Tostadas! A Self-Serve, Fast Family Friendly Dinner Idea

Does your family love Mexican food?  We do. It is such a family friendly option with many dishes being self-serve and easy to personalise the flavours.  Tacos and nachos are our staple dishes but every now and then we like to add in something different.  We have even made our own homemade flour tortillas for soft tacos and corn chips for nachos, and recently we added these delicious tostadas to our family dinner menu.

Traditionally, tostadas are made from corn tortillas fried in oil to make them crisp and piled with various toppings.  I wanted a healthier version so I baked the tortillas in the oven before getting Bear and Bee to add their own meat and salad vegetables.
This is such a versatile dish.  You can use whatever ingredients you have on hand and each family member can customise their tostadas with their favourite toppings.

Oven Baked Tostadas

You will need:

• 1 packet corn tortillas
• Refried beans, heated according to packet directions (these are optional and can be substituted with a Mexican salsa)
• Shredded barbecue chicken or leftover cooked mince
• Salad ingredients such as shredded lettuce, grated carrot, sliced capsicum (bell peppers), grated tasty cheese
• Low fat sour cream

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Place 2 tortillas on each tray and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, turning halfway through.

3. Remove the tortillas from the oven when golden brown.

4. Transfer the crispy tortillas to dinner plates.

5. Spread each tortilla with the refried beans.

6. Top each tortilla with chicken and salad vegetables.

7. Dollop on some of the sour cream.

8. Yum!

Handy Hints

• We tried baking flour tortillas too but they didn’t turn out as crispy as the corn tortillas which made them difficult to cut when eating.
• Many recipes for oven baked tostadas recommend brushing the tortillas with a little oil before baking.  We found this wasn’t necessary and the tortillas went golden brown and crispy without it.
• Present the tostadas as a build your own dinner option.  Include some new vegetables for your kids to try such as barbecued corn off the cob, avocado, tomatoes, spinach, green onions, olives and red capsicum.  You never know, they might just find a new favourite.
• Don’t want to use sour cream?  Try natural yoghurt or fresh tomato salsa as the dressing.
• Leave out the chicken or mince for a tasty meat free option.

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