Updated on June 29th, 2022
The cheesy grodita crunch is possibly one of the best items offered at Taco Bell. The secret to this amazing gordita is the slightly spicy sauce. The sauce uses ingredients such as red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and vinegar to get most of its flavor. This copycat recipe for Taco Bell’s cheesy gordita crunch is very easy to prepare. The gordita shell is topped with Mexican cheese blend, pressed onto a taco shell and then filled with ingredients such as taco meat, a spicy sauce, romaine lettuce, and shredded cheddar cheese. If you want to make this a bit healthier try replacing the ground beef with ground turkey. You can also replace the mayonnaise in the sauce with Greek yogurt. The gordita shells may be hard to find. You can replace them with pita bread or a thicker flour tortilla. Enjoy.
Cheesy Gordita Crunch Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1lb ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix
- 1 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 6 hard taco shells
- 6 gordita shells
- Sauce-
- ¼ cup red bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
- 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and sliced)
- 2 tablespoons diced onion
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Place the bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and onion into the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth.
- Stir together 4 teaspoons of this mixture the mayonnaise, and vinegar in a small bowl. Season with pepper, garlic powder, and cumin. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. The drain of any excess grease. Stir in the taco seasoning with 1 ¼ cups of water. Reduce heat and simmer until the water is almost gone and the mixture is thick.
- Layout a gordita shell onto a microwave safe plate. Spread a layer of Mexican cheese blend over the top of the gordita.
- Place into the microwave and microwave for 30 seconds or until the cheese has melted. Place a taco shell onto one side of the gordita. Fold the gordita around the taco shell and press so it sticks to the cheese.
- Add some ground beef to the taco shell and top with some of the sauce, romaine lettuce, and cheddar cheese.
- Repeat with remaining shells.
Where do you find your gordita shells? We have looked everywhere for them!
I found them at a local grocery store. I have also seen them at Super Wal-Mart before but not consistently.
That is my favorite thing to order at taco bell. I’ve always wanted to know how to make their baja sauce!