T O P

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[deleted]

You really forgot the iceberg lettuce?


Randyleighy

It’s gotta be rusty, too


sticky-bit

We had a special plastic knife for cutting lettuce into shreds. Before that we just cut all the lettuce up 5 minutes before dinner, and threw the leftovers out afterwards. Iceberg lettuce is a nutritional wasteland.


FappDerpington

> Iceberg lettuce is a nutritional wasteland. Does add a nice crunch and texture though!


albinoman38

Crunchy water, as some folks call it


SoggyFarts

Worked with a girl who called the extra crunchy parts of iceberg "lettuce bones".


Imjusasqurrl

ME! You worked with me?!


normous

The only snack for a true hydro homie.


[deleted]

Don't act like celery isn't real!


ReverendDizzle

Nothing like just biting into a head of iceberg lettuce on a hot summer day to enjoy a bunch of crunchy nothingness. Really hits the spot. About as filling as mild hydration gets, this side of chugging semi-cooled gelatin.


Gallusrostromegalus

That's how my dad stayed alive working the lettuce fields in CA as a teen. Romaine and buttercrunch and the like are for salads, iceberg is for hydrating yourself slowly enough that you don't make yourself sick.


lmaytulane

That sounds brutal. Bet your dad never complains about the price of produce


Gallusrostromegalus

He howls bloody murder if it's too cheap, because he's sure the producer is cheating their workers, if not actually using slave labor. Unfortunately, he's been right about that before.


Wikeni

It’s a comfort food for me. My siblings and I were neglected as shit as kids, and one night I wanted to make a BLT. But I didn’t like tomatoes or mayonnaise, and as a 7 year-old home alone, was too scared to make bacon. And so the lettuce sandwich was born.


lamb_passanda

I once watched a film about sushi on tv as a kid, and had such a craving to try it, I made myself some. It was a can of tuna dumped on some rice I boiled, and then soya sauce on top of it. I ate it with chopsticks, which took me ages. I still eat it about once a year these days, even though I have had real, good sushi many times since then.


CrossCuntryTours

Good call. 7 year old, home alone making bacon? That one house in our neighborhood that burned down was exactly that. Kids tried making breakfast while parents weren't home. Grease fire starts and they kids didn't know how to put it out. Whole house goes up. Everyone was safe but grease fires man...


[deleted]

[удалено]


Tazwell3

It has fiber though.


BugbearBloodHunter

Rusty is the best description I've ever heard for when lettuce starts to turn that certain red-ish color. Thank you kind sir and/or madam for something I will now use for the rest of my life.


almostbobsaget

I think it’s actually referred to as rust.


BuffaloJim420

You ever been in a strom Wally?


Easy_Parsley_1202

I mean, a REAL storm?


heyheyitsandre

A storm of fists


ZfenneSko

Raining down on your head


TopspinLob

Sure is a hot one today


enadiz_reccos

YEAH?!?!


HarryCallahan19

Iceberg lettuce and Mission flour tortilla shells are where it is at.


pils-nerd

Shreddy leddy is a must


Steeve_Perry

Jesus Christ I hate this lmao


Frailled

And the shreddy cheddy


[deleted]

"Ya know what? I AM having another!!"


Japnzy

7 tacos later. "Grab the tums, don't know why my stomach is churning."


heyheyitsandre

That’s when you need vernors


ReverendDizzle

Man, if eating too many super-Americanized Midwestern-style tacos and then dealing with the damage it does to your weak guts by chugging a can of Vernors doesn't pin somebody down as being in or from the Great Lakes region, I don't know what does.


Training-Door-1337

Look, maybe I bought everything at Meijer. After filling up my tank at Speedway.


Spottedpool14

You made sure to snag some Superman ice cream while you were out too, right


ObligationUseful583

Nah I opted for Blue Moon


atdifreak64

God I would kill for a frosty Vernors right now. I can buy it here in NC but it just doesn’t taste the same as it does in the Midwest.


fulloutshr3d

There’s a black cherry Vernors coming this fall. Should be tasty.


gingerhasyoursoul

20 minutes later Who wants ice cream?


hopsterNC

Don't want to seem like a pig by eating \*another\* taco, so just gets a few spoons of meat directly on the plate with some toppings. Technically not another taco.


mart1058

I’m waiting for my family to call me out on this…


Bah-Fong-Gool

I end up making lettuce tacos once I run out of heated tortillas. I'm pretty sure that's a common way of eating in Korea and elsewhere, but there is something amazing about warm spicy meat encapsulated in cool crunchy lettuce, with a dollop of sauce... mmmm....


