Fresh guacamole and chipotle sour cream are the perfect tostada toppers for warm, taco-seasoned beef with red bell pepper.
⏲️ Time needed
You can expect to spend 15-20 minutes making the guacamole and chipotle sour cream and about 10 minutes heating the beef topping. Assembling the tostadas takes just a minute or two, for a total time to the table of about 30 minutes.
🥘 Ingredients
Chipotle Sour Cream
- chipotle sauce
- sour cream
Guacamole
- avocados
- onion
- tomato
- jalapeno
- salt
- lime
- fresh cilantro
Tostadas
- cooked taco-seasoned ground beef
- red bell pepper
- oil
- chili sauce
- salt
- pepper
- tostada shells
- lettuce
- shredded Mexican cheese
🌾 Adaptations for dietary restrictions
Tostada shells are traditionally made from corn, so in theory, they should be gluten-free. If you want to be certain your shells are safe, they’re quick and easy to make at home from corn tortillas.
📋 Instructions
Chipotle Sauce. Mix the sour cream and chipotle sauce together and chill.
Guacamole. Do not make the guacamole in advance as it does not age well. Start it about 15 minutes before cooking the hot toppings so that it will be fresh (it can chill in the refrigerator while you heat the other ingredients).
Cut each avocado in half lengthwise, then cut in half lengthwise again. With each cut, take the knife all the way to the pit and, with the avocado on the cutting board and the knife horizontal and parallel to the cutting board, rotate the avocado carefully while holding the knife in place. If the avocado is ripe, it should be fairly easy to cut through.
Take the quarters apart and remove the pit by gently twisting with your fingers.
Peel each section of avocado (again, if it is ripe the peel should come off easily). Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Adjust seasonings to taste and refrigerate until ready to use.
Beef Topping. Sauté the red pepper over medium heat in oil until pepper is tender, then add the cooked, taco-seasoned ground beef. Stir in the chili sauce, salt, and pepper. When heated through, remove from heat and set aside.
Just before serving, layer lettuce, taco meat mixture, guacamole, cheese, and chipotle sour cream on each tostada shell.
💭 Tips
Choosing avocados at the desired level of ripeness is important since you won’t be able to mash them if they are unripe, but they go from perfectly ripe to past their prime in about 15 minutes. Unripe avocados can be purchased if you plan to use them later in the week, but it is an exercise in futility to try to use them before they are ripe.
I usually buy the Hass variety, which turns darker as they ripen (other varieties may not darken with ripeness). The color of this variety in addition to the feel when you give them a gentle squeeze will help you determine the level of ripeness.
For immediate use, avocados should be firm but have some give when you squeeze them gently in the palm of your hand (do not use fingertips as that can bruise them). If they have a lot of give, they are close to or past their prime. If they have no give, they will need a few days to ripen.
If you end up with unripe fruit that you need to use, you can hasten ripening by putting the avocados in a paper bag and rolling down the top. Leave them in the bag at room temperature until they ripen, checking them each day with a gentle squeeze—they do not take long to ripen in the bag.
📖 Recipe
Beef Tostadas with Homemade Guacamole
Ingredients
Chipotle Sour Cream
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 Tbsp chipotle sauce
Guacamole
- 2 ripe avocados
- ½ small onion, chopped
- ½ medium tomato, chopped
- ½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice plus ¼ tsp zest
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Tostadas
- 1 lb. taco seasoned ground beef, cooked
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- ½ cup chili sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 6 tostada shells
- 3 cups lettuce, shredded
- 1 ½ cups Mexican cheese, shredded
Instructions
Chipotle Sour Cream
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream and chipotle sauce until thoroughly blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Guacamole
- Cut each avocado in half lengthwise, then cut in half lengthwise again. With each cut, take the knife all the way to the pit and, with the avocado on the cutting board and the knife horizontal and parallel to the cutting board, rotate the avocado carefully while holding the knife in place. If the avocado is ripe, it should be fairly easy to cut through.
- Take the quarters apart and remove the pit by gently twisting with your fingers.
- Peel each section of avocado.
- Cube, place in a medium bowl, and mash gently, leaving some chunks.
- Add remaining guacamole ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Adjust seasonings to taste and refrigerate until ready to use.
Tostadas
- Sauté the red pepper over medium heat in oil until red pepper is tender; add cooked, taco-seasoned ground beef.
- Stir in chili sauce, salt, and pepper.
- When heated through, remove from heat and set aside.
- On each tostada shell, layer lettuce, taco meat mixture, guacamole, cheese, and chipotle sour cream.
Notes
Nutrition
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