Beef Tostadas (with Pico de Gallo and Spicy Crema)

Today we’re going to enjoy some seriously delicious Mexican and Southwestern flavors via these absolutely delicious (and quick! and easy!) Beef Tostadas. Now, you can “tostada” anything, just as you can “taco” anything, which we learned from Chef Gabriel Camara in her book, My Mexico City Kitchen. In this case, we’re going to make some very tasty, saucy ground beef and pile it atop some crunchy, cheesy tortillas. What could be better, honestly?

Read on for a little more about this recipe, or just jump ahead to the main event. Up to you!

What are Tostadas?

If you’ve never had one before, think of a tostada as an open-faced taco. Literally, if you just fold them up, eating them with your hands as opposed to a knife and fork, you’d have a taco situation. I like to serve tostadas, because I personally enjoy the gloriously crispy tortillas and the fact that you can easily see each component so well.

But just as you can turn literally anything into a taco, you can do that to a tostada as well. You don’t have to have super specific recipes for tostadas, in fact that’s not at all a Mexican way to go about things. You could just as easily call these tacos if you wanted. Or, throw another tortilla on top, give them a good pressing on hot pan and boom! Quesadillas. Want to use small, bite-sized tortillas instead (chips)? You’ve got amazing nachos.

You could stuff all of this inside a larger tortillas, along with some rice and beans, and you’ve got one heck of a burrito. So you see, it’s more about the flavors and components going on than any strict name. Call it what you want. Fold it how you like. A tostada by any other name is still really, really fun and almost always a crowd-pleaser.

Alternate serving suggestions for these ground beef tostadas

You could do any of the following, and still end up in a very delicious place:

1. Use a great store-bought salsa verde in place of the crema.
2. Create quesadillas by topping the tostadas with another tortilla and pressing them in a hot, oiled pan.
3. Make this into a great nacho situation by topping a sheet pan of tortilla chips with the beef mixture and a shower of the cheese. Bake at 400 until hot and golden/melty. Serve with the salsa fresca and crema. SO GOOD!

How to get the best crispy ground beef

And by jove, it actually worked. I’ve always hated how, when trying to “brown” ground meat, I always feel as if I fall short of getting things actually browned. If you’ve every noticed your meat looking more gray (yuck) than deeply browned (yum!), then you’ll know what I’m talking about here.

But fear not! Baking soda to the rescue! That’s the first time I’ve ever uttered those words. Ahem, anyway. This will result in much better browning and crisping for you, and will look more appetizing in the end. Totally optional, but it really makes a nice difference. And what’s more? You probably have some lying around in your pantry or fridge anyway, you know?

Why add baking soda to your ground beef

The addition of the baking soda may seem strange, but it will prevent the beef from getting watery as it tries to brown. I learned this tip from Cook’s Illustrated and was VERY intrigued – very excited to put this claim to the test.

“… {baking soda} raises the pH on the meat’s surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively,” and allows the meat to remain tender even as it cooks.”

Cook’s Illustrated

How to use baking soda when browning ground beef

Now, you will see/read/hear that baking soda should be applied about 15 minutes prior to actually cooking the meat. This gives it time to do its chemistry (i.e. raise the meat’s PH levels + block protein bondage). But you know what? I didn’t have that extra 15 minutes of time. This is My Kitchen Little – we’re trying to minimize the cook time, not add to it.

So, I just dumped the baking soda onto the ground beef in my mixing bowl, gave it a mix (like I was making, say, meatloaf or meatballs) and then dropped it right into my pan. I let it sit there in one big, spread out layer and do a whole lot of good browning before I ever even thought about messing with it. It worked! You could tell right away that there was less water/liquid/moisture going on in the pan. Also, the beef did actually get to a gorgeous, appetizing browned color.

Eureka!

Does baking soda also work with ground turkey?

Yes. Hooray! Not only does the baking soda trick work with ground turkey, helping it to achieve a better all-around browning – it also works with ground pork. And ground chicken. And that’s it. I can’y think of anything else you’d want to brown.

Okay fine, ground lamb or veal would work I’d imagine. But I don’t cook much with those things so you’ll have to put it to the test yourselves, my friends.

What You’ll Need

This ingredients list may read a teensy bit longer than my usual, but everything is simple, affordable, and accessible. If you want to skip the beef stock concentrate, that’s fine. But I do like to have y’all keep some of that around – same with chicken stock concentrate – because it adds such great flavor to our recipes without having to add a lot of time getting there. Totally a MKL staple ingredient.

Anyway, here’s the official list:

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef

1 tablespoon baking soda, optional (see note)

Chili spice blend (see below)

Salt and pepper, as needed

2 teaspoons beef stock concentrate

½ cup sour cream or Mexican crema

Hot sauce of your choice

2 limes

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 small onion, ½ thinly sliced and ½ diced

2 green bell peppers or poblano peppers, thinly sliced

¼ cup chopped cilantro

8 flour tortillas (small or “taco-sized”)

Olive oil, as needed

1.5 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Chili Spice Blend

1.5 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until well-mixed. 

How to make this Ground Beef Tostadas recipe

This recipe has a few moving parts, yes. But the combination of these parts is what makes things things so dang good. So, it’s worth it – absolutely. There are crunchy baked tortillas that also have the added flavor bonus of crispy, crunchy, melty cheese (I die!). There is an absolutely incredible saucy beef mixture that gets its super powers from a simple (spice drawer-fueled) Southwest Chili Spice Blend that we’ll throw together. There is crema. There is a fresh salsa!

But fear not, my easy recipe loving friends. I would NEVER steer you wrong, or down a path that would leave you standing in a hot kitchen for hours on end. No, this recipe only takes about 45 minutes total, including prep time, etc. Each of the aforementioned “moving parts,” only consists of a few easy things and trust me when I say that you will be sitting down to a hot and saucy plate of kick-ass tostadas before you can say … “dos margaritas, por favor.” (I do recommend margs as the official sipper for these beef tostadas. Of course).

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position.

Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet set over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the ground beef, baking soda, the chili spice blend, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until deeply browned, about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the sliced onion and peppers, the stock concentrate, and ¼ cup water. Stir to mix and simmer for a couple of minutes until nice and saucy. 

Meanwhile, combine the chopped tomatoes, diced onion, cilantro, and the juice of ½ lime in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside. 

In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and as much hot sauce as you like. S. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Brush the tortillas on both sides with a layer of oil and lay them on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle each tortillas with a little of the cheese and bake until golden and crisped; about 4 to 5 minutes (watch them!).

To assemble a tostada: Spoon some of the beef mixture onto a crispy tortilla and top with a mound of the tomato-onion salsa. Add some cheese and a dollop of the spicy crema, and serve. 

If you like the looks of these Beef Tostadas, you might also want to check out:

Spicy Pork Tacos with Roasted Zucchini

Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos

Everything Can Be Breakfast Tostadas

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