Every single day can be Taco Tuesday if you just put your mind to it.

Posted on | by Jonathan Surratt

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Read Time: 10 minutes

Here we go again into that not-a-sandwich category, but to be fair to this sandwich blogger, these tacos are still between cooked dough in the form of tortillas that we can and do make ourselves. I’m not running out of sandwich ideas, but every once in a while, I might be venturing a bit further away from a sandwich to make dishes that I find interesting to eat and write about. This is one of those times, and today’s adventure is a really good taco filled with slightly spicy, crispy potatoes, and I can assure you that you’ll never miss the non-existent meat.

What is this taco?

This is a vegetarian taco with the focus on small, crispy potato pieces tossed with strips of chipotle pepper, tucked into a homemade corn tortilla that is spread with a savory black bean spread. That taco is topped with cotija cheese, white onion, and a creamy and tangy cilantro crema.

This is a great taco that will set you in a direction with flavor and texture, and you’ll likely never even know it’s meatless.

A digital painting of one of the tacos I made and ate, and now you can stare at it.

The potato-focused concept is inspired by a taco my wife ordered recently at a Chicago chain focused on Mexican street food called Big Star.

Big Star is a local Chicago taco chain that also has a really good smash burger. Click the logo to visit Big Star’s website.
Papas means potatoes, so “potatoes with strips” is sort of how this taco name is translated. Click the menu entry above to see the full Big Star taco menu.

Con Rajas = with strips or slices. In Mexican cuisine, rajas seems to typically mean strips of vegetables, usually poblano peppers. But in the case of this taco, it specifically says “rajas chipotle,” which would mean potatoes with strips of chipotle.

We visited Big Star in Wrigleyville recently and she got the papas con rajas taco, which contains crispy potatoes, “rajas chipotle,” cheese, onion, and cilantro. We unfortunately did not take a photo, but it looked very similar to the Instagram photo from a potato-focused account called @chitowntaters that I’ve embedded here.

My wife enjoyed the taco, and we started talking about how easy it could be to replicate something similar with crispy potatoes, and got to work on the recipe that I’m sharing today. While the Big Star taco inspires my version, it’s not an exact copycat because we added a couple of extra components, which turned out to add a lot of different flavors. But go try that taco if you’re ever near a Big Star and in the mood for a meatless taco.

First, if we’re going to Taco Town, we obviously need some tortillas. Since this is more of a traditional-ish taco and less of a suburban-mom-style taco, we’re obviously going with corn tortillas. And we can easily make those ourselves.

Homemade corn tortillas

I’ve made corn tortillas a few times prior to this blog post, but I’m not a professional. The process is really easy, though. I bought the tortilla press that I own and use back in 2019, but I don’t make them very often. Where I live, it’s so easy to buy fresh or fairly fresh tortillas that we often will just do the easy thing and buy them.

I made the corn tortillas for most of the tacos I made in this blog post, and once you’ve done it once, it’s simple to replicate. It does take a little bit of time, though, so I wouldn’t suggest trying to make tortillas if you’re planning a quick dinner. For the first time, I would set aside a day off or a weekend night to make the tortillas because time could slip up a bit, and it might take more than you’re expecting.

Corn tortillas require two or three ingredients: corn/masa flour, water, and optionally salt. Hopefully, you have at least one of these ingredients in your kitchen already.

Most of the recipes I have seen for making corn tortillas online require making a batch of dough that will produce somewhere between 12 to 19 tacos. But you can store the dough in the fridge to be used the next day, or probably in a couple of days. The tortillas will stay warm for at least an hour when stacked in a towel after cooking, so you can get yourself started, finish cooking the whole batch of tortillas, and then make tacos a bit later.

You can also warm up tortillas cooked earlier in much the same way you cooked them. Just place them on a hot surface and flip two or three times until the tortillas have softened, and then you can make tacos.

The main difference between this recipe on the back of the masa that I purchased and some online recipes is that it does not contain salt.
You can easily cook tortillas in a pan, but if you have a griddle, it’s a bit easier to cook more at once.
You can make fresh tortillas that are better than what you can buy at the store because they’re fresher.
About an ounce and a half of dough will create a 4-inch tortilla.

