Bubbly Taco Salad Bowl Recipe
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 2, 2025 
Make Amazing Taco Salad Recipes at home with these ultra-crispy Bubbly Taco Salad Bowls. Learn How To Make Tortilla Bowls (Taco Shells) just like your favorite Mexican restaurant… Without deep-frying!
Why We Love This Taco Shell Bowls Recipe
The best thing about eating a taco salad at a restaurant is the crunchy tortilla bowl. Am I right?
The golden color and crisp airy bubbles are so alluring, that it’s hard not to break off a big chunk of bowl before ever picking up your fork!
At restaurants, taco salad bowls are made by deep-frying extra-large flour tortillas in a specially shaped frying basket.
However, most of us don’t have deep fryers at home. And if you try to just bake tortilla bowls, they come out crisp, but not puffy and bubbly.
So today I’m going to teach you a quick trick to making crispy taco salad bowls at home, without a deep fryer! You get the feel of eating crunchy tacos, yet with much more vegetable goodness, and no guilt!
Ingredients You Need
To make ridiculously addictive taco bowl shells, you only need two ingredients…
- Extra-Large Flour Tortillas– About 10-12 inches across, burrito-sized.
- Flavorless Cooking Oil – For frying, vegetable oil is great.
A little sprinkling of salt is a good idea, but not necessary.
How To Make Taco Salad Bowl Shells
How do you make bubbly taco salad bowl shells at home? Our secret taco salad bowl recipe hack requires two quick-cooking steps…
First, you pan-fry the tortillas in a small amount of oil, so they puff up with ethereal bubbles.
Second, you bake the tortillas. I know this sounds like more work, but it’s actually very easy.
Flash-frying the tortillas gives them lift, color, and coats them in oil, so they can continue to crisp up in the oven. Then you simply shape the puffy tortillas in cereal bowls and pop them in the oven.
How To Assemble Taco Salad Bowls
Now you have fabulous taco bowl shells for taco salad recipes. So what are you going to fill them with?
Consider topping the Taco Bowl Shells with these Favorite Taco Fixings:
- Shredded Romaine Lettuce
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Onion
- Ground Beef Taco Meat
- Ground Turkey Taco Meat
- Grilled Fish
- Shredded Chicken
- Black Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Refried Beans
- Sliced Black Olives
- Pico de Gallo or Salsa
- Chopped Roma Tomatoes
- Sliced Avocado
- Guacamole
- Grilled Corn
- Jalapenos
- Fresh Cilantro
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Queso Fresco
- Cotija Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Tortilla Chips
- Ranch Dressing
- Catalina Dressing
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically, a taco salad bowl starts with a bubbly taco bowl shell, then is topped with all the best taco salad ingredients like lettuce, ground or shredded meat cooked in taco seasoning, and then piled high with veggies like cherry tomatoes, avocado, onions, olives, and a taco salad dressing of your choice!
Yes and no. Yes, you can follow this exact process, with corn tortillas, to make crunchy corn tortilla bowls. However, it’s hard to find extra-large corn tortillas, so the bowls will not be as large.
Also, there will be small bubbles from frying, but you will not get the massive bubbles with corn tortillas, that you do with flour tortillas.
Yes! If you can find gluten-free flour tortillas, you can make taco salad shells the same way.
The cooked taco shells recipe we are sharing today is technically a baked tortilla bowl recipe, even though you flash fry the tortillas first.
You can skip the step of flash frying and just brush the tortillas with oil, shape, and bake… But they will not form the large airy bubbles that are not near and dear to our hearts.
It is worth the extra 4 minutes of work to gain golden pillowy bubbles in your taco bowl shells. These crispy taco shells will give you all the love of hard taco shells from taco night in this salad recipe.
These crunchy taco salad shells are best if made right before serving. However, they will last 2 days and can be reheated in the oven. Wrap them in plastic and keep them at room temperature for up to 48 hours.
