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.
sooo good! Very easy to make too.
I bought some taco shape bowls / molds at the thrift store but haven’t used them as yet but I know I will be using them soon; maybe not using taco meat but possibly pulled pork or shredded left-over pot roast or BBQ shredded chicken meat.
My smaller taco molds I could maybe use as a cute little dessert bowls for ice cream; etc.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Hi, can you please, please give me the measurements of your cereal bowls. As would like to order 6, but they come in 3 different sizes. I’m so excited to try these…my type of meal. Once, I try them, will comment here. Thanks!
Hi Marlene,
Mine are just the classic Fiesta cereal bowls. 14 oz, I believe. Here’s a link:
https://www.amazon.com/Fiesta-4-Ounce-Cereal-Small-Lapis/dp/B00BZ1EEPK?crid=RW0IFXPW2AZ7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UIH1dhrcyZzRD0HlXrt0UQUaOImaiEeFyEmOX-PRC6V2i_O-Wd7LlfSA6YHvKl1OkEwaN2i7uskmqKGOYWufpR2XNNGZLifcNdePEQKp1iP2HdY3gpMnO1yEceJA3b2TI3Cw4F0_mB7br1jJjMCL9XHNe5U4W4bLykWNU4Uc2RS0SJZiLI-ddFLtfxTXpK_x_VYmoeYbI68A7tvb4bZ_FNhKEI3j2mBGNpY1T-sjHXlSCA3FburKF0ykimeQptsVInyFXpO0vk4BKHkRinlOmJKOzwJ3MMB_ZPWUOyAI1fY.Fh1LfN30kXPsXCaz7lvgO8quLtFMAKOTe4gOSj-G584&dib_tag=se&keywords=fiesta%2Bware%2Bcereal%2Bbowl&qid=1722029481&sprefix=fiesta%2Bware%2Bcereal%2Bbowl%2Caps%2C337&sr=8-1&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspiper-20&linkId=c5af68340ca773e4e46969b3027548b6&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
These turned out super delicious! Almost couldn’t believe I made them myself. I’m also super curious about what fillings you added to your photographed taco bowl. Do I spy carnitas? Either way, it looks super good! My additions to my taco salad bowl were lettuce, salsa, black olives, grilled onions, refried beans, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Very good I’m so pleased with the results
Absolutely love how these bowls turned out! I have the Wilton Taco Shell Pans, but had no idea how to use them until I came across your site. Thank you! They look great, taste great and are a super fun way to treat guests to something special without crazy effort.
You can buy the forms for the shells in the grocery store look in the area where the tube of rolls are sold it comes as a kit with the tortilla shells then when your done save the forms to use again