Very important to place the fully cooked tortillas into a folded, clean kitchen towel so that they can steam each other. The tortillas are technically fully cooked after their stint on the griddle or pan, but the extra steam time softens them, and it’s actually still part of the cooking process. Do not skip this step.

I did not create a recipe for corn tortillas since it should be on the back of any bag of masa that you might purchase. But the recipe that I followed was very similar to this recipe from The Kitchn for corn tortillas. Once I had the dough made and rested, I weighed out 1.5 ounces of dough to create 4-inch tacos.

I want to reiterate that I’m not a tortilla-making professional, but I have been pretty happy with the tortillas I’ve been able to make. The process for pressing the tortillas probably doesn’t require you to own your own tortilla press, but you’re probably going to get much better results if you do use one. I bought one years ago for about 15 bucks at a local grocery, and it works just fine for the five or six times I’ve used it.

Once you have your tortilla press and your dough, I found it best to rip a plastic zip-top bag in half and use that to keep the dough from sticking to the press. I created an animated GIF here that should show how I press 1.5 ounces of corn tortilla dough into a 4-inch round, ready to be cooked.

If you’re planning to make tortillas, you will likely need a tortilla press. Try to get a nice metal one, and it’ll probably last you a very long time.

Once you get in rhythm, you can be pressing them and searing them at the same time. The recipes I’ve seen tell you to cook the first side until it’s set, and then you can flip the tortillas from time to time until both sides just start to brown a tiny bit.

If you have a griddle, you should be able to cook 2 or 3 tortillas, and when the next one is shaped, it’s probably time to remove one from the hot surface.
Make sure to have a clean towel to cover your hot tortillas with. It’s part of the cooking process.
The tortillas steam themselves and soften even more while they’re under the towel.

Crispy potatoes and chipotle strips

This part of the taco is the main component, and it’s also very easy, but it does take 5 to 10 minutes more than just cooking up some ground beef. You need to cut the potato, soak the potato, dry the potato pieces, and then spend about 15 minutes cooking the potatoes. There are a lot of recipes out there for potato tacos that end up basically making mashed or really soft potatoes and using them in a taco, but this goes in the opposite direction with small pieces of soft in the middle but crunchy and crispy on the outside pieces of potatoes that add so much texture to the final taco.

So, none of this process is difficult, but it does take more than the 10 minutes that it takes to brown some ground beef. I did it four nights in a row last week during the testing of this recipe, and the slight bit of extra effort is worth it in the end for a good taco experience.

Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch square cubes and soak them in water for 10 minutes before drying on paper towels.
Cook the potatoes in a pan with some olive oil for about 15 minutes or until they are browned on the outside. Then add chopped chipotles.
These potatoes are great in a taco, but as you’ll see soon, they work as some good breakfast potatoes too.

I also used some of the leftover crispy potato pieces to garnish or become a side dish to my breakfast the next day. If you have some of these leftover crispy potato squares, you can heat them back up in a skillet or on a sheet pan at 350°F (175°C) for about 7 to 10 minutes. I try to pull them out a the halfway point to shake the potatoes up, which exposes an extra side to the hot pan just to make sure nothing gets soggy, and the results are a great breakfast potato situation.

Two eggs, cotija cheese, crispy leftover potatoes con rajas, and just a bit of hot sauce for my health.

Once the potatoes are almost completely cooked through and crispy on the outside, I add the next component, which brings a lot of smokiness and a bit of spice to the final taco.

Chipotle

The spicy and flavorful component that I add to the potatoes in this taco preparation is canned chipotle. Dice or chop two chipotles up per 1 russet potato, and you’re in business. You do not want to cook these peppers for too long; just throw them into the skillet with the potatoes when they are almost fully cooked and crispy, and then cook for another minute or two, and you should be all good.

Chop up two chipotle peppers from a can. I don’t use any adobo sauce in my recipe, but you could add some for extra spice if you wanted.
If you don’t want things to get too spicy, you can remove some of the seeds. That might help. But once this is all mixed into the potatoes and in the taco, it’s not that spicy.
Once the potatoes are nice and crispy in the pan and they’re almost finished cooking, add the chipotles for the last minute or two.

These chipotles are the only source of spice in this whole taco recipe, so if you are averse to spice, skip adding them. But if you are removing them from the equation, I would suggest that you add some taco seasoning or something similar to the potatoes just to give them flavor that’s a bit more interesting than just salt and black pepper.

