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In a little corner of Disneyland, there’s a cafe that serves Mexican-American Cuisine, and the most amazing taco bowl salads ever. The cafe is called Rancho del Zocalo, and if you can eat grains and legumes, then I highly recommend chowing down on a deep fried taco bowl there. If you can’t, then I have a fantastic alternative for you that you can make at home: the Paleo Taco Shell Bowl.
This taco salad bowl is made from Cassava flour, which is basically the powered root of the cassava/yuca plant. If you’ve ever used tapioca starch/flour, then you have been using the separated starch from Cassava flour (note: this recipe will not work with tapioca starch alone–you need to use the full cassava).
Cassava flour tortillas aren’t just an AIP creation though. Cassava has been used in Latin America for years (that’s where the plants grow!) for dishes, and for tortillas.
So you are really just getting a taste of Latin America, not just a grain-free version of your favorite tortillas.
And the tortillas I make from cassava taste very similar to wheat flour tortillas.
Which is amazing. And unheard of.
If you haven’t tried cassava our as a substitute for wheat flour, then you really should. Amazon has the best pricing for cassava flour AND you get free shipping with most orders if you’re an Amazon Prime member.
AIP Paleo Taco Shell Bowl
Ingredients for shell:
- 1 cup of cassava flour (measure EXACTLY and scrape excess off with knife)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup of water + 1 tbs
- 3 tbs olive oil
Equipment:
- Parchment Paper
- Rolling pin
- Fluted Taco Shell Baking Dish
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degree fahrenheit.
- Measure cassava and salt into a small mixing bowl and combine.
- Add oil and water to the dry mix with a fork and mix until blended.
- Using your hands, squeeze dough into a large ball, then break in two. Mixture should be fairly dry, but will stick together. (If the mixture does not stick together enough, then you will be left with a ruined taco bowl. It will fall apart. If you have not measured correctly–even a gram of extra cassava will mess up the consistency–then add a teaspoon of water at a time. Too much liquid will make the dough too sticky, so slowly add it in.)
- Roll each ball out between two sheets of parchment into a large, round-ish circle.
- Place fluted taco bowl baking dish upside down on top of the rolled out dough leaving one hand on the bowl, and gently slide the other hand underneath the parchment and flip into the bowl. Don’t worry if pieces break off or cracking happens in the transfer: you can simply press everything back together with the remaining dough. (Option #2: If you don’t have taco shell bowls, simply transfer to a small, upside-down glass/oven-safe Pyrex bowl and bake on that. It will not stick when cooked for the appropriate time AND cooled after.)
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until very stiff.
- Remove and cool (especially important with cooking on glass) before putting your taco salad in the bowl!
Ingredients for salad (optional):
- 2-3 cups chopped lettuce
- 1 cup of ground beef, cooked
- 1/8 cup raw white onion
- handful of cilantro
- Add all ingredients to your taco bowl!
Enjoy!
- 1 cup of cassava flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup of water + 1 tbs
- 3 tbs olive oil
- Measure cassava and salt into a small mixing bowl and combine.
- Add oil and water to the dry mix with a fork and mix until blended.
- Using your hands, squeeze dough into a large ball, then break in two. Mixture should be fairly dry, but will stick together. (If the mixture falls apart, then add a teaspoon of water at a time. Too much liquid will make the dough too sticky, so slowly add it in.)
- Roll each ball out between two sheets of parchment into a large, round-ish circle.
- Place fluted taco bowl baking dish upside down on top of the rolled out dough leaving one hand on the bowl, and gently slide the other hand underneath the parchment and flip into the bowl. Dont worry if pieces break off or cracking happens in the transfer: you can simply press everything back together with the remaining dough. (Option #2: If you don’t have taco shell bowls, simply transfer to a small, upside-down glass/oven-safe Pyrex bowl and bake on that. It will not stick when cooked for the appropriate time.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until stiff.
- Remove and cool before putting your taco salad in the bowl!
2 responses to “Paleo Taco Shell Bowl (AIP)”
I tried making these tonight and have never been so disappointed
I rolled them out numerous times thinking that it wouldn’t fall apart if I did it a little different. I finally just pieced it together on the bowl. Double checked as to oiling the glass bowl. Nope no mention of it…wrong couldn’t get the bowl off of the shell without breaking the shell into 5 or 6 pieces. Was very tough to try and eat! A real waste of cassava flour, to expensive to waste. I should of went with my usual instinct and made half batch.
Diane, I’m so sorry to hear that! I believe that you may not have cooked it long enough, or not cooled it long enough before removing it from the glass bowl. There is also the possibility that you may have not had enough liquid (cassava needs to be measured exactly.) I make tortillas almost every day and have noticed that even just a little too much cassava makes the dough unworkable.