Sweet Potato Jalapeno Popper Tacos

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This recipe came to be from a blissful kitchen mix-up when Jamie accidentally bought ingredients for two separate recipes she planned to cook. The original recipe we wanted to make was for sweet potato and pineapple tacos. We knew all of that starchy sweetness needed salt and spice and the first thing that came to mind were the ingredients in bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers. If all of this is sounding a bit weird to you, we get it. It’s a weird sounding recipe!! Trust us when we tell you that somehow it all works. There is a little bit of everything in this recipe – roasted sweet potatoes and pineapple, charred jalapeños and onions, salty thick cut bacon, and a cilantro lime crema. The flavors all meld together to create these deliciously unique tacos that simultaneously taste sweet and bring the heat. This recipe is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon watching football and the perfect way to bring in fall flavors.

Sweet Potato Jalapeno Popper Tacos

  • Servings: 8 tacos
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We love the combination of sweet and spicy in this unique taco recipe.

Ingredients For The Tacos

  • 2 large sweet potatoes, chopped into large bite-sized pieces
  • 1 yellow onion, sliced in half and then quartered lengthwise
  • 2 cups pineapple, chopped into large bite-sized pieces
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 6 slices thick cut bacon
  • 4 jalapenos
  • 8 taco sized tortillas
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
  • cilantro leaves, for garnish
  • 1 lime, cut into segments, for garnish

Ingredients For the Cilantro Lime Crema

  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 tbs mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup packed cilantro
  • 1 clove garlic
  • juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • salt, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Make the cilantro lime crema. Combine all of the crema ingredients (sour cream – paprika) in a small blender. Blend until the cilantro is evenly distributed in the crema and all of the ingredients are well combined. Season the crema with salt and refrigerate until you are ready to use.
  3. Make the tacos. Combine the first seven taco ingredients (sweet potatoes – coriander) in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
  4. Lay three slices of bacon in the center of each of two large cookie sheets. Divide the sweet potato bowl ingredients around the bacon on each of the two sheets. Spread everything into a single layer and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, flip the bacon and give everything a toss with a spatula so that all of the ingredients are equally browned. The bacon should be crispy and the sweet potatoes cooked through when you remove them from the oven. Leave the oven on for later use.
  5. While the bacon and sweet potatoes are cooking, turn on a gas burner to medium-high heat. Using tongs, roast the jalapeno peppers on all sides so that they are lightly charred. When the jalapenos are cool enough to handle, remove the stem and seeds, outside charred layer, and roughly chop the remaining peppers. Add them to the sweet potato mix and toss well to incorporate. If you do not have a gas range, you can replicate this step using the broiler of your oven after the sweet potatoes have finished cooking.
  6. Remove the bacon from the cookie sheets and onto paper towel to drain some of the fat, if necessary. Roughly chop the bacon from both cookie sheets and add it to the sweet potato mix. Combine the ingredients from each of the sheets onto one and tent with foil to keep warm until ready to serve.
  7. Lay the taco tortillas on the open cookie sheet in a single layer (as best you can). Sprinkle the cheese evenly over each of the tortillas and put in the oven to warm the tortillas and lightly melt the cheese. Remove the tortillas and assemble the tacos.
  8. Lay an even amount of taco filling onto each of the 8 tortillas. Top each taco with the cilantro lime crema and additional cilantro, if desired. Serve with lime wedges for garnish.

Instant Pot Hatch Chili Shredded Chicken

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We love a quick and easy taco night as a tasty way to get dinner on the table. Hatch chiles are in season in Colorado and we try our best to use them as much as we can this time of year and really soak up the smoky, spicy flavor they bring to a dish. We love to buy them pre-roasted at the farmers’ market but if you can’t do that, you can repeat that step yourself by buying them at the grocery store and broiling them in the oven. This shredded chicken comes together with the help of the roasted hatch chiles, our favorite salsa, and some sautéed onions and garlic. It is simple but incredibly tasty. You can use the chicken for tacos, enchiladas, or even as a meal prep recipe for salads and sandwiches throughout the week. Using the Instant Pot ensures this recipe is ready in under 40 minutes and makes very little mess in the kitchen, both great attributes of a weeknight recipe!

