Chili Crispitos
Raise your hand if you remember chili crispitos from your school cafeteria and keep your hand raised if you absolutely loved them! Cool me too. These popped in my head the other day and I just couldn’t resist making them. Can we say nostalgia??? I remember seriously loading up my tray with these. AND DON’T FORGET THE CHEESE SAUCE. You had to dip them in it. Not to toot my own horn but I made a lighter queso at home and WOW. I was impressed and basically want to pour it all over my whole life now. This is definitely one of those meals that if given the chance I would want to eat again and see if I still like them. Some things I used to love I have tried again in my old age (lol) and actually don’t even like it as much as I remember. SO I would be curious to see.
Anyways - let’s get to the recipe! So if you remember the traditional crispitos, the meat was… mushy (& looking back I’m not even 100% sure it was real meat). After cooking the meat for this recipe you will put it in a food processor. It sounds weird I know, and I was hesitant to even do so, but if you want the texture to be the same you just have to. Think of it this way, your food gets processed when you chew it anyways. At this point I can’t tell if I’m convincing you to make them or not…. For the tortillas I used Siete cassava tortillas but feel free to use tortilla of choice - stick with flour over corn though, the corn won’t turn out right.
Just bare with me. They are seriously delicious, so easy to make, and something the whole fam will love. We also have plenty of leftovers for lunches tomorrow which is my fav. K - GO MAKE THEM NOW!
Chili Crispitos
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. avocado oil or EVOO
- 1/2 white onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 can black beans
- 12 Siete cassava tortillas*
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/4 cup oat milk
- 1 tbsp. arrowroot powder
- 1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Heat 1 tbsp. avocado oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, ground beef, and garlic. Let cook about 8 minutes until ground beef is browned and cooked through. Strain the grease from the pan, add in the chili powder and let simmer 2 more minutes.
- While the beef is cooking strain the black beans and heat over the stovetop in a small pan.
- Transfer the ground beef and the beans to a food processor. Process on low for about 30 seconds. You don't want it super mush just more broken up than you could get it in the skillet.
- Heat up the tortillas and place beef in each one, roll tightly (DON'T OVERSTUFF), and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush the tortillas with 2 tsp avocado oil and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Proceed to broil them for 2-3 minutes watching them carefully so they do not burn.
- Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it has melted and started to bubble add in the garlic and let simmer about 30 seconds. Add in the chili powder and crushed tomatoes and let cook about 30 more seconds.
- Pour in 1 cup of the oat milk and bring to a low simmer. Once it barely starts to bubble turn the heat down to low. Whisk together the arrowroot powder and additional 1/4 cup oat milk and pour in the pot. Stir it constantly for about 2 minutes until it begins to thicken.
- Continue to constantly stir and add in the Mexican cheese blend, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir stir stir and remove from heat. Enjoy!
Notes:
You do not have to use cassava flour tortillas but do stick with some type of flour tortilla, don't use corn tortillas.