Easy Navajo Tacos

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Easy and delicious Navajo tacos are made with a thick and soft fry bead then layered with tasty taco toppings. A delicious family friendly meal that you can add with all of your favorite toppings to!

I love this easy recipe using pillsbury biscuits.  But for an authentic Indian Fry Bread try this recipe.  This meal is a fun twist on tacos just like my Taco Casserole or Turkey Taco Stuffed Avocados.

Navajo taco on a plate with beans, ground beef tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sour cream.

Easy Navajo Tacos

School is now in session and I love creating easy and delicious meals! It gets pretty hectic after the boys get home from school. And I can’t believe how much homework they get now. My older boys spend at least an hour an a half, and my kindergartener even gets some too! These navajo tacos were simple to put together and the entire family loved them!

I loved using Pillsbury biscuits as the fry bread for these navajo tacos. They turned out perfectly, and were so simple to make. The best part about these navajo tacos is that each family member can add their favorite toppings. My little one had two and begged me to make them every week. I am okay with that because these were easy and delicious! This is a recipe that will become a family favorite and you will make it again and again!

What is a Navajo Taco:

A Navajo taco is made up of a deep fry bread topped with taco ingredients. Our family loves ground beef with chili beans and customized toppings to go on top. Make your taco just the way you like it using these toppings and creating the best taco yet!

Navajo Tacos Ingredients:

Adding ground beef with chili beans is a fun twist to this taco topping. Layer on your favorite toppings that you love and pile them high for a fun filled taco. Top it off with some salsa, guacamole and even Mexican Rice for a complete meal. It is a light and fluffy pillow like fry bread that is SO delicious.

  • Ground Beef: lean ground beef is best and will still shrink up a little bit. Double the recipe if you are making this for a big crowd.
  • Taco Seasoning: Homemade taco seasoning or packaged seasoning works well with these tacos.
  • Water: This helps while cooking the beef.
  • Chili with Beans: Mix the chili beans in with the beef creating a thick and hearty taco topping.
  • Pillsbury Grand Original Biscuits: This is for making the fry bread. Simply flatten and create a taco out of it.
  • Oil: for frying the biscuits into fry bread.

Toppings:

  • Olives: Slice them up and add them to the topping of the tacos.
  • Sour Cream: Add a dollop for a light and creamy taco taste.
  • Avocados: Cut up into long slices or chopped into squares for a healthy topping.
  • Tomatoes: Bright red tomatoes look the best and
  • Lettuce: Shredded and topped.
  • Cheddar Cheese: Also, shredded and sprinkled over top the tacos.

How to Make Navajo Tacos:

  1. Fry the Biscuit: Flatten each biscuit. Fry each biscuit in 1/4-in. hot oil over medium heat until golden brown, turning once. Drain biscuits on paper towels, keep warm.
  2. Cook the Ground Beef: In a medium skillet, brown ground beef until no longer pink. Add ¼ cup water, taco seasoning mix, and can of chili beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer.
  3. Assemble the Navajo tacos: Once ready to assemble, lay fried biscuit on a plate and put ½ cup of meat mixture on top. Top with your favorite toppings.

The Recipe Critic Pro Tip:

Once the pillsbury dough is fried place on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven at the lowest temperature setting while making the other fry breads. 

Pillsbury biscuits flattened and fried in oil.

Tips for Making Navajo Bread:

  • Toppings: Add all your favorite toppings that you love. Mix and match vegetables and meats to your liking.
  • Frying Bread: Before frying your bread, lay flat then cut a line in the center of each biscuit. This will help it from curling in the oil and will stay flat for your taco toppings.
  • Oil: It is best to keep your oil at a constant temperature. The best temperature is around 250-300 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature becomes too low the bread will be tough and not soft like a cloud. Opposite of that though it will become too hot and can easily burn on the outside while the inside does not cook.

Ground beef and beans cooked together then added on top of fry bread with sprinkled cheese over top.

For More Tacos Recipes Try:

Navajo tacos with ground beef, baked beans lettuce, olives and tomatoes on top with a dollop of sour cream.

Easy Navajo Tacos

5 from 3 votes
Easy and delicious Navajo tacos are made with a thick and soft fry bead then layered with tasty taco toppings. A delicious family friendly meal that you can add with all of your favorite toppings!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Author Alyssa Rivers
Servings: 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Ground Beef Lean
  • 1 Homemade Taco Seasoning or Packaged
  • 1 15 ounce black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 ounce diced tomatoes
  • 1 15 ounce pinto beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can Pillsbury Grand Original Biscuits 8 Biscuits
  • Oil for Frying I used vegetable oil

Topping options:

  • Olives
  • Sour Cream
  • Avocados
  • Tomatoes
  • Lettuce shredded
  • Cheddar Cheese shredded

Instructions
 

  • Flatten each biscuit. Fry each biscuit in 1/4-in. hot oil over medium heat until golden brown, turning once. Drain biscuits on paper towels, keep warm.
  • In a medium skillet, brown ground beef until no longer pink. Add taco seasoning mix, black beans. diced tomatoes, and pinto beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and allow to simmer.
  • Once ready to assemble, lay fried biscuit on a plate and put ½ cup of meat mixture on top. Top with your favorite toppings.

Notes

Updated on March 12, 2020
Original Post on September 2, 2013

Nutrition

Serves: 8

Calories355kcal (18%)Carbohydrates28g (9%)Protein13g (26%)Fat21g (32%)Saturated Fat6g (30%)Cholesterol41mg (14%)Sodium593mg (25%)Potassium282mg (8%)Fiber1g (4%)Sugar2g (2%)Vitamin A12IUCalcium39mg (4%)Iron3mg (17%)

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.

Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword navjoo
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic

Alyssa Rivers

I am Alyssa and the blogger behind The Recipe Critic. I started my blog in June of 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family.

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  1. Navajo Tacos are sure one of the best kinds of tacos ever invented in the southwest that my late mom & other cooks she worked with at a truck stop back in the early 1970’s in a small town called Tuba City,Arizona.She told me there wasn’t any such kind of taco before they decided to come up with something new on the menu one day.No one to this day ever asks who came up with it.For the flour for the fry bread, it’s best to use the Bluebird Flour only found here on the Great Navajo Nation.It’s also sold in Flagstaff & Phoenix, Arizona at them Basha’s Grocery stores.Just thought I’d share a little history of when & where the Navajo Taco came from.

  2. Would this work with the pillsbury crescent roll if I rolled one up, flattened it, and then fried it? Or does it need to be the biscuit kind?

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