It’s Taco Tues… oh wait… Taco Sunday!

Tacos.  What’s not to love?  Most everyone loves a good taco, but sometimes, they could use a makeover.  These taco cupcakes are a great way to put your own spin on taco night!  Plus, if you have kids, you know that occasionally (okay sometimes more often than not) they can be a little picky.  But if you do 2 things, they will be more excited about dinner.  Wanna know those 2 things?  First, have them help you with a part of the dinner process.  Of course this varies, depending on the age of your child.  For instance, my 1.5 year old, yeah he won’t be helping me cook just yet lol.  But my nearly 5 year old?  Oh yeah, she loves to help!  Even if it’s just something simple, like pushing the buttons on the microwave, sprinkling some cheese on top of the tacos, stirring the cream sauce, ripping off a handful of cilantro leaves… any of those things give her a sense of pride and accomplishment and encourage her to want to eat the dinner she helped create.

Secondly, you can let your kids help you choose the meal… within reason of course lol.  My daughter would probably say she wanted mac and cheese every. single. night…. but if I show her a picture of something like these taco cupcakes, she’ll get excited about making them.  Anything you can do to ease the dinner time meltdowns, trust me, you should do it.  Cooking for kids can be a huge challenge, but it doesn’t have to be 🙂

Okay, back to the taco cupcakes!  This recipe is a starter base, you can customize these til your heart’s content 🙂  Whatever you like on your tacos, you can put on these taco cupcakes.  I had some leftover Corn Salsa, but you could use any salsa or sauce that you’d like.  I made my own taco seasoning, you can find the really easy recipe below, but a regular package of taco seasoning does the trick as well.  I hope you all give these taco cupcakes a try, they’re fun to make, and fun to eat!

Recipe adapted from MyRecipes.com

Homemade Taco Seasoning

You can have your own taco seasoning without having to worry about what's in those packets. Easy to put together, easy to store, and tastes fantastic!

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Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 5 mins

Servings: 3 -4 Tbsp

Recipe Author The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Stir it all together and store in an airtight container (I use a leftover spice bottle).
• For use with 1 lb of ground beef, use approximately 3 Tbsp. of the mixture and 2/3 cup of
• water. Basically the way you'd usually make tacos, just instead of the packet, use 3 Tbsp. of
• your seasoning mix.

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Taco Cupcakes with Avocado Cream

All the flavors of yummy beef tacos in a bite size package!

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Servings: 12 taco cupcakes

Recipe Author The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• taco seasoning 1 packet or homemade
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup picante sauce
• 12-24 wonton wrappers (12 for single lined 24 for double)
• 1/2 cup refried beans
• Mexican cheese blend shredded
• taco toppings of your choosing
• AVOCADO CILANTRO LIME CREAM
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 avocado pitted and chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• zest of 1 lime
• juice of 1/2 a lime

Instructions

• Brown your ground beef, drain. Add taco seasoning, water, and 1/4 cup picante sauce. Let
• simmer until thick but not dry.
• Heat up your refried beans in the microwave.
• Spray your muffin cups with cooking spray and line with wonton wrappers. I usually use two
• wrappers for a more secure cup, but it will work just fine with one wrap per cup as well.
• Dab some refried beans in the bottom of your cups, add some ground beef, and top with a
• sprinkle of mexican cheese.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and top with desire
• taco toppings.
• FOR THE AVOCADO CILANTRO LIME CREAM
• Pit the avocado, scoop out flesh into a food processor, add sour cream, lime zest, lime juice
• and cilantro and a pinch of salt.
• Pulse a few times, then process until smooth and creamy.

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