Making The Taco Bell Chalupa At Home | But Better

I used to eat chalupas all the time and I always hate it but today we're gonna make one that I like [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] So today we're making the Taco Bell chalupa how many have we done now with Taco Bell one two three four five four Vikram doesn't know neither do I it doesn't matter because the Taco Bell menu is kind of this menu from the pits of hell so to speak and for some reason it just captivates people and I don't know why and the chalupa is one of those things I remember as a kid I would eat it I'm like oh I'm eating this even cognizantly I didn't like it but it's one of the few but better items we've done that I actually ate regularly as a kid I don't know why so with all that being said let's make this shall we wait is this a KFC or a Taco Bell can I get two chalupa Supremes uh no that's it thank you oh my goodness the building is like dripping it's building one out of ten menu one out of ten that's two what are the pencils but the service is fast so that's probably gonna get a high rating sure yeah I'll take two packets you're doing good thank you honestly service was great I think that's the best service we've ever had on but better it's a little cheeky she's like trying to multitask and I'm like oh you're doing great girl so honestly 10 out of 10 great service Jesus let's just get this over with so we've got the bag I used to eat these when I was a kid honestly kind of excited about this one and now I'm not first off this chalupa shell has been sitting for an extraordinary amount of time I could just tell the amount of chew needed to masticate this 75 more chewing than necessary the flavor is all right it tastes like Taco Bell the ground meat it's seasoned not bad I feel like the last time we didn't talk about the meat was way worse it feels like it's gotten better maybe they dialed it up the Jesus cold which I hate labors are basic lettuce flaccid Tomatoes desaturated but the worst part of all this this chalupa shell it's not just about the texture it's the fact that while you're eating it you're like did I just bite into like a poison ivy leaf or something because it's so insanely bitter the oils maybe been recycled in the last 17 days just get the new oil Taco Bell please we're gonna make this much better we're back on our Taco Bell Bowl let's make this right first a nice basic queso sauce this is not nacho cheese this is Texas queso don't get it confused this is the neon stuff served at every Tex-Mex restaurant with a never-ending supply of tortilla chips in a medium sauce pot add two tablespoons or 30 grams of unsalted butter heat that over medium and once melted add in half a yellow onion finely diced once seeded in diced poblano pepper three cloves of finely chopped garlic and salt and pepper to taste sweat those for three to five minutes or until they're beginning to soften then add one tablespoon or 9 grams of all-purpose flour cook and stir for one to two minutes then add one and a half cups or 360 milliliters of whole milk continue to heat and stir constantly just until the milk begins to thicken you know I like it thick cut off the heat and mix in a third pound or 150 grams of grated American cheese yes the fake stuff trust me here half a pound or 225 grams of grated cheddar cheese continuously but gently stir until everything is melted and you have a beautiful cheese sauce season with additional salt and pepper as needed and that's your cheese sauce anyone that's been to Texas knows the sacred qualities of this cheese Alchemy now just keep that puppy warm and cover Taco Bell season beef iconic horrible I don't know what else to say I made a few months to my recipe to simplify it and yet somehow it ended up tasting even better so you're welcome I guess first you'll need one and a quarter pound or 560 grams of relatively fatty ground beef obviously I ground my own by grinding together one pound or 450 grams of Texas whack you chuck roast and a quarter pound or 112 grams of the smokiest bacon I could find obviously pre-ground is fine but try to find something around 70 to 75 lean okay tired of seeing people get 80 lean you got that ground beef that's drier than the sand dunes people are motorbiking around on Instagram heat a medium-sized sauce pot over medium high once it's hot like me in Lululemon leggings add your beef press it into the pan and sear for three minutes or until you get some nice Browning at this point you can mix it up ideally you can use a Masher to get the beef extra fine which if you want that Taco Bell type ground beef You're Gonna Want it as fine as possible let the continue to sear stirring often until you get some little crispy bits here and there reduce the heat to medium and add two tablespoons or 35 grams of tomato paste saute that for about one minute or until you develop a nice fond at the bottom now at 1.5 teaspoons or two grams of cumin powder half a teaspoon of one gram of onion powder one teaspoon or one gram of mushroom soup base powder trust me that's a secret Chef move right there two teaspoons or three grams of smoked paprika fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste cook that for 30 seconds or until fragrant then add one cup or 240 milliliters of water bring that up to a boil over medium high scraping that off the bottom reduce the heat to low and simmer that down until you reach what's called a sec which essentially means there's almost no liquid remaining about 10 to 15 minutes cut off the heat and stir and four close a very finely chopped garlic do not cook the garlic after this trust me it's the raw qualities they're gonna make your little piggies curl now your chalupa dough shockingly easy and you don't need any fancy equipment at all so yeah you can stop yelling at me about fancy equipment which by the way will be