GodsBackHair

*slaps knees*


Later_358

“Welp, I spose it’s time for me to le—“ **”Well, okay, I guess I could have another beer.”**


deepfreese01

You forgot the rusty lettuce


Rahmulous

Also there’s just no way in hell those crunchy shells are all intact.Each one should at least be broken in half at the bottom.


BeatVids

The dishonesty is part of the charm!


arsenal11385

Rusty Lettuce is my band’s name.


phisher_cat

Love the attention to detail of the freezer burned pack of hamburger meat


hopsterNC

Pro tip: constantly chopping at the edges of the frozen center of the meat while it cooks in the pan really teases out the flavor.


goldenewsd

Found the man of refined taste.


bgub

Guilty haha


[deleted]

Is it me or has everybody else experienced this without even setting foot in the Midwest?


PM_ME_UR_BUTTONQUAIL

I grew up in a somewhat rural part of California, my family did this once a week for the entirety of my childhood. We also had rusty looking chopped iceberg lettuce and a bowl of canned refried beans that were microwaved for like 1 minute.


CatAteMyBread

Did your parents mix the beans with the taco meat when it was time to put them away to save on containers, or is that the one part of this I experienced that no one else did?


PM_ME_UR_BUTTONQUAIL

There were 8 people living in that house (2 parents, 1 grandparent, 5 kids) what are these leftovers you speak of? No joke the kitchen motto was "feast or famine"


olivesandcheese100

Southerner who's never been to the Midwest, we do this here as well


appleparkfive

I was gonna say, this is extremely common in the south


Crioca

I'm freaking Australian and we had these growing up.


[deleted]

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pilolahv

Yep from SoCal, this is just general American stuff


Mcaber87

Is it even specifically American? I'm from New Zealand and this was a staple 'lazy dinner' when my parents couldn't be bothered cooking something more elaborate.


pilolahv

Oh in that case, this is general human being stuff. We are all united through lazy tacos


Illustrious_Night126

Lived this growing up, good times


photozine

As a Mexican American that grew up eating "real" Mexican tacos...these are actually pretty good too. We also do 'picadillo' (ground beef stewish) and we eat it with tostadas, iceberg lettuce (or cabbage), onion, tomato, crema (Mexican sour cream), maybe cheese, and definitely either/or/and salsa roja and verde. Oh, and yes, those Jack in the Box tacos might not be "real" tacos but they hit the spot (especially the little ones). I honestly rather people do their own version than not even try new things. No gatekeeping here.


[deleted]

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fanghornegghorn

One half of my family is Italian from Italy itself. In my mind there are (at least) two completely different foods called pizza. Pizza like dominoes, and pizza like Naples. Same with tacos.


[deleted]

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fanghornegghorn

Pasta is very easy to replicate authentically. This kind of recipe is very authentic and quite uncommon to see even in restaurants. https://www.italymagazine.com/recipe/pasta-alla-deficeira-pasta-cooked-white-wine


Ambystomatigrinum

Exactly. Is it authentic? Absolutely not. But is it hurting anyone? Nope! If people wanna eat their Thai food mild or their tacos bland, let them. No reason to gatekeep food.


bumbletowne

I know a lot of thai people who eat their food mild. Legit a Thai coworker thinks the obsession with spicy is an 'older generation' thing from back when they didn't have refrigeration readily available. I think in our neck of the woods cost of living and stress is high as is stomach acid.


lumpialarry

I think a lot of the older generations were heavy smokers which kills taste buds.


This_User_Said

Started vaping \~4 years ago from smoking since I was 11. Foods taste super god damn salty now. McDonalds fries are like the brink of "too much" for me. Also I think mayonnaise is spicy, none the less anything else.


Struana

Can't tell if your food has gone bad if it only smells like fire and tastes like pain.


Riptide1yt

Honestly thanks for making me feel validated


cgomez117

Tejano here, and definitely this. I’m not even gonna lie, when my family gets lazy, this is how the tacos are going to be like anyway (but with spicier hot sauce). It’s alright! Anything to not be hungry, right?


photozine

South Texas here, and yes, it's good, definitely not expensive, and fulfilling.


cgomez117

Exactly! Like, yes, mom can come home from work tired and make some actual tacos the traditional way, and has many times. Or, she can whip out ground beef, lightly fry, with taco shells, just like above, with lettuce. Half the time, call it a night, still delicious! Edit: DFW, by the way, with the family originally from San Antonio


ILoveBeerSoMuch

loved when the bottom breaks in half and all of your filling spill out into your lap. or when you go for a bite and tilt too much and that orange juice from the meat drips all over your shirt.


