• Home
    • Recipes
      • 31 Days of…Series
      • The Dinner Made Easy Show Videos
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Meal Plans – 20 Meals for $150
      • Popular Recipes
      • Recipe Index
    • eCourses
      • Grocery Budget Makeover
      • Electric Pressure Cooking 101
      • My Efficient Kitchen
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Advertise
      • Become an Affiliate

    $5 Dinners | Recipes, Meal Plans, Coupons

    Feeding the Family for $5 or Less

    $5 Dinner Freebie Center

    Taco ‘Taters – $5 Dinner Challenge

    September 19, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 14 Comments

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

    Last week before our spontaneous camping trip (more on that tomorrow), I was on a mission to clear out the fridge and use up items from the pantry and freezers. And come Friday night, there wasn’t much left to choose from. I went digging in the freezers and I found the a bag of my favorite taco meat, some shredded cheese…and then pulled out the potatoes from the cupboard…using those we didn’t need for the campfire hobos, and I made this.

    To be honest, I wasn’t sure it was going to work. We really enjoy Chili Topped Potatoes, so why not try it with taco meat on top instead of chili. I was nervous. I was.

    But we really enjoyed it!

    The kids had them cheeseless and didn’t complain one bit. And the ONLY thing I would do differently next time is use shredded Pepper Jack cheese for some extra kick. If I’d had any on hand, I’d have used it. But the cheddar was just fine!

    Print This Post

    Taco ‘Taters

    Yield – 4 servings

    Preparation Time – 15 minutes

    Cooking Time – 1 hour for the potatoes,  10 minutes for the corn,

    Ingredients

    • 4 large or 6 medium potatoes ($.75) Yay for a potato sale last week!
    • 2 to 3 cups leftover taco meat ($2.50)
    • 2 cups shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese ($1.25)
    • Corn cobs, or other vegetable side dish ($1)
    • Butter ($.10)
    Add this recipe to ZipList!

    Directions

    • Bake the potatoes, or cook them in the microwave if you are short on time.
    • Add the taco meat on top, then sprinkle cheese on top and microwave or run under the broiler to melt the cheese.
    • Boil the corn cobs or prepare other vegetable.
    • Serve Taco ‘Taters with buttery corn cobs.

    Cost $5.60

    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Pin
    1shares

    Filed Under: $5 Dinner Challenge, Beans, Beef, Pantry Staples, Potatoes, Recipes

    Comments

    1. Carrie@Bakeaholic Mama says

      September 19, 2011 at 7:04 pm

      Sounds good to me! I just pulled some chili out of the freezer tonight for my husband and I. Kids are in bed and we are eating late… I wanted to top something with it… but I wasn’t sure what… after seeing this post I’ll bake some potatoes up!

      Reply
    2. Jessica says

      September 19, 2011 at 7:47 pm

      I am confused by the potato. Do you just open the potato and put the rest of the ingredients on top of the potato or do you smash the potatoes up and then put everything on top

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        September 19, 2011 at 8:34 pm

        Hey Jessica,

        I baked them, then opened them up some and smashed a little. Then, we ate bits of potato with the taco meat. Hope that helps!

        Erin

        Reply
    3. Kristia@Family Balance Sheet says

      September 19, 2011 at 7:51 pm

      Yay for using up what is hiding in the freezer.

      Thanks for the link-up.

      Reply
    4. Liz@PocketChangeGourmet says

      September 19, 2011 at 8:58 pm

      Looks yummy! My gang would love them!
      Thanks for hosting Erin!
      ~Liz@HoosierHomemade & Pocket Change Gourmet

      Reply
    5. Nicole says

      September 19, 2011 at 9:59 pm

      This is similar to the stuffed popatoes they serve (or did serve, not sure anymore) at Wendays w/chili on top. In England they call it a “jacket potato”. There are jacket potato fast food joins all over. One of their favs is baked beans over a baked potato. Not sure about that one, but we have either a chili or taco stuffed jacket potato at least once a month. Best topped w/sour cream too!

      Reply
    6. Lonna says

      September 19, 2011 at 10:10 pm

      We like to add salsa, sour cream and olives.

      Reply
    7. Jade says

      September 20, 2011 at 1:19 am

      Sounds like a good idea when theres no food left. I might just try that tonight. Thanks Erin.

      Reply
    8. Wanda says

      September 20, 2011 at 6:47 am

      Thanks for the idea, I made the “Chunky Spaghetti” again Sunday night and have leftover meat sauce in the freezer and will be using that tonight over some baked potatoes. Can’t wait to see how they turn out!

      Reply
    9. Beth in Dublin OH says

      September 21, 2011 at 9:49 am

      I like your idea. I LOVE taco meat, and my daughter LOVES potatoes in any form. Another thing I do with taco meat, is to make Bun Tacos (some call them Mexican Joes or Mexican Sloppy Joes). Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Taco Bells had a menu item called a Bell Beefer. I make the home version all the time! A Bun Taco has the same ingredients found in a regular taco (taco meat, shredded cheddar, shredded lettuce, diced tomato), but on a hamburger bun instead of taco shell. YUMMO!

      Reply
    10. Sara says

      September 24, 2011 at 11:23 pm

      I made these with pepper jack cheese and added salsa and sour cream. My husband loved it and asked that I make them again! I love that the use of potatoes is a cheaper and healthier alternative to chips or tortillas we would use for a similar meal like nachos or burritos. Thanks for the recipe.

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        September 26, 2011 at 11:42 am

        You’re welcome! Love it when husbands ask for more!

        Erin

        Reply
    11. jean jacket says

      June 9, 2012 at 8:30 am

      I will right away snatch your rss feed as I can not in finding your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please permit me understand so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Homemade Pizza Pockets says:
      September 19, 2011 at 8:57 pm

      […] to…Made by you Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, $5 Dinner Challenge Tweet function […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5. It’s unnatural, but my pocketbook thanks me.

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Freezer Cooking Simplified: MyFreezeasy Electric Pressure Cooking 101 Freezer Meals for New Moms: Stork the Freezer My Efficient Kitchen Grocery Budget Makeover

    © 2019 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Become an Affiliate | Find us on Google+ | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs