Navajo Tacos

Taco night is a weekly tradition at our house. It’s simple, quick, and an easy way to convince our children to eat fresh veggies with their dinner. While the standard meat, cheese, veggies, and tortilla is always a big hit, sometimes we like to mix things up a bit. Occasionally we’ll have taco soup. And sometimes we’ll skip the tortilla and make fry bread instead – we call these Navajo Tacos. Our kids absolutely love them!

Sometimes we make the fry bread from scratch (I’m including the recipe), but usually I’ll thaw a loaf of frozen bread dough (Rhodes makes my favorite), and separate it out into smaller portions before frying. I personally prefer the lightness of the frozen bread dough, but the recipe I’m including works great if you don’t have any frozen dough in the freezer.

Navajo Tacos

• 1 1b ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 can pinto beans with liquid
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 2 tomatoes, diced

FRY BREAD

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 4 cups oil for frying

Brown hamburger, and add taco seasoning. Cook according to package directions. Cover and keep warm.

In a small saucepan, combine pinto beans and 2 TBS salsa. Cook over low heat until heated through.

To make fry bread:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk and mix until the dough comes together. If the dough is too sticky, add enough flour to be able to handle the dough. On a flour surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes. Allow to rest for an additional 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a large, heavy deep skillet to 365 degrees. Break off 3/4 C size pieces of dough, and form into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Fry in hot oil until golden brown on each side, turning only once. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate.

TO ASSEMBLE NAVAJO TACOS:

Top with beans, ground beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and salsa. You can also add additional toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, onions, olives, etc.