Intro

There is nothing like a good, warm slice of golden fry bread served with delicious taco meat to get your mind off your troubles and send you right back into childhood. My kitchen is smelling like heaven the moment it is filled with the aroma, that mix of fried dough and spiced beef.

The moment I prepared this Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe, I had no thought that I was about to initiate a very delicious preparation that has turned out to be one of my most ordered foodstuffs whenever there comes a family gathering.

It is a match made in heaven, a crispy and chewy fry bread, and taco toppings that are spicy and endowed with a lot of sauce. Just imagine a combination of what is fine and good in a taco and a comfort food legendary in one plate.

Every bite is contrasted with Butter crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with a full-bodied taco filling full of spice, creaminess, and crunch.

What is Navajo Taco Fry Bread?

Navajo fry bread is linked to its cultural background of the strength and ingenuity of the Native Americans. Fry bread is a representation of survival, initially developed in the 1800s by the Navajo people due to the difficult situation.

It is simple, humble food made of very simple ingredients (flour, salt, water, and a little fat) and suggests to us power and versatility.

This fry bread became the favorite meal of the Navajo; the Navajo taco, where you add all items that you liked as a taco, topped, beef with a bit of spices, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and even in some instances even beans or green chili peppers.

It is a cultural mash-up of a type of dish: Native American with a Tex-Mex twist to it. And when you take it the one right out of the pan, hot and tender, you will see why everybody loves it so much.

Equipment List For Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe

You do not need a lot of cooking equipment to create perfect Navajo fry bread and build your tacos:

Mixing bowls
Rolling pin (or your hands!)
cast-iron skillet or deep frying pan.
Tongs or a slotted spoon
Paper towels
Large skillet
Serving plates

Ingredients For Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe

For the Fry Bread:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup warm water (add more or less water as required)
2 tablespoons milk (to be used in case of additional tenderness)
Frying oil (vegetable or canola oil is the best to work with)

For the Taco Filling:

1 lb beef on the ground (or you can use ground turkey, hence making the light)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup tomato sauce or salsa

Toppings (customize to your liking!):

Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Sliced jalapeños (optional)
Garnishes of cilantro and green onions.

Instructions For Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe

Step 1: Make the Fry Bread Dough

Add flour, baking powder, and salt using a large mixing bowl. Warm water (and milk, provided one uses it) should be added slowly in the form of the mixture, adding a couple of spoonfuls of it, until the dough starts to unite. Rub it with your bare hands. A soft and supple dough you desire, not clodded.

Place the bowl in a clean towel and leave to rest for half an hour. This helps the dough to relax hence making it a lot easier to roll the fry bread puffs and your fry bread puffs emerge well after frying.

Step 2: Shape the Dough

When the dough has rested, divide it into 6 balls of equal weight. Cut them into circles 6 inches to 1/ 4 inch thick on a lightly floured plate. They need not be in any way precise, just rustic, too!

Step 3: Fry the Bread

The deep skillet is heated on medium-high heat with approximately 1 inch of oil in it. And to know whether the oil is hot, place a little piece of dough in the oil, provided that the little piece sizzles and reaches the surface, you are prepared to proceed.

Place the pieces of dough in the oven one at a time, 12?3? minutes or approximately one to two minutes on each side until they are puffed and all sides are golden brown. It is flipped using tongs and once flipped, it is put in a paper towel lined plate so that it can drain any excess oil.

Step 4: Make the Taco Meat

In another skillet, heat olive oil on medium fire. Perish, Add peas and onion (cut into dice) and cook until soft, 3 minutes or so. Add some garlic and cook for another half a minute.

Put in beef and cut it with a spoon. Bake till very dark brown, and empty of excess fat. Add pepper, tomato sauce, cumin, oregano, salt, and chili powder. Bring to the boil and boil for between 5 and 7 minutes until thick and good.

Step 5: Assemble the Navajo Tacos

Now for the fun part! Take a fry bread on a plate and heat it. On top add a big pat of taco meat. Then add tomatoes, sour cream and cheese shredded. Adding and taking away random cilantro or two onions of green to achieve that light injection of color.

Eat it, and the cheese is hot on the bread.

Tips for Perfect Fry Bread

Don’t overwork the dough. Excessive kneading causes toughness. Keep it gentle.
Use warm, not hot, water. It reacts with the baking powder at the correct time.
Have the oil hot, though not smoking. The medium-high heat will provide you with that golden crust and no burning.
Serve right away. Fry bread is best eaten in the pan, fresh, warm, crispy, and a little chewy.

Reasons Why You Will Fall in Love with this Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe

It is special in some way about making this Navajo Taco Fry Bread Recipe. It is culture and comfort and creativity – that sort of recipe that makes your kitchen a laughing house and your table a love feast.

The aroma of baking bread, the crackling of the meat, how everybody flocks around to construct their own taco, it is not merely at all. It’s a shared experience.

Fun Fact!

In fact, fry bread is also called the soul food of the Southwest. It is eaten in powwows, family reunions, and community get-togethers throughout the U.S. Every tribe and family is different in its version – and that is what makes it so beautiful.

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