Tostadas are meant to be messy! Stack them with your favorite toppings and dig in. These consist of a crispy fried corn tortilla with refried beans, shredded cheese, chopped avocado and tomato, sliced lettuce and salsa.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
If there’s anything that comes close to a Mexican version of an open sandwich, it’s the tostada. Just when you thought nothing could get messier than taco night, here comes the deliciously eatable tostada.
slam that. actually you Got to Try to eat a tostada with finesse or all hope is lost and the thing will crumble in your hands, mounds of filling succumbing to gravity only to bounce off your plate onto the surrounding table, lap, floor, etc.
What is a tostada?
A tostada has a fairly simple structure: it’s like a taco, but flat. It’s usually made with a deep fried corn tortilla topped with refried beans, shredded cheese, salsa, and other toppings. Anything that could fit in a taco could also fit on a tostada, so you can have fish tostadas, shredded chicken tostadas, or beef tostadas.
How to make tostadas
We almost always make tostadas with bean puree and lots of toppings. When we make them, we put all the toppings in separate bowls in the center of the table, spread out the freshly cooked tortillas, and then each add their topping of choice, starting with the beans.
Mashed, refried beans are usually used as the first layer because they spread well on the tortilla and the other toppings have a better chance of adhering to the beans than they would with the tortilla alone.
A simple recipe to customize
The decision you face when deciding to make tostadas is, “How easy do you want this process to be?” If you want something really over-the-top, you can make your own tortillas from scratch, give them a day or two let it age, then fry and top with homemade beans that you’ve mashed with bacon.
Or, if you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, you can use canned beans (or even canned kidney beans, which you heat and mash with a little chilli powder for flavor) and packaged tostada shells.
We almost always make our bean sauce ourselves because it just doesn’t take that long with a pressure cooker. And we almost always use pre-packaged tostada shells because we live in California, where you can buy them at almost any grocery store (when shopping, the thicker the tortilla, the better, by the way).
Looking for more great Mexican dishes?
- Chicken and black bean tostadas
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
- Pressure cooker pozole with green pork
- roast meat
Mexican tostadas
This recipe describes how to deep fry corn tortillas to make the tostada shells. If using packaged mussels, before serving, spread them out on a baking sheet or directly onto oven racks and heat at 350°F for 4 to 5 minutes or until you can smell the aroma of cooking. Don’t leave them in the oven for too long or they will burn. Just heat them enough to lightly toast them.
ingredients
For the tostadas:
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corn oil or extra virgin olive oil
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12 Corn Tortillas
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Salt
For the toppings:
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3 1/2 cups chilled beans, homemade or from 2 (15-ounce) cans
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1/2 head iceberg lettucethinly sliced and seasoned with salt and vinegar (no oil)
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2 Middle Tomatoes, chopped
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1 to 2 avocadoschopped, peeled and seeded, or guacamole
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8th ounces grated Monterrey JackCheddar or crumbled Queso Fresco and/or Cotija cheese
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1 Cup salsaor 1/2 cup sliced pickled jalapeños
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A handful chopped fresh coriander
method
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Warm up the refried beans:
Warm the beans in a skillet over medium-high heat until warm. If you’re using regular canned beans, drain them, then add them to the pan with some water and mash while heating.
For extra flavor, you can add a tablespoon of bacon and/or a large slice of cheddar cheese to the beans.
Keep the beans warm while you prepare the tortillas, adding water as needed for a creamy consistency.
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Dry the tortillas in the oven:
To help the tortillas cook better, dry them in the oven by placing them on an oven rack and cooking at 250°F for about 10 minutes.
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Fry the tortillas:
Pour enough oil into a skillet so that you have a quarter inch layer of oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until sizzling but not smoking.
Fry the tortillas one at a time in the oil. The tortilla should start bubbling as soon as you drop the tortilla into the oil, otherwise the oil won’t be hot enough.
Fry until golden on both sides and cook about 30 seconds to a minute per side. Use metal tongs or a spatula to press the tortilla into the oil and rotate and lift the tortilla out of the pan, draining the excess oil. (The tortilla should be fairly stiff and crispy. If not, the oil isn’t hot enough.)
Place the tortilla on a paper towel-lined plate to soak up the excess oil. Sprinkle with some salt.
Place the cooked tortillas on a rimmed baking sheet and place in a 250°F oven to keep warm.
Add more oil to the pan as needed, making sure the oil is sufficiently heated before adding a tortilla to the pan.
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Serve with toppings:
To serve, place the toppings in separate bowls, with a larger serving platter for the beans. Bring out the tostada shells in batches and keep the unused ones warm in the oven.
To make a tostada, spread a large spoonful of bean puree over a tostada bowl. Sprinkle cheese and other toppings (slices of lettuce, avocados, salsa, etc.)
Don’t overload the tostada or you will find it difficult to eat. Eat by picking up the tostada with both hands (like a pizza slice).
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 586 | calories |
| 33g | Fat |
| 57g | carbohydrates |
| 23g | protein |
