Taco Salad Shells - Oven Baked

Taco Salad Shells are normally made by deep-frying them

Oven Recipe - Aluminum Foil from http://www.kraftrecipes.com/

4 flour tortillas (8 inch)

Crumble 4 large sheets of foil to make 4 (3-inch) balls; place on baking sheet. Place 1 tortilla over each ball; spray with cooking spray. Bake 6 to 8 min. or until tortillas are golden brown. (Tortillas will drape over balls to form shells as they bake.)

Oven Recipes from http://www.theyummylife.com/

Use your choice of flour tortillas. White and whole wheat both worked well. The tortillas the writer used were sold at room temperature. They were already soft and didn't require any heating to make them pliable. If you're using refrigerated tortillas, wrap them in a slightly dampened dish towel and zap them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, just until they are soft. Don't overheat them or they will get hard and brittle.

Method #1: Using Tortilla Shell Molds

If you'll be making these often or making a large number for a party, these molds are highly recommend. They are non-stick, easy to use, can be used with any size of tortilla (6", 8" or 10"), don't require any added oil, butter, or spray, and result in evenly browned and crisped tortilla shells.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes until evenly browned and crispy. Let them cool in the pan for a couple of minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. A big benefit of using these shell molds is that the finished tortilla bowls stack and nest compactly. They can be made ahead and stored in a large airtight Ziploc bag or plastic container.

   

Method #2: Form tortillas inside an oven-proof bowl.

You can also use any oven-proof bowl you have. Coat the bowl with cooking spray, gently press the tortilla inside the bowl, and bake. These didn't get as evenly browned as the ones I cooked in the tortilla molds. The edges of the tortilla bowl browned before the bottom. The bottom of the finished bowl wasn't crisp, but it did harden as the bowl cooled. It never got as crispy as the top, but it was still usable.

   

Method #3: Form tortillas outside an oven-proof bowl

Coat the inverted bowl with cooking spray and place it on a baking sheet. Gently press the tortilla around the outside and bake. The tortilla browned evenly on the outside and was nice and crispy. The bottom was firm, but not crisp.

   

Method #4: Form tortillas around outside of canning jars

I first saw this method at Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It was easy and worked well. In these photos, I used wide-mouth pint jars, coated the outside with cooking spray, and inverted them on a 13x18" baking sheet. Then I gently pressed 8" tortillas around the jars. They bake evenly on the outside, but didn't brown on the inside. The only drawback of the jar method is that the finished tortillas aren't as evenly browned on the inside as they are on the outside, and they don't nest and stack, if you're making a lot of them. But, if you're only making a few and don't need to store them, this is a good method to use.

   

Method #5: Make smaller tortilla cups in muffin tins

These are great for smaller portions or appetizers. Simply cut a 10" tortilla into quarters, and press each piece into a regular size muffin tin. Or, you can quarter a 6" tortilla and press each piece into a mini muffin pan. These bake beautifully and come out evenly browned and crispy. There's no need to oil or spray the muffin tins. The tortilla cups lift right out.