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And with the tips I share below from years of making these crunchy taco shells in the oven, your taco night is about to get better!
Healthy Homemade Taco Shells
If you are a taco fan, you know that warmed tortillas are the way to go when eating soft tacos. And while they’re delicious, I personally love crunchy tacos even more.
And while you can make your own corn tortillas first and then use this simple method to enjoy healthy taco shells, there’s no shame in buying corn tortillas at the store.
The store-bought shells tend to have additives to preserve their freshness and shape, and if that’s something you’re trying to avoid, consider making your own taco seasoning too!
By baking tortillas in the oven, you’ll avoid the mess of frying and get much healthier taco shells that get enjoyed that same day. All you need are your favorite fillings, and you’re ready for an epic taco night!
What You Need
Grab those tortillas you always have around and… that’s all! Check what I use to turn them crispy in the oven:
- Corn tortillas: white or yellow corn tortillas. Flour tortillas don’t work for this recipe.
- Cooking spray or oil: to make taco shells crispy! You can also brush tortillas with oil.
- Tongs: you will need them so you don’t burn your hands in the oven!
How to Make Hard Taco Shells from Tortillas
The process of making homemade taco shells is simple and yields delicious, crunchy results perfect for filling with all your favorite taco ingredients. Check it out:
1. Prep the oven
Lining the bottom rack of the oven with foil will catch any oil drippings. Then, preheat it because you want to start out with a hot oven and the racks positioned correctly so there’s enough room to hang the tortillas -more on this below.
2. Warm them up
Microwaving them for a few seconds will make them pliable.
3. Spray or brush the tortillas
Use a light coat of oil or spray on both sides to turn them crispy.
4. Bake them
You’ll use tongs to place them in the oven and remove them.
5. Bake
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the tortillas are golden and crispy. Carefully remove from the oven using tongs.
In this quick video, I show you how to make taco shells in the oven:
How Long to Bake Homemade Taco Shells
Tortillas take about 8 minutes to turn into crispy taco shells. You know tortillas are ready when golden and crispy enough to hold their classic hard shape.
Can You Make Taco Shells Ahead?
I don’t recommend making taco shells ahead since they lose crispness and may taste a little “stale”. Better cook them while you are preparing your tacos’ filling.
Storing Homemade Hard Taco Shells
These baked taco shells are best enjoyed the same day, but if you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight bag or container.
Best Taco Recipes for Crunchy Tacos
The taco shells that you can stuff and stand on their own are my family’s favorite. We can load them up and not have to worry about them tipping over or spilling out as we make our way to the dining table. Here are some of our go-to taco night recipes:
- Rotisserie Chicken Tacos
- Baked Tacos
- Philly Cheesesteak Crunchy Tacos
- Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos
- All American Beef Tacos
- Buffalo Kale Tacos
Best Hard Taco Shells (No Frying!)
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
- 8 yellow corn tortillas
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
Prep the oven:
- Position one oven rack at the lowest position available. Take one or two sheets of foil and line this rack with it. This will catch all the drippings from the tortillas and make this process mess-free!
- Preheat the oven to 375F and place the top oven rack in the middle position, making sure there is at least 4” of room between that oven rack and the next one. I often remove one rack and have the one at the bottom lined and the top one in the middle.
Get the tortillas ready:
- Place 4 corn tortillas on a plate, and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds to warm them up and make them pliable. Once warm, put them on top of a baking sheet and warm up the other 4. I like to warm 4 tortillas at a time and bake 8 at a time.
- Spray or lightly brush oil on both sides of all the corn tortillas with cooking spray.
Bake them crunchy:
- Pull the oven rack out, if possible, and using tongs, drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack.
- Bake, for 8 to 10 minutes until the tortillas are golden and crispy. With the tongs, remove them from the oven onto a baking sheet.
Joli Jane Phelps says
Genius!
Tara says
These were great taco shells!
meme says
worked out well, quick and easy!
Lucy says
These turned out great! So crispy!
Dayna says
These taco shells were great!
Jackie says
These were great!
Bella says
So easy! And turned out great!
Sol says
I buy organic tortillas because organic corn is important to me. So making taco shells with this method in the oven was really easy.
Polly says
Easy to make and the taco shells turned out perfectly.
Della says
These were perfect for taco night!
Carthy says
So easy’
Leila says
Using these for your baked taco recipe was one of the best decisions ever!!!!
Theresa says
Love that these do not require any oil!! These homemade taco shells were absolutely delicious and way better than store bought!
gunjan says
this is an outstanding recipe. totally loved everything about it. will be making it again.
Kathleen says
Homemade, baked not fried, count my family in. They will love how easy they can make their tacos with the wider bottom and that they won’t break apart.
Taylor says
We made these taco shells for dinner last night and they were delicious! Easy to make and perfectly crunchy!
Katherine says
This was so simple and I loved that I was able to give them a bigger base for toppings than the store bought ones that can be quite ‘closed’. Thanks!
Judith says
When the kids suddenly request crispy tacos when all we have are soft tortillas… this recipe comes to the rescue! Helped so much last night!
brochdknuckle says
Worked as instructed. I used olive oil and coated front/back of each microwaved tortilla. Had my overhead fan on but house was full of smoke so opened windows and as type this air out. Thanks so much for this method.
Janet says
This did not work with flour tortillas but came out great with corn. I should have read the post.
Kelly H. says
I can make my own taco shells? Why did I not know this????
Christina says
Great idea for homemade taco shells!!
Natalia says
Genius!! Thank you for sharing this recipe, I am gluten free and have the hardest time trying to find good taco shells, these corn hard taco shells were amazing and it saved me a lot of $$
Christine says
My whole family loved these crunchy taco shells, thank you!
Tayler says
I made these shells for our taco night last night and they were great! So easy too!
Rosemary says
Oh my goodness, this is super creative. I love the idea of making my own homemade taco shells without frying. This is perfect for our weekly Taco Thursday dinner. Thanks 🙂
Charah says
Love these! I haven’t tried this yet, one of these days I will definitely try, thanks!
Erik says
This was so simple to make! Waaay better than the store bought kind.
Tara says
Oh yum! Such a fun addition to dinner. My kids would love these and I definitely appreciate the step by step photos on how to make them in the oven.
Julia says
This worked really well to mold the corn tacos. Mine didn’t get as crispy.