Tacos Dorados de Papa (Potato Tacos)
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:20 tacos (4 to 6 servings)
- 2medium tomatoes, quartered
- 1small yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2large garlic cloves, peeled
- 1¾cups neutral oil, such as grapeseed oil, plus more as needed
- 4medium russet potatoes, peeled and boiled until fork-tender
- 1tablespoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal), plus more to taste
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- 1tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
- 6ounces purple cabbage, thinly shredded (about 2½ cups)
- 1teaspoon lemon juice
- 20(6-inch) corn tortillas
- Sour cream, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
886 calories; 67 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 46 grams polyunsaturated fat; 68 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 873 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic to a blender, and blend until smooth.
- Step 2
Heat a pot (preferably the same pot used to cook the potatoes to save on dishes) over medium and add ¼ cup of oil. Once hot and shimmering, add the blended tomato mixture. Cook until it starts to reduce and darken, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the cooked potatoes to the pot and mash with a bean or potato masher until fully incorporated with the tomato mixture and just slightly chunky, but mostly smooth. Add salt, cumin and nutritional yeast, if using, and stir to combine. Turn off the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Step 4
Add the shredded cabbage to a bowl with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Toss to incorporate, and set aside.
- Step 5
Heat a dry (12-inch) skillet over medium. Warm all of the tortillas on each side in the dry skillet until soft and pliable, about 1 minute, and stack in a dish towel to keep warm. Add about ¼ cup of the potato mixture to half of each tortilla and fold over to cover. Try to keep the potato mixture completely tucked inside, then place the stuffed tortilla on a tray or plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with all of the tortillas.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, heat remaining 1½ cups of oil in a separate skillet over medium. Test the oil temperature by dipping an end of a tortilla to check for bubbling. Once the oil is hot, add 4 to 5 tacos at a time to the skillet. Cook the first side for 1 to 3 minutes, then gently flip and cook for an additional 1 to 3 minutes until crispy and golden.
- Step 7
Carefully remove the tacos from the hot oil and return to the paper towel-lined tray or plate to drain off excess oil. Cook the remaining tacos, adding additional oil as needed and scooping out any potato bits with a slotted spoon.
- Step 8
Serve immediately with sour cream and shredded cabbage.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Bobbi Loewy
Here's a heart healthy riff on your otherwise fantastic recipe (wishing I could still eat that!): Chop the tomatoes, mince the onions and garlic and add to hot lightly mashed potatoes. Rest of steps 3 +4; then heat the taco shells in dry skillet or choose low sodium tortilla chips to scoop up the mix--just about as great, but nearly fat free!
Susan Carrick
Making tacos dorados are a staple here in Arizona. To keep myself from standing over a hot frying pan, I have learned to: Coat sheet pan with oil, lay 6-8 tortillas on the pan and turn to coat both sides. Place whatever filling on one side and bake for about two minutes. (This will soften the tortillas so you can fold them.) Remove sheet pan, fold the tacos and let cook for another 5-7 minutes. Crunchy, yummy tacos dorados (done hands free while you prep the salsa.
Victor
I want to try this. However I don't see how the tacos can be fried without drowning in the 1 1/2 cup of oil (about 1/2 inch deep in a frying pan. Less oil? Though the recipe says this much. Has the recipe actually been tested with this much oil?
Bill
A pierogi by any other name is still a pierogi.
Ana
You're not supposed to drown the tacos in oil, but you do need sufficient oil for them to be fried. Rather than heating the tortillas in a dry skillet, place them in a kitchen towel and pop them in the microwave for 1 min. We do 10 at a time. Skip the cumin and the tomato mixture inside the potato--it's more refreshing to have the tomatoes on top of the tacos like a pico de gallo & as a salsa. Nutritional yeast for this recipe is also not necessary as the simple seasoning of S&P does the trick.
betteirene
These are not deep-fried tacos: One-and-a-half cups of oil in a 12" skillet is barely 1/2" deep. You certainly could use less oil, but you'd risk having the tacos turn out chewy instead of crispy. If the oil is hot enough, the tortillas will crisp up, as will the edges of the filling, without absorbing the oil and becoming greasy. But there are many people who love tacos that drip grease, as evidenced by the staggering amount of them sold at Jack In The Box fast-food restaurants.
Rita
Try brushing with olive oil and popping in the air fryer. My mini oven has the air fryer function and the basket that came with the oven works great to crisp stuffed tortillas without so much fuss or oil!
Donna
I use about 1/8 inch oil and heat to medium. No need to pre-heat the tortilla. Hold it in your palm, and add a spoonful of filling. Carefully lay the filling side of the tortilla in the oil, allowing the tortilla to soften at the crease so it can fold on top of itself. After the first side is golden, flip it over and lightly brown the other side. When they're done, gently hold them with tongs over the pan to let excess oil drain, and then lay them flat on on paper towels until it's time to eat.
