Crunchy Taco Bites

  • Level: Intermediate
  • Yield: 36 taco bites
  • Total: 1 hr 5 min
  • Active: 45 min
One of my favorite comfort food dinners to remind me of childhood is to make old-school ground beef tacos, like the kind made from a taco kit. I loved taco night as a kid and these taco bites take all of those flavors and put them into one fried, crispy bite. Serve them at cocktail hour, preferably with an ice cold margarita.
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Ingredients

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup grated onion

2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

36 square wonton wrappers

4 cups canola oil

Chipotle Dipping Sauce, for serving, recipe follows

Chipotle Dipping Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon honey

2 chipotle chiles in adobo

Juice of 1/2 lime

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, onions, breadcrumbs, taco seasoning, the whole egg, cream cheese, Cheddar, cilantro and some salt and pepper.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place the wonton wrappers on a dry work surface. Place 1 mounded teaspoon of the meat mixture in the middle of each wonton. Using a pastry brush, brush the wonton's edges with the beaten egg white. Fold the wrapper to form a triangle and press to seal. Place the wontons on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
  3. Line a baking sheet with a wire rack. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Heat the canola oil to 375 degrees F in a medium, heavy bottomed pot. Working in batches, fry the wontons until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain onto a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet. Transfer to the baking sheet with the rack and hold in the warm oven while you fry the remaining wontons. Serve with Chipotle Dipping Sauce.

Chipotle Dipping Sauce:

  1. Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, chipotles, lime juice and pinch of salt in a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Transfer to a squeeze bottle, if you like, or a container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Paige H.

Made for Super Bowl and this was the star of the show! I used a ‘station’ technique. Prepared my baking sheets, rolled all the balls, and had egg whites ready. Laid out 6 wonton wrappers at a time, painted with whites, added meatballs and sealed. Went a little faster! Also I sautéed my onion. Flash froze half of them. Sauce is to die for! They were delicious! :)

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