Black bean spread

This black bean spread is an easy recipe to put into action, and it’s great to have on taco night or the next time you want to make a torta.

Start in a pan with some bacon fat or vegetable oil, diced onion, and garlic.
Drain a can of black beans and discard the liquid.
Cook the beans with the onions and garlic until the beans start to soften. Then you can either run all of this through a blender or grab a potato masher to create a black bean spread.

I’ve shared this recipe a few times, and it’s a good thing to have on the counter when taco night comes around. The beans are savory, and they add a meatiness to the taco that you might not expect. If you’re in a rush, you can always just use a can of refried beans to serve the same purpose, though.

Black bean spread
Recipe Card
Black bean spread
20 minutes
Black bean spread

Fantastic with chips or spread on a sandwich, this black bean spread is something I sometimes make for taco night to stand in for refried beans as well. Spread on the bottom of your torta to get some real flavor started.

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Diced onions

Diced white onion is a staple in Mexican tacos, and it brings texture and a bit of flavor to this taco as well. I diced them fairly small for this application and just sprinkled a few on top of each taco.

I know there are a lot of people who don’t really enjoy raw onions, so this is an easy enough component to leave out if raw white onion isn’t something you enjoy.

How many photos of diced white onion do you have on your phone? Post your number in the comments below.

Cilantro crema

This cilantro crema is my wife’s recipe that we’ve been using on fish or shrimp tacos for years. I’m pretty sure that anytime I mention the phrase “fish taco,” she immediately starts thinking about this sauce, and it works great in this potato taco as well.

The lime is one of the predominant flavors in this crema, so if you are one of the unlucky people out there who hate the taste of cilantro, I would just buy some crema or sour cream at the store and use that without the cilantro. No big deal.

A spoonful of flavor.
Cilantro lime crema
Recipe Card
Cilantro lime crema
10 minutes
Cilantro lime crema

This creamy sauce brings fresh herby flavor with a bit of lime-y twang to your next taco night. If you're a cilantro hater, you can replace it with parsley or leave it out altogether.

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Cotija

I used cotija cheese in this taco, but you could use chihuahua cheese or any sort of Mexican crumbly cheese. If you can’t find that sort of cheese, I would suggest using something like Romano cheese or even Parmesan cheese. These cheeses are not traditional to tacos, but they bring a similar flavor and saltiness that comes from cotija cheese.

I just crumbled the cheese onto each taco, and as I said, it adds a bit of saltiness and dry cheesiness into each bite.

Cotija is really crumbly and adds texture and a saltiness to the taco.

Margarita on the rocks with salt

If you’re eating some tacos, you might need a margarita, and my wife was kind enough to lend me her recipe to share here. I prefer my margaritas on the rocks with a bit of salt, but she typically will make herself the exact same recipe and serve it UP in a coupe glass with no ice or salt.

The recipe does require a simple syrup as a sweetening agent, and I added the super simple recipe for creating that. It’s literally just 1 part sugar and 1 part water that is warmed until the sugar melts, and that’s it. Simple syrup is a super convenient thing to have in your fridge if you make a lot of cocktails or if you ever find something like lemonade or grapefruit juice to be too tart. Just add a bit of simple syrup and you’re all good.

Getting ready for a nice Taco Tuesday over here.

I also added some notes on the recipe about how to get salt on the rim of your glass and what to do if you don’t want to serve it on the rocks, but otherwise it’s a pretty simple recipe.

Classic margarita on the rocks
Recipe Card
Classic margarita on the rocks
15 minutes
Classic margarita on the rocks

Fire up the cocktail shaker and turn a boring Tuesday into an exciting Taco Tuesday with this classic margarita on the rocks.

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Taco assembly

Just like other tacos, the assembly process here is just a stacking order. You can choose to layer the ingredients in any order you choose, but this slideshow will show you how I did it.

  • Warm up a fresh corn tortilla and put it on your best wooden plate (wood plate optional).
  • Spread on some black bean spread (or refried beans).
  • Top with some crispy patas con rajas (potato with chipotles).
  • Scatter on some cheese. In this case cotija.
  • The next addition is diced white onion.
  • Followed by a spoonful of cilantro lime crema.
  • And finally I scatter on some cilantro for health.
  • And she’s ready for her close up.
  • Fold things over and eat.

