Baked Mini Tacos Appetizers
No matter if you’relooking for an easy weeknight dinner idea or hosting a party with your friends, you can’t go wrong with tacos! That’s why these mini taco appetizers are the perfect snack! Fill your taco slider shells with cheesey taco meat stuffing to create a delicious snack that’s perfect for dinner or a party. And since they’re made with a handful of simple ingredients, these taco sliders are a great gluten free appetizer for any occasion!
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With the help of mini taco shells, you can whip up a delicious baked appetizer for your Super Bowl party or New Year’s Eve party with just a few minutes of prep work!
And since these baked tacos are filled with cheese and taco meat, they’re sure to be a hit with everyone at your party — whether they’re looking for delicious gluten free recipes or not!
Mini Taco Appetizer
You won’t believe how quickly and easily these stuffed peppers come together. That’s because you only need a few ingredients to prepare them! After that, just pop them in the oven to bake!
To make your own mini taco sliders, you’ll need just a few ingredients, including:
- Refried beans
- Ground beef
- Onion
- Taco seasoning
- Diced tomatoes with green chilies
- Water
- Cream cheese
- Mexican blend cheese
- Ortega taco slider shells
How to Make Baked Mini Tacos
Now that you have your ingredients gathered up and ready to go, it’s time to start cooking! Just follow these easy instructions for learning how to make baked mini tacos.
To make these mini tacos, start by browning your ground beef in a large skillet with the onion. Add both ingredients to the pan and cook them together until the beef is browned and crumbly and the onions are transluscent.
Once the beef is cooked through, add the diced tomatoes with green chilis (I like to use Rotel) and taco seasoning to the pan. Stir to mix, then add a little bit of water to help create a sauce. Saute the ingredients over medium low heat until the sauce begins to reduce and thicken.
Now that your beef is seasoned with the taco ingredients, it’s time to add the cream cheese! I suggest cuting the cream cheese into cubes to help it cook a little more quickly. After that, add it to the pan then stir it into the cooked meat and tomatoes. Continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and well combined with the taco meat.
After your taco filling is ready to go, you can start stuffing your mini taco shells. First, put a layer of refried beans along the bottom of each mini shell. Then, place the shells upright in a baking dish. Continue adding shells to the pan until it’s full and all the tacos are standing up on their own.
After that, add a spoonful of taco filling over the top of the beans. Spread the filling in an even layer, making sure not to fill the tacos to the top of the shell. You’ll need to leave a little bit of room on top for the cheese!
When all your mini tacos are filled with taco meat, the final step is to top all the tacos with shredded cheese. Fill each taco to the top with cheese.
Place the mini tacos in the oven to bake for around 10 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and the shells are crispy.
Mini Taco Ideas for a Party
Now that you see how simple these mini tacos are to make, you’re going to want to serve them at all your parties! Use these baking ideas to take the flavor of your baked tacos up a notch!
Try these recipe ideas and substitutions to create a delicious appetizer for any get together!
- Serve your mini tacos with dip. You can easily add to the flavor of your mini tacos by serving them with some dip. These taco sliders would taste amazing when served with sour cream, ranch dressing, salsa, guacamole, or taco sauce.
- Add more toppings. You can also give your tacos a little more flavor with the help of toppings. After your tacos are finished baking, top them with some traditional taco toppers, like shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, diced peppers, chopped avocado, sliced black olives, or chopped green onion.
- Make your tacos spicy. Take the spice level of your tacos even higher by adding some chopped jalapeno or spicy salsa to your taco filling! Add the jalapenos or salsa to the pan with the taco filling as you’re cooking the ground beef to give it an extra kick of spice.
Baked Mini Tacos Recipe
Baked mini tacos make the best Mexican-themed party appetizer or tasty snack.
Ingredients
- 1 can refried beans, heated
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 package Ortega taco slider shells
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown the ground beef with the onion in a large skillet.
- When the meat is cooked through and crumbled, add the taco seasoning, tomatoes, and water. Stir to mix.
- Allow the ingredients to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened.
- Add the cream cheese to the pan and stir to mix. Continue cooking over low heat until the cheese is melted, then remove the pan from heat.
- Spread the refried beans along the bottom of each mini taco shell.
- Fill the shell halfway full of ground beef and cream cheese mixture.
- Top each taco with shredded cheese.
- Place the taco shells upright in a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes, until the shells are crispy and the cheese is melted.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 203Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 401mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 13g
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Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