Of course! If you don’t need to fit a whole dinner-size portion of salad in the bowl, you can make them with any size of flour tortilla you like.
Find smaller oven-safe bowls to shape the tortillas. Fry and bake for the same amount of time as with the large bowls.
Looking for More Mexican-Inspired Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Grilled Chicken Fajita Salad
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn
- Enchiladas Suiza
- Tostadas de Tinga
- Carne Asada
- Pollo Asado (Mexican Grilled Chicken)
- Mexican Sopes Recipe
- Green Chili Recipe (New Mexico Chile Verde)
- Instant Pot Perfect Carnitas
- Mexican Corn Dip
- Dorito Taco Salad
Check the recipe card below for the nutrient information, including calories and other daily values.
Bubbly Taco Salad Bowls Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 4 10-12 inch flour tortillas (XL burrito size)
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or any flavorless oil)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set 4 oven-safe cereal bowls on a large rimmed baking sheet. Then set a large 12-14 inch skillet on the stovetop over medium heat.
- Pour 1 tablespoon oil into the skillet. Once hot, place the tortilla in the skillet. Use tongs to swirl the tortilla to coat it in oil, flip it over, and swirl it again. It needs to be coated in oil, on both sides, right away.
- Pan-fry the tortilla for 30-45 seconds per side, allowing it to puff up with large bubbles. (The bigger the bubbles the better!) Flip and repeat. Make sure the tortilla isn't turning dark. It should be golden-brown.
- Use tongs to move the tortilla to one of the cereal bowls. Tuck it down into the bottom of the bowl, to create a bowl shape with the tortilla. Take care not to deflate the bubbles.
- Repeat with the remaining three tortillas. Once all the tortillas are flash-fried and shaped into bowls, bake for 9-10 minutes until very crispy. Cool and fill.
Nice being able to skip the fryer, and the restaurant! Taco bowls are a favorite throwback dish for me, thank you!
I made just one, using a Sana brand coconut flour tortilla. While the bubbles were not very big, and most of them disappeared while I was shaping it, and the whole thing ended up a little too crunchy, it’s the first time in over three years I’ve been able to have a proper taco salad bowl and it. was. glorious. Thank You <3
I think a big part of the problem, along with the tortillas, was the shape of my cereal bowls. They're flat bottomed & straight sided, and they just did not lend themselves to shaping well. Next time I'm going to try using two sizes of Pyrex bowls, sandwich the fried tortilla between them until it sets, then toss it in the air fryer to crisp it up.
Try turning your bowls upside down in the oven and then form your tortilla over the bowl instead of inside the bowl itself.
I made these using the Mission Carb Balance tortillas. They were very good, however I didn’t get the bubbles. Perhaps the difference in the tortillas? I will be making these again!
Could you invert the bowls and drape the tortillas over the outside of the bowl?
Hi Kathy!
Sure, based on the size of your bowls, you can do that. However, draping them might create very shallow taco bowls. It’s worth a try!
yes, I tried this. Yum yum yum yum yum, you can also use these bowls for fruit salads as well.
You’re right, it was an easy process and it was crunchy and so good! We’ll definitely make this again and again.
this was the perfect pair to finish off taco tuesdays! thank you for sharing!
Bubbly, crispy perfection! I feel like the taco bowl totally makes the salad. Thank you for this great recipe!
This is so great! I never knew you could make ” bubbly” taco shells at home without a deep fryer. We loved the recipe (nice and crispy) and will definitely make it again.
These are easy to make , and so so delicious!! My whole family really enjoyed them .Thank you!!
I like to use street taco size tortillas and serve as appetizers. They fit just right in a cupcake pan
Smarty! I love making these tortilla bowls and now turning them into an appetizer size is so clever! Thanks for sharing Ü
You are a genius! Before I Google’d this recipe I was wondering if you could flash-fry a tortilla first (like when you make enchiladas) and then bake it. And then I found this recipe. It’s awesome!!!!