Simple Bean Tostadas come together quickly and easily for an affordable meatless meal. You can vary the toppings to use whatever you have on hand.
This is one of our favorite meals! It is an assemble-your-own kind of dish. Feel free to add meat or other vegetables and toppings. But, this way is just simple and good.
Recipe: Simple Bean Tostadas
Ingredients
- oil for frying (such as vegetable or olive oil)
- 12 corn tortillas*
- 2 (15-ounce) cans refried beans or homemade cooked pinto beans
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- homemade salsa, hot sauce, chopped fresh cilantro, or other favorite toppings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a small skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil over medium-high heat until very hot. A small bit of tortilla will sizzle when the oil is ready. Fry the tortillas until stiff. Place the tortillas on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until brown and crunchy, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Warm the refried beans in a saucepan until bubbly.
- Spread the beans over the crisp tortilla shells. Top with the cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream. Serve with salsa.
- *You can also purchase tortilla shells already fried at the grocery store
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How much oil in the pan? Thanks,
@Kathy, about an inch? Just enough to fry it in. But, since I don’t like waste, I let the oil swindle near the end of the batch.
I made these tonight. Big hit! I didn’t use oil to fry the tortillas in. I just sprayed a skillet with non-stick spray and fried my white corn tortillas that way. The kids had fun assembling their own tostadas after I spread their tortillas with refried beans. The topping choices were: diced tomato, diced avocado, shredded romaine lettuce, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, yellow corn (I used the Steamfresh microwave kind), salsa, and sour cream. I also had chopped up some seedless cucumber for a side, but the kids elected to put in on their tostadas. They liked piping the sour cream on their tostadas. 🙂
Wonderful! That sour cream in the bag always makes folks happy — even adults. 🙂
I made these recently and they were a big hit here too. I baked the tortillas instead of frying them, just like I do to make baked tortilla chips. I brushed each side with some olive oil and baked them for 12-14 minutes at 350 until crisp. Not sure if it’s any healthier, but they come out nicely.
@Danielle, gonna try that next time. Thanks for a great idea!
sounds really good…just be mindful NOT to overfill the tostada shells or they will fall apart from the weight. Deep fried corn tortillas will break easily if not handled carfully.
Silly question here, Jessica: Are your tostadas a finger food? I feel dumb asking! Or is it a fork/knife food? Going to be making them this week for the first time.
Not a dumb question. My family actually disagrees on the answer. I say fork and knife, they say with the hands. My son mediated the discussion by saying “it’s like pizza.” Some people eat it with a fork, some pick it up. 🙂
do flour tortilla work?
They will work. The shells cook faster, so watch for burning.