challenging in an upcoming video ice peeled make sure you have a pot of frying oil heat it to about 350 Fahrenheit something like two quarts of vegetable oil and a five quart pot in a medium sized Bowl add two and a half cups or 375 grams of all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon or 7 grams of fine sea salt 1 tablespoon or 15 grams of granulated sugar two and a half teaspoons or 11 grams of baking powder whisk all that together and then add one cup or 240 milliliters of whole milk and two tablespoons or 30 grams of vegetable oil mix that by hand until you form a rough dough then need that bad boy for two to four minutes or until smooth and beautiful like this fellow right here wow I just want to give them a little kiss look at him cover him up and let him rest for 15 minutes then divide your dough into eight even pieces and for the perfectionists around that'll be about 67 grams each roll your dough pieces into light balls then using a rolling pin roll them out into discs that are about six inches across then using a fork lightly poke holes throughout the entire rolled dough gently lay one piece of dough into your heated frying oil and allow to fry for about 15 seconds then remove and form into a taco shape using tongs place that back into your frying oil using those tongs to hold that shape together and fry for another 30 seconds or until it holds its shape when you let it go continue to fry until golden brown another one to two minutes that are removed from the fryer trade in a wire rack and season lightly with salt to taste repeat that process with all of your chalupa dough I was pretty surprised with how similar these smell did look like the original Taco Bell chalupa shell except significantly better we're almost there we just need to talk toppings lettuce always an afterthought not anymore because I love iceberg lettuce and it deserves a pedestal no one puts iceberg in the corner so to make this more thoughtful first a medium-sized Bowl add half a head of thinly sliced iceberg lettuce half the jicama peeled and julienne and about three tablespoons or 11 grams of very finely chopped fresh cilantro tossed together until thoroughly Incorporated and well that's it for your cheese topping in a medium-sized Bowl you'll simply combine one cup or 200 grams of Monterey cheese fresh grated and one cup of 200 grams of cheddar cheese also fresh grated for the Tomato I kept it simple but slightly elevated one tomato diced season lightly with salt and pepper and a light glug of extra virgin olive oil for richness tossed together until thoroughly coated now for the assembly we've all been waiting for first you're puffy chalupa Shell at this point you should check and see is your queso hot and in a liquid state is your beef reheated and ready to be put on the this is a good time to do all those things now open up a beautiful chalupa shell layer a hot helping of your seasoned beef press it down to the bottom to form a nice stable base follow that with a fair layer of your queso a nice generous helping of full fat sour cream finally your fragrant Iceberg salad a light sprinkling of cold cheese for some reason because Taco Bell doesn't and I still don't understand why and a little bit of your diced tomato frankly with the way that this is assembled you could probably remove the tomato and cheese on top and it would likely make no difference but we're trying to be accurate while also being better here so that being said let's go to our taste test and find our winner there's a freshness I do not know why we didn't do this sooner I feel like my childhood's rushing back to me but in a different way there are reminiscent Taco Bell flavors going on in my mouth right now it's hitting to the left to the right but every single thing is turned all the way up first off the texture of this it's crispy on the outside but puffy soft aerated on the inside melts in your mouth right away by the way this is in no way traditional chalupa shell whatsoever just putting that out there the queso and the sour cream become one queso cream the tomatoes they're fresh they're vibrant not desaturated and of course the lettuce brings it home with a little bit of extra crunch from the jicama I mean come on it's easy dub but we can't decide a winner without our taste test big room's back wow it's Taco Bell what do you expect do you have any feelings about the talk about chalupa don't mind Taco Bell in general I'm gonna give you number one I cut them both so you wouldn't know which ones which hold your hand like overhanded there you go number two it was clear from the get-go the first one is better the second one other than it being like flat there's a lot more flavors in Josh's version you can taste the beef you can taste the cheese this one it's kind of just one single tone I can taste salt and seasoning and this one is just lettuce it's not necessarily a bad thing let me rephrase that it's a bad thing but also you at least know what you're gonna get at least Taco Bell's consistently okay you already know we have full control when we make things sorry but above all if you want the best version you start here but do you want to know what else starts here b-roll [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Joshua Weissman

Views: 1,800,789

Keywords: sat bawl pro, joshua weissman, Chalupa, chalupa recipe, Taco Bell, Taco Bell recipes, Taco Bell but better, Taco Bell chalupa, chalupa shells, chalupa shells recipe, ground beef recipe, Taco Bell ground beef recipe, ground beef taco recipe, taco recipes, taco seasoning recipe, Taco Bell at home, homemade taco shells, flatbread recipe, tortilla recipe, Taco Bell ground beef, easy tortilla recipe, queso recipe, nacho cheese, nacho cheese recipe, homemade chalupas

Id: kwLiXt9s0m8

Length: 9min 31sec (571 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 15 2023