Instant Pot Hatch Chili Shredded Chicken

  • Servings: 6
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 A quick and easy recipe for delicious shredded chicken. We love to use this chicken for tacos, enchiladas, and as a meal prep recipe for salads and sandwiches.

Ingredients

  • 4 large chicken breasts
  • 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 clove garlic, roughly chopped
  • 4 roasted hatch chiles, stems and seeds removed and chopped
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 cup of your favorite tomato based salsa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Set the Instant Pot on the “saute” setting. Add the olive oil, sliced onion, and garlic to the Instant Pot. Sauté until the onions start to become translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the hatch chiles to the pot and cook another 2 minutes.
  2. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken to the Instant Pot and sear for 3 minutes per side. You want to get the chicken nice and browned.
  3. Add the salsa, water, and chicken bouillon cube to the Instant Pot. Give everything a good stir so that the water reaches the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot with the lid and make sure that the steam release valve is closed. Switch the Instant Pot to the high pressure cook setting and set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, release the steam and remove the chicken breasts from the pot. Shred the chicken with two forks and put it back in the sauce. Stir well to let the chicken soak up the juices in the pot and serve as desired.

Cauliflower Adobo Tacos

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Recently we were at a brewery in Columbus that had the best honey adobo chicken fingers. They were so tasty that we have talked about them at least a half a dozen times since we first ate them. When brainstorming what we wanted to make for Cinco de Mayo this year, we knew we wanted to combine the flavors of that honey adobo sauce with cauliflower for tacos. We have been really into subbing cauliflower as a meat-free alternative, and find with the right flavors we rarely notice we are eating vegetarian. We love the combo of flavors in our version of honey adobo sauce- the honey and vinegar are the perfect combination with the smokey chiles and tangy tomato paste. They are sweet and spicy and an excellent centerpiece for Cinco de Mayo or any taco night.

Cauliflower Adobo Tacos

  • Servings: 6-8 taco portions
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Sweet and spicy cauliflower tacos that pack a punch!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs olive oil, divided
  • 1 large head of cauliflower, large stem and leaves removed and cut into large bite-sized pieces
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup chipotles in adobo, diced
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 taco-sized tortillas
  • your favorite taco toppings: avocado, red onion, cilantro, queso fresco, etc…

Directions

  1. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbs of olive oil and lay the cauliflower florets in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 7-8 minutes on one side, or until the cauliflower is brown but not burnt. You’ll want to check the cauliflower during this 7 minutes and adjust the heat as necessary to get the cauliflower to the correct color. After the 7 minutes has passed, flip the cauliflower over and repeat the same thing on the other side. Remove the cauliflower into a large bowl and gently tent with foil until later in the recipe.
  2. Add the remaining 1 tbs of olive oil to the pan along with the minced garlic. Saute for 2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook another 2 minutes. Add the chipotles in adobo, water, apple cider vinegar, and cumin to the pan. In the ingredients above we give the option to use between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of honey. If you are making this for younger kids or people with a more spice sensitive palate, use the full 1/2 cup. If you really want to bring the heat go for 1/4 cup. Like Goldilocks we went right in the middle at 1/3 cup and found that it was just right. Whisk well to combine and cook for another 3 minutes on medium heat, or until the sauce is starting to become sticky.
  3. Add the cauliflower back into the pan and toss well to coat. Cook for another 2 minutes so that the cauliflower can absorb the sauce.
  4. Serve the cauliflower in tortillas along with your favorite taco condiments. We particularly like the cauliflower with avocado, queso fresco, freshly sliced red onion, and cilantro.

