Taco Tuesday. It’s a thing in our house. The kids actually get excited about it. My son has started wanting to help make the fresh corn tortillas!
Not only is it just a delicious meal but it also helps me just know that every Tuesday I need to have ground turkey thawed out and peppers/onions on hand.
Something everybody likes and with a couple of added toppings everybody gets their own version. The steps are simple but there are many. I’m going to do my best to walk you through them here but the recipe is below.
Prep Work
I first start with making my Homemade Taco Seasoning. You can make this in a big batch and just always have it in a jar in the cabinet.
You’ll want to gather all your equipment and your ingredients before you get started so go ahead and find your tortilla press, your skillet to cook the tortillas, a sauté pan, mixing bowl, spoons, etc.
Once you have all your ingredients you’ll need to do some prep work before starting because this is a dish that all parts cook rather quickly so if you’re not careful some of it will get cold before you finish the last of it. If you’ve got some help in the kitchen you can split the tasks and have it all ready in a flash and it will all be piping hot.
Go ahead and get your peppers and onions cut up, cover and set them to the side. Grab your Masa flour and your mixing bowl and get those ingredients mixed together to form your tortilla dough. If it’s a bit crumbly just add a tad bit of water until it’s a soft dough that will easily roll into a ball.
Get your tortilla dough rolled out into small 1.5 inch balls, cover and set them aside.
Taco Meat
Next you’ll want to work on getting your meat seasoned and cooked. Go ahead and get out your skillet to cook the meat. Add the 1/3 cup of water to the pan and turn the heat to low-medium. Once the water is hot add the meat, 2 tbsp of gluten free flour and your 4 tbsp of your homemade taco seasoning.
** Side note about taco seasoning: if you buy the packaged kind it likely has regular flour and gluten in it. It can sometimes also have magnesium stearate which is NOT Alpha-Gal friendly. So always check the ingredients if you buy pre-packaged**
Brown the meat over low-medium heat, stirring frequently to break up chunks. Once browned and cooked through, place in a serving dish and cover to keep warm until time to serve. Sometimes I stick mine in the microwave just to keep it warm.
Corn Tortillas
Once the meat is finished and covered in a warm place, go ahead and press a few tortillas so you can get them started cooking. You’ll want to heat up your skillet and have it warm before adding the tortillas. You do not need to add any spray or oil to the pan before cooking, just a dry skillet is perfect. Once you throw them on the pan give them a few seconds and then push them around a bit to prevent sticking. I do this with my hand but you could use a spatula.
You’ll only cook these for 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. The bubbles are a win. If your tortillas bubble up you’ve done a wonderful job. If not, it’s totally fine they’ll taste good just the same! I have only just figured out how to get the bubbles.
Have your tortilla warmer ready to stick them in as they finish because you’ll be quickly putting those on and then moving between the peppers/onions as well.
Peppers/Onions
In your sauté pan go ahead and heat up the 1 tbsp of oil. Once warm go ahead and add your peppers and onions to the pan. You’ll use the tongs to flip these occasionally between tortillas.
Once your peppers/onions and tortillas are done you’re ready to create your tacos and serve. You can do a taco bar and add some vegan cheese and vegan sour cream, hot sauce or salsa.
Just a quick note of something I do to add flavor to the peppers and onions, I always add some seasoning to them while they are sautéing just to add some flavor or heat even.
There are a ton of options with these:
- Substitute shrimp or fish for the turkey meat
- Add some sort of grilled fruit to the tacos
- Add more heat of any kind or different types of peppers
- You can also double the recipe to feed more people
Please share pictures or just let me know how they turned out if you tried them!
Street Tacos – Turkey
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- There is a lot of prep work in this recipe but it is absolutely worth it. First you will need to cut up all of your peppers and onion. I like to cut them in strips fajita style. Place them in a bowl and set them aside.
- In your mixing bowl go ahead and mix together your 2 cups of masa flour, 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp of oil. This should create a dough that isn’t crumbly but easy to form into a ball. Add a bit of water if it is crumbly.
- Form the dough into small 1.5 inch balls, cover and place to the side.
- Grab a pan and pour in the 1/3 cup of water and turn on low heat. Once the water is hot put in your ground turkey meat, 2 tbsp gluten free flour and 4 tbsp of taco seasoning (see recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning for Alpha-gal safe recipe). Stir continuously until the meat is browned and cooked through. Pour into a serving dish, cover and set aside in a warm place (inside the oven is where I stick mine)
- Next you’ll need your tortilla press and your skillet or griddle. I use a cast iron skillet, but you will need low to medium heat whatever you choose to use. Using two pieces of parchment paper, press your tortillas between the two sheets and then transfer to the skillet. You only need to cook these for 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. No oil or pan spray is needed, just use your hand to lightly push it around once or twice as it cooks.
- As the tortillas finish you’ll want to stick them in a warming bowl with a paper towel at the bottom. This will keep the steam down but will allow them to stay warm and soften a bit.
- While you start the tortillas go ahead and start your peppers and onions cooking in a sauté pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Add a seasoning of your choice to the mixture and use the tongs to flip the peppers and onions as they cook. Cook through until the onions are transparent. Remove to a serving dish and cover.
- Once the tortillas are finished everything is ready to be put together. Fill the corn tortillas with taco meat, peppers and onions and add whatever toppings you would like.
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