You can take the girl outta Texas…yep, I’m pretty sure I have used this opening line before. But I digress. I will never get over Tex-Mex. I will never get over chips and queso. I will never get over a super limey margarita. I might not PARTAKE in these foods anymore, but I will always have a soft-spot for them. When a food is native to your very soul (yes, it is that dramatic), you will always crave it to some degree. I really wanted to find a way to enjoy those flavors again, but without feeling wretched. The hard part about cleaning up your diet is when you eat the yucky stuff, as good as it tastes, you will FEEL it, and not in a good way. So this recipe helps bridge the gap between GMO CORN LOVE and CLEAN LIVIN’. It’s a happy medium I like to call “livin’ la vida healthier.” Actually I don’t have a name for it, I just made that up. Anyway, have a hankerin’ for Tex-Mex? Knock yourself out! Boom! Ingredients:
- 3 ripe plantains
- 1/2 cup avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground garlic sea salt (more if desired)
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Optional: 1 teaspoon (or more) hot sauce (like Cholula)
- Optional: 1/2 lime squeezed
- Preheat oven to 350 (if your oven runs hot, you might need to lower just slightly)
- Combine all ingredients in blender until they are pureed
- On a parchment lined baking sheet space out sizable scoops of the puree
- Using the back of a spoon spread out each scoop into a flat circle; mine were each out the size of my hand spread out (flat)
- Bake for about 20 minutes then flip them over for another 10 minutes or so until the “tortilla” becomes solid yet flexible
- Remove baking sheet from oven and wait a minute for “tortillas” to slightly cool
- Next “hang” each tortilla by folding it over the baking rack directly (see photo below) or use this Taco Oven Rack
- Bake like this for another 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy (center might be slightly more chewy depending on thickness and cooking time)
- Remove from oven and prop them open while they cool slightly. If they cool closed, they are harder to fill with taco fixins
- Alternatively, you can also use this taco oven rack!
- Note: You do not want to make these too thick in the center or they can crack more easily. By keeping them uniformly the same thickness, your “tortillas” will be more flexible prior to “hanging” or baking them on the rack
So cool!!! I am definitely making these. Plantains are so versatile!
YAY! Hope you love them!
I can’t bring myself to use a half cup avocado oil in something baked (it’s so hard to get where I live and expensive!) would any other oil work?
Coral, you could try olive oil, or even coconut oil if you enjoy the “sweeter” hints. I have not tried these two so I cannot vouch exactly what the flavor will be like. Enjoy!
Do they have the internet where you live? Buying avocado oil online is the way to go!
These look fantastic! Will have to give this a go at some point 🙂
I saw a recipe for these on The Primitive Homemaker last month: http://theprimitivehomemaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/autoimmune-paleo-plantain-taco-shells.html. I can’t wait to track down some plantains and give them a try. I’ve really missed tacos since going grain free and this might be a good way to soothe that craving!
Can you use bananas instead of plantains?
I have not tried bananas, they are softer and sweeter. You could try, but I cannot say with certainty how they would turn out. Sorry!
No worries I will give it a try and let you know.Thanks
Finally, a alternative that makes sense. I too, am from Texas and Tex Mex and other southwest flavors are what I dream of when pondering my grocery list. I’m goining to try this weekend. Thankyou, Brenda
Could you make them Pizza shells? Is the taste comparable? They look yummy!
C.
You could try! i also have a pizza crust recipe that is delish!
http://www.predominantlypaleo.com/2014/01/crispy-chewy-grain-free-pizza-crust.html?m=0
Do these keep well? I am going camping next weekend and would like to pre-make them for our taco night! They looks delish!!!
I did keep two in the fridge overnight and then re-toasted them the next day. They worked for me. I am not sure how you would store/reheat for camping as they need to be re-crisped (maybe wrapped in foil over the fire?) They are best first day, but you could always give it a try!
I was wondering how many shells the recipe made? Thanks
I was able to make 6-8 i think. It depends on how big you make each one!
I made these a few nights ago (using olive oil as I didn’t have any avocado oil handy) and the flavor was AMAZING! But mine never got crisp. I removed them when they were on the verge of burning, but they were never crisp.
The sweet flavor went SO WELL with the savory shredded beef I used for the filling (along side a healthy dollup of fresh salsa). But I was really craving a crisp.
Got any suggestions? I still have some of the batter left and plan to try again tonight, but if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.
Sorry! I am just now seeing this! All I can think is either they needed more oil or they were not quite thin enough? The thicker parts will not crisp up as easily as the thinner parts so maybe pressing them a little thinner would help? You can also try a taco baking stand where you can press them even thinner. The link is up above if you are interested! Hope this helps!
Hello. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us on Allergy-Free Wednesdays. I look forward to trying this recipe!!! We are HUGE fans of taqueria night at our house and I just can’t do corn tortillas. So this is such a great option.
