I had never heard of “Navajo Tacos” before moving to Utah. It seems to be a Utah, Arizona, New Mexico thing. I could be wrong. My girlfriend and her husband had us over for dinner last year and made us these. It was my first experience and it was so yummy! I then forgot about Navajo tacos until a few weeks back. The hubby brought them up and I decided to try and make my own. I’m not sure if you are supposed to use chili or just ground meat and then layer it with beans or what, but since the hubs wanted chili I decided that it would probably work just fine. I didn’t have the right beans, had to leave out the peppers and onion for someone that doesn’t like them and use a chili seasoning packet since I couldn’t get to all of my spices, but it seriously turned out pretty darn good!
So, dear readers fill me in. What’s the story with Navajo tacos and did I make it wrong?
What Are Navajo Tacos?
Navajo tacos are made with fry bread instead of tortillas.
You make the taco filling, and eat it on top of fry bread.
Navajo Tacos
Navajo Tacos
Description
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef, Lean
- 28 oz Tomatoes, canned, mexican style, Diced
- 1/4-1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, depending on the sweetness you like
- 1 Zucchini, chopped or shredded
- 2 Tomatoes, Roma, chopped
- 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 1/2 Packages Chili Seasoning
- 1 Can Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin, optional
- 2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1 Can Black Beans
- 1 Can Kidney Beans
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef and drain.
- Add everything to a pot and simmer 3 hours.
- Defrost Rhodes rolls and flatten into disks.
- Fry until golden top with chili, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream!
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Lisa
Traditional Navajo Tacos usually were made with plain pinto beans, top it with ground beef, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions and shredded cheese and a spicy salsa – all over a fried bread. You can substitute any puffy fried bread like sopapillas, and also those like the recipe mentions, made with yeast. Traditional Navajo frybread just uses a few ingredients – flour, salt, baking powder, a little powdered milk and water. Being Navajo myself, I make chili beans and add the rest of the ingredients on top – yummy and filling for weekend meals and family gatherings.
Sweet Basil
Awesome!! Thank you so much!
Dawn
Haha! forgot to put the link with info on the history. Oops! Here it is..
https://www.culinarylore.com/dishes:what-is-a-navajo-taco
Sweet Basil
haha, no worries. Can’t wait to go read it and I’ll have to fix that!
Dawn
One of my roommates in college was Navajo. She made these for us all the time. It’s one of the few things I miss about being in the Southwest. Using yeast rolls is a short cut way to make them, but the traditional fry bread for the Navajo taco doesn’t have yeast. They can be topped with any taco topping you choose. You asked for the story on the Navajo taco. Check this page out. Has the history of how they came about. Oh, and a side note… you left the fry bread info off your ingredients list on the recipe. 😉
Logan Reising
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jared and megan
I had never heard of them until we moved to Kelso and twice we have been invited to two different homes and had them. LOVE them. And yes, you use chili…at least that's what I've always had. But it really doesn't matter, I think the point is the fry bread.
Katrina
yummy! this looks sooo good right now! Ü
julie
I've had them before and remember them being delicious but I'm definitely no expert. I'd eat one of yours any day though. It looks delicious!
Jennifurla
I have no idea if they are made right, but it looks quite tasty.