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

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Last week we shared one of our favorite recipes for Spicy Slaw. We love this recipe because it can easily be paired with burgers, tacos, and even eaten plain as a salad. Today we are sharing one of our favorite uses of the slaw with this recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos. We use frozen fish filets in this recipe so that we can prepare the rest of the ingredients while the fish is cooking. This saves us a ton of time and cleanup in the kitchen and allows us to focus on preparing and incorporating fresh ingredients. Our taco toppings are fairly simple in this recipe, as this is a recipe we often use for weekday lunches. If you have more time in the kitchen, the sky is the limit with where you can take these. If you have some extra time, this recipe would pair perfectly with our avocado crema, red onion, and cotija cheese. We’d love to hear how you make it your own!

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

  • Servings: 6 tacos
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Our quick and easy recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos.

Ingredients

  • 2 frozen breaded fish filets (we used Trader Joe’s panko crusted tilapia)
  • 6 taco shells
  • 1 can black beans
  • Spicy Slaw
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Salsa

Directions

  1. Prepare the fish according to package directions.
  2. While the fish is cooking, prepare the spicy slaw and set aside.
  3. Drain and rinse the black beans and heat in a pot over medium heat.
  4. When the fish is finished cooking, slice the fish into 1/2 inch pieces.
  5. Assemble the tacos. Place a generous portion of slaw in the taco shell. Top with black beans, fish, tomatoes, shredded cheddar and salsa. Serve immediately.

Shrimp Taco Salad

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We love mixing up our protein options by incorporating fish and seafood into our menu planning. This salad is the perfect way to bring shrimp to your lunch table in under 30 minutes. Tajin is a Mexican seasoning blend of chili powder, lime and salt. We eat it on just about anything – fruit included! Using the tajin gives the salad a citrusy punch that is complimented by the yogurt and avocado crema salad dressing. We have intentionally made this salad to be on the lighter side, but if a salad just won’t cut it for your appetite, this recipe can easily be put in taco shells or tortillas and topped with cheddar or cotija cheese to bulk it up. For us, this is a perfect weekday lunch to have while working from home.

Shrimp Taco Salad

  • Servings: 2 lunch servings
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A lunch salad that is filled with flavor and comes together in under 30 minutes; a great recipe for a weekday lunch while working from home.

Shrimp Ingredients

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbs tajin

Salad Ingredients

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 package (8 oz) coleslaw mix
  • 2 roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1 can of black beans, drained
  • 1 single serving package (5.3oz) non-fat Greek yogurt
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Season and cook the shrimp. Season the shrimp with salt, pepper and tajin. In a medium pan, heat the olive oil and cook the shrimp fully through (about 3 minutes per side). Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and 1/2 avocado and mix until the avocado is fully blended with the yogurt. Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the coleslaw mix, tomatoes, beans and cooked shrimp. Toss with the yogurt/avocado dressing.
  4. Optional – if you want to make this dish more hearty, you can put the salad mix in a tortilla to make a wrap or serve as individual tacos.

Marinated Flank Steak Tacos

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Flank steak is one of those cuts of meat that we want to love, but seem to have a hard time preparing correctly. We tend to buy it in a pinch when we don’t want something as decadent as a ribeye. It’s thin like a strip steak but is still a tough cut of meat- it really tastes best after it has been marinated for a few hours, or ideally overnight. After a few attempts at marinating, we finally feel like we have a much better approach to flank steak.

What we love about this recipe is how vinegary the marinade is. The vinegar helps break down the steak and makes it much more tender than cooking it straight away. We have used the steak for tacos in this recipe, but it is versatile enough that you can eat it as is with grilled vegetables or with a drizzle of chimichurri. 

