Seven Ways To Spice Up Your Next Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is a fun dinner tradition that the whole family can look forward to. It’s a great way to break up the monotony the weekdays can bring and give the kids something to look forward to after the Monday blues. It can be fun and easy to purchase a taco-making kit or warm ingredients to assemble, but switching things up provides a more authentic and creative experience that will “wow” the rest of your crew. Here are seven great ways to spice up your next Taco Tuesday. Once you try them, you’ll never want to return to those basic, boring kits again.

 

Make Homemade Tortillas

 

Store-bought tortillas do the trick in a pinch, but you won’t want them anymore once you make homemade tortillas. You can make a nice flour tortilla dough from ingredients you likely already have in your pantry, including flour, butter and salt. Combine these ingredients with water and oil to have freshly made tortillas in under 40 minutes. 

If you have some more time to spare, you can even consider making homemade corn tortillas. You can create a dough for these by combining water and masa harina and letting it proof. Masa harina is a flour made from corn kernels soaked in calcium hydroxide, giving Mexican tortillas their fantastic flavour. 

 

Create Your Own Taco Seasoning

 

An excellent activity for your kids to participate in is making their taco seasoning. They can add ingredients such as garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper, oregano, chilli pepper, paprika and cumin. Creating your own taco seasoning allows you to make it as spicy as you want while making it blander for little ones with more sensitive palates. It also helps your kids feel more involved in the process, and they can take pride in their seasoning creation. 

 

Utilise Your Slow Cooker

 

Slow-cooker taco meat is a recipe to try that is sure to be a Taco Tuesday crowd-pleaser. Whether you go with beef, pork or chicken, you can combine your meat and spices in your slow-cooker before work and come home to the fantastic smell of your taco meat waiting for you to serve. A slow cooker allows your meat to slowly cook and absorb all the juices and spices accompanying it. Chicken and beef take around eight hours to cook on the lowest setting of your slow cooker, with pork roast taking about another hour to finish. Once it’s done cooking, shred your meat and enjoy some juicy and delicious tacos. 

 

Try Some Seafood

 

Fish tacos are a popular street food choice and can be a great Taco Tuesday addition. Try stepping it up a notch and use the event to introduce your kids to seafood they may not have tried before. Shrimp and lobster tacos are a fun and delicious way to incorporate more seafood into your family’s diets. You can serve salmon, catfish or any white-fleshed fish with lime, sour cream and your favourite toppings for a fresh, savoury spin on traditional tacos. 

 

Mix Up Some Sides

 

One of the best things about tacos is that they can be your entree and sides combined. Why not kick things up a notch with some dishes that complement your tacos? Baked beans go well with meat and veggies, or serve refried beans for a classic restaurant combo. You could also let your kids help you make an easy Mexican street corn salad or cook up some cilantro lime rice for a yummy flavour combo. 

 

Don’t Forget Drinks

 

Just because your Taco Tuesday is family-friendly doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun drink with your tacos. Try using lemon, lime and orange juices with some agave and seltzer for a margarita mocktail everyone can enjoy. You can even garnish it with salt and a lime wedge to help your kids feel extra fancy. 

 

Make Decorations

 

One way to liven your Taco Tuesday up is to have the whole family make decorations. Create some tissue paper garlands to hang by folding paper and wire together. You can also blow up balloons, decorate a disposable tablecloth with markers, or invite your kids to create signs and pictures for their very own taco stand. Make a craft night activity by helping your kids fold colorful napkins into birds, flowers or stars for a fun addition to your table. Before you know it, these decorations will turn your casual Taco Tuesday into a family fiesta. 

Enjoy A Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is a fun way to get the whole family away from their screens and enjoy dinner together. This event can help break up the week’s monotony and become a tradition you and your kids look forward to. It’s a chance to be creative and try something new, and you’ll be sure to find a favourite recipe your whole family will want to make together again.