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Navajo Tacos with Homemade Fry Bread

These Navajo Tacos with Homemade Fry Bread are made with a fluffy fried bread topped with delicious meat, cheese, veggies, & the best sauce.
Makes 16 pieces of fry bread. We like to add cinnamon and sugar to the last couple pieces of fry bread for an after dinner treat.

Ingredients

Fry Bread (makes 16 pieces)

  • 4½ cups white flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoons yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • oil for frying

Seasoned Beef

  • 2 lbs. ground beef
  • 2 teaspoons garlic salt
  • 2½ teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoon white sugar

Navajo Tacos

  • 1 can pinto beans, drained and heated
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2-3 cups chopped, shredded lettuce
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterey jack or cheddar)
  • 2 diced green onions

Taco Sauce

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup salsa (mild or medium)
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions

Prep

  • I like to start by prepping everything first, so after the fry bread is made, I just have to cook the beef and then everything is hot and ready.
  • Start by chopping up your veggies, shredding your cheese, and making the taco sauce. Then set it all aside and get the dough ready.

Taco Sauce

  • In a small bowl, combine sour cream, salsa, and garlic salt. Mix well.

Fry Bread

  • Combine flour, baking powder, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
  • Add water and oil, then mix until well combined. Gently fold until combined into a ball - you don't want to knead too much. Just a couple folds until combined.
  • Once combined place back into bowl and spray with cooking spray to keep hydrated.
  • Cover with a towel and let rise for 20-25 minutes.
  • Once risen, cut dough in half and half again until you have 16 equal pieces.
  • Roll each piece into a ball, and set aside.
  • Get a drying station ready by lining a large baking sheet with paper towels. You will place the fry bread here after cooking it.
  • Then, in a small frying pan, pour 1 inch of oil and heat on medium-high heat until oil reaches 350°F. (Or until droplets of water sizzle in the oil.)
  • Once oil is ready, quickly use your hands to flatten out one of the dough balls. until it's about 6 inches round (it doesn't need to be perfectly round).
  • Once flattened to about 1/4" thick, slowly place into oil. Let fry on once side until golden brown (about 2 minutes). Once side 1 is golden, use tongs to flip fry bread over. Fry on 2nd side until golden brown, then remove with tongs to cool on the paper towel lined baking sheet.
  • Flatten the next dough ball and repeat.
    If your frying pan is large enough you can make 2 at a time.
  • Continue until all the dough is fried. We like to make about 2/3 of the fry bread for the Navajo Tacos, then dust the last 1/3 in cinnamon and sugar for a nice treat.
  • Set bread aside until ready to eat.

Meat and Tacos

  • While fry bread is cooling, cook up the ground beef. Combine ground beef with all seasonings in a large pan set over medium-high heat.
  • Cook until browned and slightly crispy.

Navajo Taco Assembly

  • Start each taco with a piece of fry bread, then top with ground beef, the pinto beans, and shredded lettuce. Then add chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, and green onions.
  • Top with salsa/sour cream sauce and enjoy!