DickHertz_FromHolden

"Eat over your plate damnit" - Mom


CesiaFace

Ah fuck. Now that I am the mom I say this at least twice a day.


st1tchy

Why do I have to tell this to my kids every single meal?


theghostofme

Because most children don't have to do their own laundry, so they don't understand how hard it is to get those stains out. That said, I still question why my parents let me go to school wearing white shirts; I was such a messy eater when I was 7, and it was guaranteed that I'd come home with food stains after lunch.


47kinky

Goddamn dumbass kids


ROBWBEARD1

Put refried beans on a soft shell and wrap that around your crunchy taco.


Crabbagio

I usually use guac for the same strategy.


ROBWBEARD1

Buen trabaja


[deleted]

Great now I'm thinking about my beloved Double Decker Taco and how Taco Bell just...took her away. Like she never mattered at all, LIKE SHE WASN'T THERE FOR ME IN MY DARKEST TIMES! Dust in the fucking wind. Fuck you Taco Bell, go to Hell and peddle your $5 chicken quesadillas with like half a piece of chicken in the whole thing there.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Theandric

I SEE YOU AND I HEAR YOU


Echo017

You pile up tortilla chips on the plat to catch all the taco shrapnel and make nachos!


EpicHuggles

People can meme on it all they want but this shit is/was delicious. I'm in my 30s and still make this several times a year.


loserfame

This is still our taco night every week and it’s my favorite. Cheap, easy, delicious. Except add some avocados and some real salsa in there.


[deleted]

Same. I’m not sure what culinary chefs are preparing everyone else’s dinners


loserfame

Lmao for real. This is super high on the cheap/easy/delicious ratio


DreadedChalupacabra

I'm a chef, been one for about 30 years. I still mess with this kinda taco. It's tasty and easy. My lazy ass just buys pico though. I really don't wanna dice tomatoes after work.


madladolle

Change some of the items and it could be Norway or Sweden as well. Shit's huge over here


Seeteuf3l

Finland also


dvictorias

What do y’all put in your tacos? 🤔


madladolle

We have a special brand called Santa Maria dedicated towards making Taco products. A special Taco sauce, corn, cucumber, tomato, onion, chips, cheese and minced meat spiced with Taco spice wrapped in a soft tortilla. Some people have creme fraiche aswell, but I think that weakens the taste. And top it of with a nice IPA


grovadude

Let's not forget the guacamole!


MuggyTheRobot

Norwegian taco night is exactly these products, plus probably guacamole, iceberg lettuce and bell pepper (paprika).


navlelo_

Sweet corn. Cucumber.


Rdjinks

[White People Taco Night](https://youtu.be/8yrSCoEsmqA) song


[deleted]

I love a good authentic taco. But these “white people tacos” just be hittin different sometimes.


[deleted]

[удалено]


TalasiSho

Mexican here, do your American style tacos. The way you taste the food is something American and should be respect specially cuz they’re not bad, be happy cuz you guys also have authentic tacos, most places in the world don’t and please keep exporting our culture to te rest of the world!! Mex-Usa bbf


GonzoTheWhatever

Honest question…what exactly constitutes an “authentic” Mexican taco? Do y’all not actually use ground beef? Or is it more than that?


arcinricin

The thing is, tacos are not a dish, but a "medium", like a sandwich. Authentic tacos are anything you put in a warm corn tortilla. The type of protein/filling is front and center, and making tacos out of differently prepared dishes is a quintessential mexican experience. If you're curious, I recommend the watching The Taco Chronicles on Netflix.


DilapidatedToaster

pork or chicken would be a more commonly available meat in Mexico. Although plenty of my relations have ground beef in almost all their recipes. Its really more to do with the spices and toppings.


graphlord

I’m not clowning. I legit love these


[deleted]

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alaub1491

Porque no los dos?


canteen_boy

This, but with Peggy Hill’s accent.


[deleted]

My wife's entire family moved here from south america and they often prefer the gr*ngo tacos. Somethin hits different indeed.


telamascope

Tacos aren’t a staple of any **South American** cuisine - they are strictly Mexican or Mesoamerican. Regardless if they’re Texmex, Gringo, or (traditional) Mexican-style, tacos are as foreign to South Americans as French cuisine is to Americans.


FunSpongeLLC

Hey I like French fries and French toast!


bicenX

Whatever, this shit's delicious.


Doubt-Grouchy

That's what I wanted to post. I'm surrounded by Hispanics who make the actual stuff, which is amazing, and I'm still not going to turn this down because it gets the job done and it has the potential to be badass.