Marinated Flank Steak Tacos 
Makes: 4 servings 
Prep Time: 24 hours    Total Time: 25 hours 

Ingredients For The Steak: 

  • 1.5 – 2 lbs flank steak 
  • 3/4 cup olive oil 
  • 2/3 cup red wine vinegar 
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed 
  • salt and pepper  

Ingredients For The Tacos: 

  • 8-12 tortillas, warmed 
  • 3/4 cup cotija cheese, crumbled 
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced 
  • tomatillo salsa 
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges 

Directions: 

  1. Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and smashed garlic in a gallon ziplock bag or a pyrex baking dish. Pat the flank steak dry with paper towel and season it well on both sides with salt and pepper. Add the flank steak to the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 15-20 minutes before you want to cook the steak to bring it back up to room temperature. 
  2. When it is time to cook the steak, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Let the pan get very hot, letting it get warm for a few minutes, before adding the steak. Cook the steak for 3-4 minutes per side, depending on how close to medium-rare you want the steak prepared. Remove the steak from the pan and let it rest for 8-10 minutes before slicing. 
  3. Serve the steak sliced in tacos with the taco ingredients listed above, or any preferred taco accompaniments. Slice the steak and serve immediately. 

Crispy Fish Tacos

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We (Tuck’s family) have been living in Florida for about two weeks now and are totally spoiled when it comes to fish options compared to when we live in Colorado. We order fish tacos all the time when we go out for meals and figured it was time to make them at home. Our rental house does not have a grill, so we opted for crispy fish tacos. This makes the tacos a little more decadent, but no one in our house was complaining. 

When it comes to making any sort of tacos at home, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the toppings. Our favorite fish taco toppings are usually some sort of spicy aioli and a creamy, limey coleslaw. We have combined those two in this recipe to save some time in the kitchen and love the outcome. The spicy coleslaw is helps balance out the richness of the fried fish. We like to finish our tacos with fresh avocado, a few slices of red onion, a healthy squeeze of lime and a slice of jalapeno for punch, but add or subtract any ingredients to achieve your taco making dreams! 

Crispy Fish Tacos
Makes: 4 servings 
Prep Time: 30 minutes   Total Time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients For Crispy Fish: 

  • 1 1/2 lbs flakey white fish- we used red snapper but tilapia, cod, and halibut work well
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 tbs water 
  • up to 1 cup vegetable oil 

Ingredients For Chipotle Lime Coleslaw: 

  • 3 cups shredded cabbage or cabbage salad mix 
  • 2 chipotles in adobo, finely minced 
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise or Greek yogurt 
  • juice of one lime
  • 1 tbs honey 
  • 2 tsp cumin 
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 
  • salt and pepper to taste 

Ingredients for Additional Tacos and Toppings: 

  • 12 taco sized tortillas 
  • one lime, cut into wedges 
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced 
  • 1 avocado, sliced 
  • 1 jalapeno (optional) 
  • additional cilantro leaves 

Directions: 

  1. Prepare the fish. Cut the fish into slices about two fingers thick so that they are in bite-sized pieces. We bought true “taco tortillas” that are about 4 inches in diameter. Judge the size of the fish based on the size of your tortilla. 
  2. Whisk the eggs and 1 tbs water in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Put the bread crumbs in a second bowl and also season with salt and pepper. Create an assembly line to bread the fish pieces, dunking each piece in egg wash and then in the bread crumbs. Place the breaded fish onto a cookie sheet for easy access while cooking. 
  3. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add enough vegetable oil to the pan so that the bottom is coated. When the oil is hot, add the fish pieces to the pan. The fish should be in one layer and not over crowded. It will likely take you 3+ rounds in the pan to get all the fish cooked. Cook the fish for 3 minutes per side, or until the fish is completely cooked through. Remove from the pan and onto paper towel to drain the excess oil. Season with a bit of salt. Repeat this step as necessary, including refilling the oil if needed, until all the fish is cooked. 
  4. Make the coleslaw. Combine the wet ingredients of the slaw (chipotles in adobo-cilantro) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk well to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Depending on how spicy you want the slaw you might add additional mayo or honey. Add the cabbage to the slaw dressing and mix to combine.
  5. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds. Assemble the tacos by layering the coleslaw on the bottom and fish on top. Top with any additional desired ingredients from the list above. Enjoy immediately.