Suzanne
Too much oil for me! I'm going to try crisping them in the oven, maybe with a little cooking spray on the tortillas.
Christy
These are very good. I took Susan from AZ's suggestion of baking rather than frying and it worked well. Instead of plain cabbage and lemon I made the kind of slaw (with tomatoes, chiles and cilantro) you see in salsa bars. For those that thought it was bland--you likely didn't salt enough. Taste the filling. It should be delicious on its own.
Susan
It's winter and here in the US tomatoes are pale imitations of their seasonal selves. I'm using a drained can of diced tomatoes instead. No other changes. Chef's kiss 💋
Dave H
Anyone know if you can prepare in advance and freeze?
Jo
I made the tacos dorados, but I say that just the tomato-mashed potato part by itself is the winner!
KatKull
My Mom taught me to make tacos dorado in the 1970s in Tucson, AZ. She puts a thin patty of lean, raw burger on half the tortilla and, as someone else mentioned, put the not-yet creased taco into the oil so it gets soft, then just let the tortilla fold over the meat. The meat is cooked even before the shells get crisp. Flip to get the entire taco crisp, add lettuce with radishes and scallions, cheese and salsa. Best tacos ever. A couple of places in Tucson serve them but they're not Mom's.
Minor Adjustment But Delicious!
Made it a boiled salsa adding a serano blended smooth. Kept a cup of the salted potato water to thin out salsa as cooking it. Added a pinch of chili powder and paprika. Used more oil and very hot to get crispy taco. Best if potato filling prepared the night before. Served topped with Quezo duro rallado and cabbage on the side.
Eva
These were delicious. The potatoes really soak up the oil though, beware, it’s quite heavy.
Christy
These are very good. I took Susan from AZ's suggestion of baking rather than frying and it worked well. Instead of plain cabbage and lemon I made the kind of slaw (with tomatoes, chiles and cilantro) you see in salsa bars. For those that thought it was bland--you likely didn't salt enough. Taste the filling. It should be delicious on its own.
Meg A
In the Ingredients section, it doesn’t mention that the potatoes should be cooked beforehand. In the Preparations section in Step 2, it mentions using the same pot as the cooked potatoes. Some of us are not naturals in the kitchen. It would be helpful to make the Preparation section to be listed in the exact order that it needs to be in. If potatoes need to be cooked separately and before you do the rest of the steps then that’s how it should be listed in the Preparation steps.
Christy
Maybe they changed it, but right now it says "potatoes, peeled and boiled." I cut mine into 1" squares as one does for mashed potatoes, then boiled and drained.
Ben
Really over complicated recipe, as another commenter mentioned you’re making Mexican pierogis here. Spent several hours and my tortillas were splitting in half and potato spilling into my oil. A mess and not even that good.
Patti Ann
Cube and boil potatoes ahead of time for a head start. For baking, oil parchment, put a thin layer of light oil on a plate, lightly coat each side of tortilla to start. Bake 2 min. without filling, fill, then bake about 5-7 min. each side or until crunchy and browned. So good!
Susan Carrick
Making tacos dorados are a staple here in Arizona. To keep myself from standing over a hot frying pan, I have learned to: Coat sheet pan with oil, lay 6-8 tortillas on the pan and turn to coat both sides. Place whatever filling on one side and bake for about two minutes. (This will soften the tortillas so you can fold them.) Remove sheet pan, fold the tacos and let cook for another 5-7 minutes. Crunchy, yummy tacos dorados (done hands free while you prep the salsa.
Geraldine
I’m wondering if you could air fry the stuffed parcels.
Chris
An Air Fryer is just a countertop convection oven, so yes. As some other people noted, they bake these in the over rather than fry on the stovetop.
carolyn
I used 3/4 c oil in a 10 in pan- it worked perfectly, but I did make only 5 medium/large tacos—maybe you’d have to refill if you made the entire recipe.
David
Definitely on the bland side. I reserved a cup or so of potatoe water thinned mixture. Added more cumin add w tom's b4 pot's. stirred in a large chopped jalapeño and habanero pwdr stirred in some chicken base too. Didn't fry the tortillas more a fan of soft corn tacos. They sounded better than they turned out. But cooking thru experimentation is fun
T
Potato mixture was somewhat bland - added extra cumin, cayenne, and chili powder. Maybe our corn tortillas were low quality, but they split at the seam - oil tip bu Donna slightly approved them but still broke partially. Maybe our oil wasn’t hot enough, but tacos fell apart / were difficult to flip or drain. Might’ve preferred pico to cabbage. Honestly least favorite recipe I’ve made in years.
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