I am featuring this recipe this week on AFW. So if you could please add in a link back to our link party that would be fantastic!
Thanks again for sharing. I will let you know how the recipe goes for me.
Be Well,
–Amber from The Tasty Alternative
P.S. Here is a link to last week’s link party if you need it:
http://thetastyalternative.com/2014/04/allergy-free-wednesdays-week-113-april-16-2014/
I am happy to link back, sorry I overlooked! I hope you love these, they were a huge hit for my grain free dinner! Thanks for the support!
How much plantain puree do you get from 3 plantains? I’ve go some pureed plantains in the freezer and have labelled the amount in cups.
Thank you.
Minna
You know what Minna, I forgot to measure how many cups I got but I would guess around 2 cups puree total? Maybe slightly more. Hope this helps!!
Made these taco shells tonight for Cinco de Mayo and they were absolutely delicious. Mine didn’t look like perfect taco shells but we just tore and ate. There were crispy parts and not so crispy parts but they were great. I will make quesadillas with the left overs tomorrow. They should crisp up nicely in the pan. I split the oil and used coconut and olive oil (totaling 1/2 cup) and they were great. Thank you!!
Sounds great Marge! Yes, they can take some tweaking when working with the dough but in the end as long as you enjoyed them then all is well!! Thanks for leaving your review here!
Hello I was wondering if you have ever tried plantaion flour to actually for a dough to make make soft tortilla/hard shells….Im going to try it soon..
I have not worked at all with plantain flour but I imagine it would work if you figured out the right blend of oil, flour, water? Good luck!
Any tips for getting them a uniform thickness? That seems to be a problem for me 🙂
I always use the back of a spoon – hoping the higher heat helps you!
I made these last night and they were fabulous – crispy and light!
I used olive oil because I didn’t have avocado oil. My oven runs warm and I could tell they were going to get too brown before they got crispy so I turned it down to 200 and finished them off that way. They didn’t actually get crispy until they cooled, so I was pleasantly surprised to find how crispy they were. I stored the leftovers in the microwave and they were almost as crunchy today.
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Wonderful Wendy! I am so glad you enjoyed them and figured out how to tweak them to your personal kitchen!
Hi do the plantains have to be ripe? I usually only eat green ones…
You could try working with green ones Gabriella, but they may be more difficult to puree. Perhaps you could boil them in their skins first?
These look delicious! I’m definitely going to have to make these next week. I love plantains!
Hope you love ’em Elizabeth!
what a great idea! i love plantains but i never thought to make them into a taco shell. must try!
Hope you love them!
Jennifer, my husband and I made these taco shells tonight. They taste fabulous!!! However, we weren’t able to complete the last segment of baking time with them over the rack because they went black and started smoking about 3 minutes in. What did I do wrong?
Ruth, since ovens can vary, you might not need the last bit of time. The goal is to have crispy shells so whatever temperature helps you create that is the golden ticket. Were they crisp without the remainder of the time in the oven?
Have you ever made these with green plantains? Maybe mine were too ripe but the sweet, banana-like flavor was a little strong.
You can make them with green plantains but may need to boil them in the skin to soften them first.
Wow just made and demolished these taco shells, they taste awesome. I made mine with coconut oil as I didn’t have any avocado oil. Thanks for such a great recipe, think I might be making these again tomorrow.
Thanks Wini, I am so happy you enjoyed them!
I am in love wth you! Just wanted you to know. You have taken all my loves and made them Paleo friendly. I just decided to try this lifestyle and because of the amazing blogs and recipes I will be able to stick with it. Thanks so much for your unconventional thinking!
Awwww thanks Sukina!! I wish you well on your Paleo journey!
I’m wanting to just make tostada shells. Should I just leave them flat on the sheet pan until crispy?
Yep! You can flip them mid-bake too so both sides are crisped.
Hello! I tried making these and I had a difficult time flipping them since they were solid stuck to the parchment paper. Any tips or tricks?
Hmmm, I am not sure? They shouldn’t be able to stick to parchment but you could always oil the parchment if you had that experience. Or possibly add more oil to the plaintain mixture?
So big user error on my part. Just some tips if anyone else has the issues I did 🙂 Not sure if my plantains were super sized because I haven’t worked with them for about 10 years, but this made A LOT of tortillas. I thought I bought kinda ripe plantains (they were my only option) but they were not ripe at all. I boiled them for about 20 minutes but that didn’t help. I ended up doing half of the ‘batter’ in my blender and half in my tiny food processor. I think I over loaded the blender 🙁 But! after adding lots of water and extra oil, then finally turned out! Just takes some work spreading them out. I would totally make this again with more ripe plantains! The whole batch turned out to be more than we needed, so I might half it next time 🙂 Thanks so much for the recipe! Glad I learned some things 🙂
Thanks for your feedback!!! Hopefully they were still delicious after you figured it all out!