Taco night is the best night in my home. Not only is it a simple and easy meal to pull together, but every single person in my family loves it. It has even become a go-to meal when in a pinch for dinner or even unexpected guests. We love adding some extra touches or changing it up a bit for our taco nights so they don’t ever get boring.
Starters
Chips and salsa are always our go-to starter on taco night. You can find tortilla chips just about anywhere and even some restaurants sell them fresh. Since I have yet to perfect a guacamole or salsa, I buy them from our prepared foods section at our local supermarket. Add some extra dipping choices like queso, sour cream or even refried beans and you will have a chip dipping haven.
If you want to step your starters up a notch, loaded nachos, chicken quesadillas or even a taco salad would make a great, yet simple, starter dish that is easy to prepare. I usually serve loaded nachos the day after taco night and use left over taco or fajita meat to add in. Add layer’s of shredded cheese, diced black olives, green onions and some sour cream to top it off and you have a new family favorite created from leftovers.
Main Event
Of course for the main event, it’s tacos! We are a family that also loves fajitas, so I usually make a little bit of both on taco night. We can all agree that tacos are the easiest to prepare. Choose your family’s favorite ground meat and your favorite taco blend (homemade or store bought) and it’s as simple as cook, drain and season.
Fajitas can be a little more time consuming due to the veggie and meat prep. Yet they make excellent freezer meals, so they can be prepared ahead of time
Fajitas are just chicken breast cut up into bite size pieces. It is sautéed with peppers and onions and seasoned with a favorite fajita spice blend.
To add a special touch to your night, use soft tortilla warmers, colorful plates, or even cute taco holders. I decided to bring out the Original TacoCat to add some fun to what is already my kids favorite dinner night.
The Original TacoCat is the cutest taco holder I have ever seen. It is very well made and has a good weight to it. The sturdiness of the TacoCat shows that it was built to last. The silicone holder slips easily off the cute kitty’s paws to be washed (dishwasher safe) and it’s BPA free. The TacoCat is such a cute and fun way to hold and serve all that taco goodness without the mess.
My kids absolutely loved the TacoCat, it gave them such a big smile, something we needed during this quarantine. They even made a game as to whomever gets possession of TacoCat during taco night gets ‘first dibs‘ at the food for dinner. Who would have thought a cute kitty would bring this much fun to dinner time!
Sweet Tooth
Churros are an amazing way to end your family taco night, but if you want something even simpler to make, try making cinnamon tortillas.
Cinnamon Tortillas
Equipment
- Cookie Sheet
- Cooling Rack
- Parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
- 8-10 Flour Tortillas
- 1/2 cup Melted Butter
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon
Optional Extras
- Melted Chocolate To drizzle
- Whipped Cream
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Fresh Strawberries
- Fresh Banannas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut up your flour tortillas into triangles.
- Mix together the 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbs of cinnamon.
- Toss your cut up flour tortillas in the melted butter. Coat each buttered tortilla with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
- Lay your buttered and sugar coated tortillas on a cooling rack that is set in a baking sheet or pan. You can lay parchment paper under the cooling rack for easier clean up.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow them to cool at room temperature and to continue to crisp up.
- ***Quick Cheat*** Cinnamon Tortillas can be microwaved for approximatley 40 seconds instead of baking.
- You can eat them plain or drizzle chocolate over them. Cinnamon Tortillas go great with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and bananas or a along side vanilla bean icecream.
What is your favorite part about taco night for dinner?
Stumped as to what to get your loved ones this Holiday season? Check out our 2020 Gift Guide!
Taco Night is our favorite night of the week. Another great side dish recipe I like to make is pinto beans to be topped with chopped white or Vidalia onions and cheddar cheese. So good!!! I will definitely be trying this Cinnamon Tortilla recipe for our next taco night. They look absolutely devine!