Meeting New Friends? Tacos in a Bag!

The first time my older son had tacos in a bag was as an adult at a friend's house.  When he first told me about this twist on a traditional favorite, I crinkled my nose and thought, "What's wrong with just a regular old taco?  Soft taco shells were the only evolution necessary."  Wrong.

For this particular serving, we were meeting a new friend of my older son, she had never had the taco in a bag experience and as a bonus, my son was cooking. (Mother that I am, I could not resist chopping up the lettuce and tomatoes waiting for him to get home and make dinner.)

Tacos in a bag requires the same ingredients you would need for a traditional taco.  For us that means lettuce and tomato,

seasoned and browned ground beef, cheddar or blend of cheeses, taco sauce and sour cream. 

 Vegetarians of course may chose to substitute rice, tofu or other protein for the meat.  Additional options are as limitless as for any other taco - maybe try fish, shrimp, chicken, turkey, add guacamole or slices of avocado, get creative.

For the "bag" portion of tacos in a bag we buy a large box of snack size chips which may include traditional nacho chips, cool ranch chips, and my favorite for this recipe - Fritos.

Hypocrite that I am, I first scorned the meal and now am morphing it into my own. I do not eat mine out of a bag, but pour all ingredients onto a plate and mix them together in a taco salad fashion. 

My older son, a taco in a bag purist, first crunches up the nachos then opens the bag and dumps in all ingredients then either shakes or mixes it together before eating with a fork.

The husband prefers his without sour cream.  This also makes for more visual appeal.

My younger son avoids the bag experience and simply heats a few soft tortilla shells and prepares a more traditional taco.  Which of us are the most similar?  Hard to say.

And our new guest?  Well, she went right along with the instructions given by my older son and seemed to enjoy her first taco in a bag.  It must have went fairly well - they are out together again tonight.