Tex-Mex Chalupas (aka Tostadas)
These Tex-Mex chalupas, also known as tostadas, are quick to throw together and are Texan comfort food. It’s the perfect recipe for easy lunches or busy weeknights that does not require meal planning!
Wanna know why God made beans?
So you can make refried beans to spread on chalupas.
They serve as the glue that hold the fresh, wholesome meat and veggies onto a perfectly crispy tostada shell. That is true love right there.
Tex-Mex chalupas are a staple and absolute favorite in our Texas farmhouse. They are pure goodness, super easy, and perfect for those moments when everyone is hungry, there is no meat thawed, and you have no clue what to make for supper.
No warming the tostada shells in advance or dirtying up another pot to heat the refried beans. Simply cook the meat, assemble the chalupa, and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes!
This recipe skips any extra steps making it very quick and easy with little cleanup!
The Great Debate: Chalupa or Tostada?
The great debate in our household is whether this recipe is a chalupa or a tostada – us Texans take our Tex-Mex food very seriously.
If you ask Chris, it is a tostada.
If you ask my grandma from South Texas, it is most definitely a chalupa.
What is the difference between a tostada and a chalupa?
A tostada is a flat fried, or baked, tortilla while a chalupa is in the shape of a boat, or canoe. Both a tostada and chalupa are topped with beans, meat, cheese, and vegetables.
So technically Chris wins this one. However, I did ask a very sweet lady from Mexico to settle the debate for us. She giggled and told me that it was dependent on the region.
Perhaps we are both right after all. Nevertheless, I grew up referring to them as chalupas so they will forever be known as such to me.
Tips for Making Easy Weeknight Chalupas:
- Store leftover taco meat and refried beans separately in the refrigerator. Assemble the tostada, refried beans, taco meat, and shredded cheese as usual and simply pop into the oven at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes to reheat.
- Refried beans are the first topping to go on the chalupa as it allows the meat or other toppings to stick to the tostada.
- Cook ground meat from frozen if in a pinch to make dinner with no meat thawed in the fridge.
- Make your own tostada shells by simply applying a thin coat of avocado or olive oil to both sides of a tortilla and lay them flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes per side, or until tortilla becomes golden and crispy.
Tex-Mex Chalupas Toppings:
There are probably endless ways on how to assemble a chalupa with toppings. Use what you have on hand and your creativity to come up with your favorite combination. Some of our favorite chalupa toppings are:
This is where is becomes very personalized and quite honestly you can’t go wrong here.
Traditionally speaking, and according to my grandma, a true South Texas chalupa consists of beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions – no meat.
However, Chris believes, in an ever so manly fashion, that a meal is in fact not a true meal without meat… so we always add ground meat.
- Refried beans
- Ground meat with taco seasoning
- Cheese – shredded and melted on top
- Lettuce – butter leaves or mixed greens
- Onion
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Lime – squeezed across the top
- Homemade guacamole
- Pico de Gallo
- Sour cream
- Salsa
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Kitchen Tools:
- Cast iron skillet
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Cast iron sheet pan or cookie sheet
- Cheese grater
Ingredients:
Avocado or olive oil – My preferred cooking oils are olive and avocado along with coconut oil for baking. I recommend using these healthy oils over any vegetable, seed, or hydrogenated oil.
Tostada shells – You can use either store bought tostadas or make your own with tortillas. Simply apply a thin coat of avocado or olive oil to both sides of a tortilla and lay them flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes per side, or until tortilla becomes golden and crispy.
Ground meat – Choose your preferred meat between beef, turkey, or chicken.
Taco Seasoning – I use 2 tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning per pound of meat.
Refried beans – Either homemade or canned refried beans with work just fine for this recipe.
Cheese – Our favorite types of cheese for tostadas are cheddar, colby-jack, Monterey jack, or a combination of each. We prefer shredded over sliced cheese for a nice balance – not too thick – and melted on top.
Lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado – Sliced or chopped veggies and full lettuce leaves are perfect toppings for chalupas. You could also opt to use homemade guacamole or pico de gallo.
Easy Tex-Mex Chalupas Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Cook the ground meat in the skillet until fully cooked and season with taco seasoning.
Spread a thin layer of refried beans onto tostadas, then layer with cooked meat and shredded cheese on top.
Place the assembled chalupas on a baking sheet and place in oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and beans are heated.
Prep the veggies while the chalupas are in the oven.
Top the heated chalupas with veggies and a sprinkle of lime juice. Serve and enjoy!
Printable recipe available below!
More Texas Farmhouse Recipes:
Find more homemade recipes here.
Do you refer to it as a chalupa or a tostada? Let us know in the comments!
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Tex-Mex Chalupas
Ingredients
- 12 tostadas
- 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 1 lbs ground meat , (beef, turkey, or chicken)
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 2 cups refried beans
- 1/2 cup cheese , (shredded)
- 2 cups lettuce, (chopped)
- 1 cup tomato, (chopped)
- 1/2 cup onion, (chopped)
- 1 avocado, (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Cook the ground meat in the skillet until fully cooked and season with taco seasoning.
- Spread a thin layer of refried beans onto tostadas, then layer with cooked meat and shredded cheese on top.
- Place the assembled chalupas on a baking sheet and place in oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and beans are heated.
- Prep the veggies while the chalupas are in the oven.
- Top the heated chalupas with veggies and a sprinkle of lime juice. Serve and enjoy!
Your Grandma also likes to add one more thing to her South Texas Chalupa! A spoonful of sour cream topped with pico or salsa! Doesn’t get any better!! Love your article!!❤️
I will be sure to add this into the post 😉 Can’t go wrong with any of it!! Thank you! 🙂
Delish! These look so yummy. We’re a big tex mex family for sure, so these will have to go on the menu!
We love our tex-mex! It is both delicious and cost effective!
Yum! We love some tex mex. I’ll have to add these into our rotation soon!
Definitely! They are the absolute best for those nights when you don’t have anything planned for dinner! Excited for you to try them 🙂
My Uncle Bob used to make chalupas like this whenever we’d visit him in Corpus Christi or when we’d all vacation at the beach near Galveston! Ever since, I’ve been trying to convince people that chalupas and tostadas described the same thing where I grew up.
This brings me back to my childhood. I vividly remember my Texas cousins finally convincing (ok daring) me to try guacamole at a restaurant in San Antonio. I always thought it looked icky because little kid Monica thought anything green would taste icky. I immediately loved it!
This will be dinner this weekend in honor of my Uncle Bob! He also made the absolute best chicken fajitas on the grill. My BFF and I still laugh about the time we visited them and sat at the table munching on them long after everyone else left and started watching TV.
I love this, thank you so much for sharing! My husband didn’t like guacamole until one day I convinced him to try mine back when we were dating and he has loved it ever since! You should try my recipe for tableside guacamole! We love putting it on top of these chalupas 😊