Navajo Tacos with Homemade Fry Bread is light, pillowy fry bread piled with chili, cheese and all kinds of toppings. Easy to make and fun to eat!
Navajo Tacos with Homemade Fry Bread
Navajo Tacos are such a staple of our childhood. We ate them at 4th of July parties, county fairs, chili cook-offs and lake trips. We would eat them outside on the grass or on a picnic table so we didn’t make a huge mess, and almost always on a thick paper plate. The chili would seep through but we didn’t care. It was summer food and it didn’t matter if we got it all over the place. The pillowy soft fry bread piled high with either chili or ground beef, lots of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives and cheese and smothered in sour cream is one of my most treasured meals of my youth.
Homemade Fry Bread
The base of a delicious Navajo taco is the soft, scone-like dough that provides a soft landing for all those Southwestern flavors that taste so yummy. We have an absolutely scrumptious recipe for Homemade Fry Bread on the site that is to die for! And speaking of scones, this dough makes melt in your mouth scones that taste delicious dripping with honey and butter. However, if you are pressed for time, here are a couple of cheater methods to getting that fry bread in a jiffy:
- Use biscuit dough. You know, the refrigerated dough in a can. You can use pre-made pizza dough too. Just flatten out the biscuit dough into round discs and then fry up in hot oil as directed in the recipe card below.
- Use frozen dough. I love using Rhode’s frozen dinner rolls because they’re the perfect size for mini Navajo tacos. Let them rise on a cookie sheet, then form into flat discs, then fry just like you would the biscuit dough or homemade dough.
Toppings for Navajo Tacos
This recipe is perfect for anyone who has little time but a big appetite! They’re really simple to throw together and so delicious. For toppings, I know some people like to use re-fried beans instead of chili. That’s not the way I was brought up, so I can’t in good faith encourage this sort of behavior. You can have re-fried beans AND chili, but never JUST re-fried beans. The chili is what makes them so good! So here are our favorite toppings for Navajo tacos, and of course add your own to the mix!
- We always use our Mom’s Chili Cheater Recipe when we make these because it is so quick to whip up but any homemade chili works great.
- Re-fried beans (if you must)
- Seasoned ground beef
- Cheddar cheese
- Shredded lettuce
- Diced tomatoes
- Onions
- Green onions
- Green pepper
- Black Olives
- Sour Cream
- Salsa
- Ranch Dressing
- Sliced Avocado or Guacamole
More Hearty Chili Recipes
This dish is a complete meal all on its own. We rarely serve anything alongside our Navajo tacos, except a big old napkin, and maybe some ice cream for dessert. Here are a few more hearty recipes guaranteed to fill you up!
- Mexican Chili in a Tostada Bowl
- Easy Ground Beef Recipes for Dinner
- Pork Chili Verde
- Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
- Texas Chili
- Southwestern Chili Frito Pie
- Chili Cheese Dogs
How to Make Navajo Tacos with Homemade Fry Bread
Ingredients
- 4 servings Homemade Fry Bread* prepared
- 3 cups chili heated
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 cups lettuce shredded
- 4 tablespoons sour cream
- olives (optional)
- salsa (optional)
Instructions
- Layer 3/4 cup chili, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/2 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon sour cream, olives, and salsa on each piece of Homemade Fry Bread.
Kristen T. says
I’ve made these before using Rhode’s frozen roles. You defrost them in the refrigerator… flatten out… and fry. YUM! 🙂
Denise says
Help! Quick question. I have the “flaky” rendition of the Grands biscuits in my fridge. Will that work or is there a specific “style” of Grands biscuits that I need to use?
Kate says
I got a similar recipe from the blog You wash and I’ll dry. She puts a spicy sour cream on her version and it really makes these AWESOME!!! We eat Navajo tacos very often, so delicious!!
Diane says
I can’t wait to try this..Sounds delicious!!
Terry says
If you have a fry bread recipe why don’t you include it with the recipe, instead we get this is somewhat embarrassing, because there is no recipe.
Echo says
Thank you for letting us know the link is broken! It is now fixed. You can find the fry bread recipe here:
https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/fry-bread/
J'Marinde says
They look SO yummy. I remember these from my childhood. How about a gluten free option? Thanks
Erica Walker says
We haven’t made fry bread with a GF dough before but I am sure you can just substitute the flour with a GF flour. Just keep checking for consistency when using GF flour. Hope this helps!