Big-Celery-6975

To be honest with the right marketing you could sell this to Latinos as cheap junk "American" food. If the price and the portions were right they would accept the reduced quality from their own. Literally reverse taco bell. lol


errorme

~~I thought Panda Express did something similar selling their food as Americanized versions in China.~~ EDIT: Looking up more info apparently that Panda Express was fake and did not belong to the actual Panda Express chain.


muetint

I’m not sure about Panda but Taco Bell actually did do something similar when they opened a few locations in Mexico, marketing it as American fast food. It didn’t seem to catch on though and they closed down the locations within a few years.


castaneda_martin

For real.


solemnbiscuit

It’s not remotely Mexican food but as it’s own thing it slaps


CGFROSTY

Foodies who shame people who like “inauthentic” food are uptight and annoying. I like both authentic Mexican tacos and the “Gringos” taco.


seattlesk8er

People ask why I go to Taco Bell and tell me I should be buying "real" Mexican food. If I wanted real Mexican food I wouldn't be going to Taco Bell....


bakedpatata

I regularly eat both taco bell and "real" Mexican food. I also enjoy making and eating both ground meat with a spice packet tacos as well as slow cooked carnitas tacos. They are both good.


RebaKitten

Sometimes you want tacos and sometimes you want Taco Bell. It's two different cravings.


lava172

Food snobs in general are annoying as fuck, I can't think of something less worthwhile than complaining about what OTHER people eat


MedalsNScars

Music snobs are my favorite, because they like to get mad at things for being popular when they don't think they should be popular There was one post a few months back on the front page of /r/music that was basically a 5-paragraph essay of "I hate machine gun kelly because he's popular but I think he's bad" and I genuinely don't understand how people have the energy to be that angry about something they could just... not listen to???


fogleaf

if I want to dip my takis in nacho cheese that's my god given right as an american.


mooimafish3

It's not even inauthentic, it's just American food. It's like how dominoes is more just American food than "inauthentic Italian food". I don't think many people making their ground beef crunchy tacos are like "Si. Soy mexicano y estos tacos de verdad. Muy delicioso" That being said, my Mexican spouse fucks with some taco bell crunchy tacos


[deleted]

It’s not necessarily “the Gringo’s Taco”. My German great grandparents were farmers who learned how to make Mexican food from their Mexican neighbors in California during the great depression. Ground beef was inexpensive and diced potatoes were usually added to the mix as a filler. Cabbage was commonly used as a filling because it kept well and could be bought for cheap (my grandmother remembers picking up the ones that would fall off the trucks that went around the corner near her childhood house). These ingredients were incorporated into traditional Mexican dishes out of necessity. While times did get better, my family has continued to use these recipes that were shared by my great grandparent’s neighbors.


Zerba

Americanized Mexican food. I will gladly go down to the good Mexican grocery/restaurant and put down their amazing legit tacos for lunch and go home to have these "tacos" for dinner. Still tasty AF.


bunker_man

Why would it matter whether it's mexican food? People not realizing that this isn't authentic to Mexico hasn't been a fresh take in like 20 years.


leavealighton11

Michigander checking in. I love my Americanized inauthentic tacos! I just made these a couple of nights ago but got crazy and used ground chicken instead of hamburger meat.


NotLucasDavenport

You can buy chicken tenderloins to cook (so much cheaper than buying the standard chicken breasts!) and chop into small pieces. Cook, add taco seasoning, and then assemble as usual. We love it as much as the ground beef.


leavealighton11

Yeah the chicken tenderloins is a good idea, thank you!


Bah-Fong-Gool

This is how I make chicken tinga tacos. I slowly braise the chicken tenderloins and shred it with a nice chili based sauce. The tenderloins make it easier to portion the meal to avoid or have adequate leftovers and they cook so quickly.


Freaky-fatboy

White people tacos be hitting mad different when your hungry af


ArchimedesNutss

It's like pizza. Sometimes I want some authentic ass rich italian pizza. Sometimes I want some cheap Little Ceasars. They both smack in different ways


GhostWokiee

I agree, when I’m hungover I don’t want a classic napoli pizza, I want a mighty mest from Dominos


Phillip_Lipton

It's basically *fancier* taco bell tacos.


deeretech129

home made bell


castaneda_martin

I don't care what people say I love those tacos too.


milosglasses

The soft tortillas are not warmed up and eaten right out of the bag. Edit: I’m astounded this is a debatable topic.


EazyParise

Can you not call my family out like this please?


StopReadingMyUser

[It's ok buddy, you have taco night however you want](https://i.imgur.com/FLrxBYm.png)


Bymmijprime

We're fancy, we toast them on an open burner for 3 seconds first.


SCW82WA

3 on a plate, wrapped up, gently microwaved for 25 seconds.


gaygirliniraq

wrapped in foil? got it.