Crispy potato and black bean tacos

Here are some photos of all the crispy potato and black bean tacos I tackled over the past week. Scroll down a bit further to get the full recipe.

With the savory beans and crispy potatoes, you won’t miss the meat at all in this vegetarian taco.
This was one of the first batches of these crispy potato tacos that I made using store-bought white corn tortillas.
In my experience, when you make your own tortillas, they’re super fresh and less likely to break and fall apart than store-bought.
Hello, beautiful.
Tacos aren’t super easy to photograph. I need one of those dinosaur-shaped taco holders!
Thanks to whoever at Big Star created the patas con rajas taco, because this turned out to inspire a great taco recipe.
When two tacos aren’t enough, you have to step up to the bigger tray.
The beans and potatoes pair perfectly in this taco with flavors that complement each other well.
Crispy potato and black bean tacos
Recipe
Crispy potato and black bean tacos
Crispy potato and black bean tacos view printable page for this recipe

These tasty tacos are stuffed with crispy potatoes tossed in chipotle and paired with some savory black bean spread, topped with diced white onion, cotija cheese, and a cilantro lime crema.  

Ingredients:

Cilantro lime crema
  • 1⁄4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 6 tablespoons Mexican crema or sour cream (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest, grated
  • 1 1⁄2 teaspoons lime juice
  • 1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Black bean spread
  • 1 can black beans drained (15 oz can)
  • 1 tablespoon bacon fat or vegetable oil
  • half of 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
  • salt and pepper to taste
Crispy potatoes and taco assembly
  • 1 russet potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 chipotles (from a can), cut into small pieces
  • 6 to 8 corn tortillas
  • black bean spread (from above)
  • cotija cheese or a crumbly chihuahua cheese
  • white onion, finely diced
  • cilantro lime crema (from above)
  • cilantro, chopped (optional garnish)

Directions:

Cilantro lime crema: add all cilantro lime crema ingredients to a small bowl and stir until everything is combined and fully incorporated. 

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Black bean spread: drain your black beans and discard all the juice. 

Add bacon fat or vegetable oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. When fat is melted and shimmering, add diced onion.

Saute onions until they become slightly soft. Season your onion with salt and pepper at this point.

Add minced garlic and drained black beans. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat and allow bean mixture to cool. Taste and add extra salt and black pepper if desired. 

Add cooled bean mixture to a blender or immersion blender and blend until you get a spreadable consistency. If you do not have a blender, you can use a potato masher directly in the pan. 

Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Crispy potatoes and chipotle: dice a russet potato into 1/2 inch cubes. Add all of the potato cubes to a bowl and cover them with water. Let them rest in the water for 10 minutes to wash off some of the starch, and then transfer them carefully to paper towels to dry. 

After the potato pieces are dried, add a tablespoon of olive oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the fully dry potatoes and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring the potatoes around every few minutes to make sure all sides of the small cubes are getting browned. 

After around 15 minutes, the potato pieces should be nice and browned and crispy. Chop up two chipotles from a can and then add them to the pan with the potatoes and stir everything around. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring often, and then transfer the potatoes and chipotles to a bowl and remove the pan from the heat. During the last few minutes of cooking the potatoes and chipotles, you can start warming your tortillas. 

Taco assembly: warm your corn tortillas in a hot pan and keep them under a clean towel until time to use. 

When it's time to assemble the tacos, spread 1 or 2 spoonfuls of black bean spread on a tortilla and then top that with some crispy potatoes. 

Add a sprinkling of cotija cheese and diced onion. Then top everything with some of the cilantro lime crema and a bit of chopped fresh cilantro as a garnish. Serve and enjoy.

Notes:

Hate cilantro? Just leave it out of the crema or replace it with parsley. Problem solved.

Don't enjoy spicy food? The only thing spicy in this taco is the chopped-up chipotle that is added to the crispy potatoes. If you want to leave that out but still give this taco a slight lean toward Tex-Mex food, just sprinkle some taco seasoning on top of the potatoes (my recipe).

Check back next week

Next week we’ll be making sandwiches with bones in them. It’s gonna be fun, come back on Monday to read more.