Learn how to make wonton mini tacos for the perfect simple appetizer! Make these taco cups for tailgating, game day celebrations, Cinco de Mayo or fun finger foods for parties!
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Why You’ll Love These Mini Taco Cups
- Quick and Easy. The entire wonton cup recipe is ready in just 30 minutes of time.
- Simple to alter. If you don’t want to add some of the ingredients, change the recipe to be exactly what you want.
- Perfect appetizer. Minimal planning is needed!
🛒Ingredients
- Wonton wrappers - these make the perfect crispy wonton taco shells to hold all those yummy beef toppings. These should be available in most major grocery stores, check the freezer section!
- Vegetable oil - olive oil could be used as well.
- Ground beef or turkey - either meat option works well with this dish. I like to use 90% lean ground beef. The leftover chicken mixture is also a great. alternative here.
- Taco seasoning - choose your favorite brand.
- Shredded Cheddar cheese blend - You can vary the type of cheese used.
- Kosher salt to taste.
- Jalapeno - this can be optional, but it’s a great way to add spice.
- Shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce - buy it already shredded to save time.
- Homemade or store-bought salsa - homemade salsa has the best flavor!
- Sour cream - unflavored Greek yogurt works, too.
- Avocado - make sure that it’s ripe and ready.
- Cherry or plum tomatoes - you can use either type of tomato. or make a quick Pico de Gallo.
✅Have leftovers? To make it more fulfilling, you can add some leftover cooked rice to the mix.
For the full recipe, please scroll down to where you'll find the recipe card.
🥣How To Make Mini Tacos
Prep work. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake crispy wonton skins. Place wonton wrappers into muffin cups (2 wrappers per cup). I used a regular 12 muffin pan.
Lightly spritz with cooking spray.
Bake the wonton cups for 8 minutes until golden brown.
They will crisp up more once cooled.
However, if you want extra flaky shells, bake them for a minute longer.
Remove from the oven and set aside.
Cook the taco meat filling. Add the vegetables to a large skillet over medium-low heat. Then add the ground meat and cook until it is browned and thoroughly cooked.
Break the taco meat into smaller pieces, then add the taco seasoning and mix.
Once combined, remove the pan from the heat.
Assemble the mini taco cups. Add the cooked meat into the middle of a wonton wrapper, then top with your favorite taco toppings: cheese, lettuce, a dollop of sour cream, avocado, salsa, tomatoes, a drizzle of lime juice, and green chilies or jalapeno.
Serve with sour cream, guacamole, avocado dip, or sweet chili sauce.
🌽Make Next: Cheesy Sheet Pan Nachos
📋Tips
- You can cut some of the fat content of these crunchy taco cups by using ground turkey instead of ground beef. Cook the same, but you’ll have less grease and fat to worry about.
- If you notice that the cooked beef does have a lot of excess grease, drain some of that off before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
- To cut down on sodium, use low-sodium taco seasoning.
- If you want to add a bit of spice, you can sprinkle cayenne pepper into the meat mixture to make more heat.
Storage Instructions
- 🍱To Store. You need to be sure that you store leftovers separately from each other. You can’t store the wonton taco cups already built or the wonton will get soggy.
- 🥶Freezing. The only thing in this recipe that I would freeze would be the ground meat. The rest should be fresh for the best flavor and taste.
- 🔥To Make Ahead. You can cook the meat and veggies ahead of time and then add the mixture to the wonton cups once you’re ready to serve. Empty wonton shells can be cooked ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. When ready to serve, add the warmed filling and enjoy!
👪How To Serve Mini Tacos
- Appetizer. You can make these for holidays, game days, parties, and more.
- We love to serve it for Taco Tuesday with other Mexican food favorites like lime cilantro rice, Mexican rice, refried beans, pico de gallo, guac, green onions, coleslaw, tomato salsa, or salsa verde.
- Snack. Do you want something delicious but not overly filling? Eating a couple of these will do the trick!
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📖Recipe
Mini Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 wonton wrappers, about 3 to 3 ½ inches
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or cooking spray
- 1 cup ground beef or turkey, about 7 ounce
- 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
- ⅓ cup shredded Cheddar cheese blend
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
- ½ cup finely shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
- ⅓ cup homemade or store-bought salsa
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ of large avocado, cut into cubes
- 3 cherry or plum tomatoes or more, cut into cubes
Instructions
- Prep work. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake crispy wonton skins. Place wonton wrappers into muffin cups (2 wrappers per cup). Lightly spritz with cooking spray or grease lightly with cooking oil.
- Bake the wonton cups for 8 minutes until golden brown. They will crisp u peven more once cooled. However if you want extra flaky shells, bake them for a minute longer. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Cook the filling. Add the vegetables to a large skillet over medium-low heat. Then add the ground meat and cook until it is browned and thoroughly cooked. Break the taco meat into smaller pieces, then add the taco seasoning and mix. Once combined, remove the pan from the heat.
- Assemble the mini taco cups. Add the cooked meat into the middle of a wonton wrapper, then top with your favorite taco toppings: cheese, lettuce, a dollop of sour cream, avocado, salsa, tomatoes, a drizzle of lime juice and green chilies or jalapeno. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, avocado dip or sweet chili sauce.
Notes
- To Store. You need to be sure that you store leftovers separately from each other. You can’t store the wonton taco cups already built or the wonton will get soggy.
- Freezing. The only thing in this recipe that I would freeze would be the ground meat. The rest should be fresh for the best flavor and taste.
- To Make Ahead. You can cook the meat and veggies ahead of time and then add the mixture to the wonton cups once you’re ready to serve. Empty wonton shells can be cooked ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. When ready to serve, add the warmed filling and enjoy!
Nutrition
🤷Common Questions
Pickled jalapenos are an option for these mini tacos, but they typically don’t have the heat. If you want hot added, fresh jalapenos are the best.
Yes, you can. You will need to cut the tortillas and shape them into the muffin tin, but they will work.
I wouldn’t try doing that with corn tortillas, as they’re not as flexible as flour tortillas.
That’s the great thing about making this simple taco appetizer. You can add any toppings that you want.
Chives, fresh cilantro, and sliced black olives are all great options.
Make sure that you drain off any excess grease from the cooked meat. Also, be sure that the salsa or sour cream doesn’t have excess liquid on it.
❤️Did you make this recipe? Please be sure to leave a rating and a comment below. Thank you!❤️
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