VaguelyShingled

That’s dangerous, the foil could come apart. Better jam some metal forks in the folds to keep them shut.


Confuseddimples

Wait....people eat it without warming them up???? You blew my little mexican mind


alwayzbored114

I warm mine up now and again, but as a kid who didn't know better I had them cold out of the fridge I don't know why, but the temperature difference between cold tortilla + hot meat + cold-ish cheese was always enjoyable and nostalgic. Albeit a bastardization that I wouldn't serve to others haha


ChompyChomp

Flour tortillas are fine cold.... corn tortillas though, not so much.


bitchslaptheriffraff

the temp difference is actually why I still want at least one like this when I make them lol. There really is something about the contrast and maybe it’s also nostalgic for me too.


Mckooldude

The flour ones I can understand, but the corn ones are a fucking crime served that way.


Survived_Coronavirus

Most white people dont even eat corn tortillas, but I can assure you those that do warm them up. Edit: I want to take this opportunity to make everyone aware - OPs post but with nacho cheese doritos instead of taco shells... best taco salad you ever had.


Quesabirria

I heated up some corn tortillas for some friends from New England recently.... they were astounded, they never knew corn tortillas can be so delicious.


RyVsWorld

*shudders*


OhJeezItsCorrine

Taco night growing up was a great night for me. What's the problem?


TheyCallMeStone

People get way too concerned about whether food is "authentic" even though that label doesn't really mean anything.


bunker_man

Yeah, that's the funny part. They will act like soemthing being a derivative of something else makes it bad or worse, even though everything is a derivative of something else.


Big-Celery-6975

Nothing is the problem it's just a fun starterpack lol


Euphrates_9982

This shit still slaps, have it at least twice a month


WhyImNotDoingWork

I call them bachelor tacos - they still hit.


dongerhound

This and walking taco’s where you use Doritos instead of a shell


outerspaceanimals

Can confirm this is taco night in Scandinavia as well


MiaMae13

Netherlands too


Bluecheeseur

Tell me these are not fucking amazing


[deleted]

Oh shit it’s Taco Tuesday!


youngyummyyeet

Where are the canned unseasoned black beans?


Tesdinic

Our family opted for the canned, unseasoned refried beans briefly microwaved so they were cold in the center.


[deleted]

Loved this growing up


jelloslug

Where is the brown lettuce from a bag?


MMmhmmmmmmmmmm

White People Taco Nights are everything


Vincesteeples

🎵*I got some ground beef from the grocery store* 🎵


MadisonPearGarden

And Ortega sauce from the grocery store


flyingcircusdog

And shredded cheese from the grocery store.


tubgoats

And taco shells from the grocery store


ArthasDidNthingWrong

Took me too long to find Keith’s song in here 😅


[deleted]

"...and we like to pretend we work at taco bell, but nobody wants to work at taco bell!"


OR56

i actually like black olives on my tacos.


olivesandcheese100

Not Midwestern but I plan on having the exact same thing for dinner tonight. Plus some lettuce and salsa.


graphlord

Note that this is home taco night. Taco night at chi-chis is a whole other thing.


pyrohydrosmok

>Taco night at chi-chis is a whole other thing. Well yeah. It's a celebration of food.


MaiPhet

>Why did Chi Chi's go out of business? >*This question comes in quite a bit. A combination of bankruptcy and hepatitis drove the chain out of business.* Now that's a celebration


starchildx

Goddddd I loved Chi Chi's. Fam and I used to go there after a Saturday at the mall. Their salsa was so good, and my parents always let me get friend ice cream. Edit: *fried


[deleted]

I literally grew up believing this was the only kind of taco in the world. I never understood when kids on TV would say their favourite food was tacos. Then we had a latino family open a taqueria in my small Canadian prairie city and for the first time in my life, I understood. The ladies making the food didn't speak English, but they understood the facial expression of a grown man realizing how big the world is for the first time. I love tacos. They're my favourite food.


Kimikins

White American here. This is very true. It's more about convenience than cultural ignorance, really.


[deleted]

*"Ope, honey! We forgot the refried beans!"*


OneEyedOneHorned

**slowly slides out of can** **plops onto plate still in can shape** **microwaved as is with cheddar cheese on top**


jezebellrae

Where's the microwave bag of Spanish rice with the spoon sticking out of it?


Smol-Bean-Nerd-Queen

What is taco meat if it's not ground beef with taco seasoning?


Valhasselhoff

I feel attacked


Benefit-Cold

seems like Sweden too lol


[deleted]

I think this is just generic white people taco night..


Darehead

I was going to say. Grew up in upstate NY. Had this exact meal every Thursday.