Taco Braid

Kick your Taco Tuesday up a notch with this super easy and delicious Taco Braid recipe!

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Do you have a death bed meal?

What about a meal you would eat every day for the rest of your life if you had no other choice?

I do.

Tacos.

I.Love.Tacos

In fact, Taco Tuesday is one of my favourite days of the week! Even my kids get excited for Tuesdays. My son will come bouncing out of school yelling “Taco Tuesday” at the top of his lungs.

The other kids don’t get it yet… But they will, one day.

There are many reasons why I love tacos, but one of them is the fact that they can be so amazingly versatile. Soft tacos, stand and stuff tacos, shrimp tacos, taco salad… I could go on and on Forrest Gump style, but I’m pretty sure you’re picking up what I’m putting down.

My family has come to love the Taco Braid – the perfect combination of Mexican goodness wrapped up in a Western bundle of carb-filled goodness.

If this doesn’t yell “cheat day”, I don’t know what will.

As a busy mom, the simplicity of this meal is definitely one of its selling features.

To start, on a piece of parchment paper, roll out your dough into a large rectangle – pizza dough or bread dough both work great, however, I find you’ll get a bit of a crispier Taco Braid if you use pizza dough. I like to home make mine, but a can of your favourite premade dough or store-bought frozen bread dough will work just fine – just make sure that you allow time to thaw prior to getting started if you’re using frozen.

Make equally-spaced cuts along the long side of your dough. I like to try to space my dough into thirds columns, the first and third are cuts that will make up the braid, and the middle will be taco filling. Make sure to allow yourself enough space in the middle to fit all the fillings that you want.

Now it’s time to stuff your taco. I like to start with refried beans and a layer of hard taco shell. Top that with the meat of your choosing, cheese, tomatoes and taco seasoning and you’re ready to get braiding!

Let’s do this!

Starting from one end of the taco, grab one strip of dough and gently pull on a slight diagonal across the top of your taco towards the other side. Depending on how much dough you started with, and how high you piled your taco, your dough piece will probably stretch just over half – 3/4 of the way across your filling pile. Gently hold this piece of dough down and repeat with the first piece from the opposite side. Make sure that your dough pieces are overlapping in a criss-cross manner across the centre of the Taco Braid until the braid is completed.

Brush top of Taco Braid with oil and sprinkle with cheese and bake. Top finished Taco Braid with shredded lettuce and tomatoes, slice and enjoy!

Do you share my love of tacos? What’s your favourite weeknight meal?

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