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Recipes

Step Up Your Taco Tuesday Game With These Recipes

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at UIUC chapter.

Taco Tuesday is the best day of the week, hands down. Lucky for you, October 4, 2016 is National Taco Day, and what better way to honor the greatest food on earth than by making your own tacos. 

This summer, I was El Famous Burrito‘s most loyal customer.  I celebrated Taco Tuesday every week with their $1 tacos.  I couldn’t let the tradition die just because El Famous didn’t have a location at my school.  

I tested out tons of taco recipes so you don’t have to, and came up with my favorite five. After trying these simple recipes, you’re going to wish every day were Taco Tuesday.   

1. BBQ Chicken Taco

Taco Tuesday lettuce corn
Angela Kerndl

I feel like barbecue sauce could taste good on just about anything. Sauté the chicken with some barbecue sauce and then add your favorite toppings. It’s a super simple dinner for a busy schedule and should take no more than a half hour to make.  

2. Huevos Rancheros

Taco Tuesday cilantro huevos rancheros
Angela Kerndl

I’m not really sure if this one counts as a taco, but it definitely has a tortilla at the bottom, so we’ll say it does.  

Try cooking the eggs on a separate skillet because when I tried to cook the eggs all the way through, I ended up burning the tortilla. Despite the charred tortilla, I still loved it. This one is great for breakfast if you have a later class during the week, or even better for a homemade weekend brunch.   

3. Baked Chicken Taco

Taco Tuesday cilantro lettuce
Angela Kerndl

Cook the chicken however you want (but you could really use any kind of meat for this one). Start out by putting refried black beans at the bottom of the shell, then add the meat. After that, put a generous amount of cheese on top. Throw it all in the oven for a few minutes (until the cheese is melted) and then add whatever toppings you’d like such as lettuce, salsa, cilantro, etc.  

4. Burrito Bowl

Taco Tuesday lettuce pepper
Angela Kerndl

Forget about Chipotle’s long lines and try making your own burrito bowl. You may even like it more. All you need is some brown rice, lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, corn, avocado and bell peppers too, if you’d like. Once you’ve cooked the rice, all you need to do is throw it all together.

Bonus: It’s perfect if you’re trying to watch the calories because no tortilla is required.   

5. Margarita Salsa Tacos

Taco Tuesday meat pepper
Angela Kerndl

The salsa is a mix of tomato, mango, onion, lime juice and cilantro. The chicken can be cooked with cumin, chili powder, onion powder, olive oil, salt and lime juice with a skillet. This taco’s got a good sweet and spicy taste.  

There you have it: Taco Tuesday spiced up and ready to go. It’s time to make Tuesday your new favorite day of the week. 

Angela is a broadcast journalism student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She recently spent six months eating her way through Mexico. She looks forward to spending another six months studying abroad, this time in Hong Kong. She is currently training for her first ever marathon and hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon. She loves spending time cooking while listening to NPR. You can follow her on instagram @angelakerndl and @hangry.angela!...also, her spirit animal is Haruki Murakami.