ro*Tel™ Original diced tomatoes & green chilies, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
- 2 medium green onions, thinly sliced (2 tablespoons)
- 1 Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff™ Taco Boats Soft Taco Kit
- 1/4 cup Kraft™ classic ranch dressing
- 1 tablespoon Wesson™ vegetable oil
- 1 cup Wesson™ vegetable oil (for crisping tortillas)
- 1 1/4lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup KRAFT™ natural shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 Avocados from Mexico™ medium avocado, pitted, peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 Lime wedges, if desired
- 1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. In medium bowl, stir tomatoes, black beans and green onions; set aside. In small bowl, stir 1/4 cup of the taco sauce (from dinner kit) and ranch dressing until well blended; set aside.
- 2. Brush oil on chicken breasts; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix (from dinner kit), and coat on all sides. Place chicken on direct heat of grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 12 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (165°F). Brush chicken with 2 tablespoons of taco sauce (from dinner kit) during last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove from grill, and cut into cubes.
- 3. Meanwhile, put 1 cup of oil in a deep pan and heat on medium. Using tongs, carefully add tortillas (from dinner kit) to the oil. Watch for tortillas to get a golden honey brown (about 15 seconds on each side and on the top and bottom.) Add the the sliced tortilla strips to the hot oil and remove once they are crispy.
- 4. To serve, spoon grilled chicken and salsa into tortillas. Top with cheese, taco ranch dressing, avocado and cilantro. Garnish with the crispy tortilla strips and lime.
From 9/9-9/23, click HERE >> Publix Flavor Excursion Coupon Page for great savings coupons!
Giveaway!
Mommy Mafia and Publix have teamed up for a $10 PayPal cash GIVEAWAY! Enter below!
Join the conversation! Follow hashtag #PublixFlavorExcursion
Just For You:
I love the Old El Paso taco kits. We’ve used the soft shell boats before but never thought to make them crispy. Thanks for the idea for dinner tonight – Taco Tuesday!!!
My favorite is the Old El Paso Soft Tortilla Taco Boats Dinner Kit. Yummy!
rotel mild sauce
I like the KRAFT Mexican shredded cheese and the Hunts canned tomatoes.
Oh we really love the Old El Paso Taco Boats!!!! These are the best thing to come along for the kids! Carter would always get frustrated with everything falling out of his shell…so these are wonderful!!!
I love Kraft classic ranch dressing.
I like Hunts diced tomatoes
I love Hunts Petite diced tomatoes. I use them in lots of recipes and have about a dozen cans all the time at home.