Tacos de canasta – steamed basket tacos with potato, beans and chicharrón
Small corn tortillas filled with mashed potato, refried beans and chicharrón (pork crackling) in green salsa, brushed with lard flavoured with guajillo chilli and steamed until soft and juicy. In Mexico they are sold from baskets on the back of bicycles; at home they are also filled with adobo pork or potato and chorizo. Eat them with green salsa and pickled jalapeños.
- 1 h 40Time
- 1 h 05Hands-on
- 4Portions
- ≈ $38per portion
- 890kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 500 gPotato, peeled and cut into chunks
- to tasteSalt
- 500 gTomatillo, husked
- 3Serrano chiles
- 1 cloveGarlic, for the salsa
- ½Yellow onion, for the salsa
- 15 gCoriander, a small bunch
- 100 gPork rinds, broken into pieces
- 300 gRefried beans
- 4 tbspLard
- ½Yellow onion, sliced
- 2 clovesGarlic, for the lard
- 3Guajillo chiles, seeded and torn into pieces
- 24Corn tortillas
On the side
- 100 gPickled jalapeño slices (optional)
Method
- Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with water, add salt and bring to the boil.
- Boil the potatoes until very tender, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil the tomatillos and serrano chillies in water for 8 minutes, until the tomatillos change colour. Drain and blend with the garlic and onion for the salsa, the coriander and some salt to make a green salsa.
- Pour half the salsa into a small pan with the chicharrón and simmer over a low heat for 8 minutes, until the pieces are soft and the salsa has thickened. Keep the rest of the salsa for serving.
- Drain the potatoes and mash them roughly with a little salt.
- Melt the lard in a small frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion slices and the garlic for the lard for 5 minutes, until golden. Add the guajillo pieces and fry for a few seconds, until the fat turns red, without letting the chilli burn. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon, leaving just the red lard.
- Warm the tortillas briefly in a dry frying pan so they are soft and don't crack. Put a spoonful of potato on 8 of them, a spoonful of refried beans on 8 and a spoonful of chicharrón on 8, and fold them in half.
- Pour 3 cm of water into the base of a steamer and line the basket with a clean tea towel. Pack the tacos in tight layers, brushing each layer with the warm red lard. Fold the towel over and put the lid on.
- Steam the tacos over a low heat for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and leave the tacos covered for 20 minutes so they sweat and turn soft and juicy.
- Serve the tacos warm with the rest of the green salsa and the pickled jalapeños.
The cost is estimated from average prices in Mexico (PROFECO, Quién es Quién en los Precios (datos abiertos), 2026-07).