Taco night just got a whole lot cuter! Get the whole family involved and make these adorable mini taco cups made with homemade hard shell taco boats.

Mini Taco Cups
There is something about taco Tuesday that I’ve always been obsessed with. Actually, I think taco Tuesday was the first “blue lunch,” as we called it (because the trays were blue), that I ever tried in high school.
I love being able to customize my own taco. I like extra toppings, duh. Tacos are the one food that I ALWAYS ORDER if it’s on the menu –> breakfast tacos, fish tacos, vegetarian tacos…you name it, I’ll order it!
Why you’ll love ’em!
Kid-friendly: the kids will love to get involved in prepping this meal!
Easily customizable: choose whatever taco fixings your heart desires.
Fun appetizer idea: not only do these make a great easy din idea, they’re also super cute served as an appetizer!

Ingredients for Mini Taco Cups
For the Chicken Taco Meat
- Ground chicken
- Olive oil
- Minced garlic
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Maple syrup
- salt
For the Tortilla cups
- Taco-sized tortillas (corn or regular)
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Sea salt
For the taco fixings
- Chopped lettuce
- Pico de gallo or salsa
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sliced black olives
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
How to Make Mini Taco Cups
Cook the Taco Meat
Place olive oil and minced garlic on a nonstick skillet and heat to medium/high heat. Then, add ground chicken and brown. Once it’s almost fully cooked, add spices and maple syrup and finish cooking.
Prepare the Tortilla cups
Place the tortillas in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds to soften a bit. Then, place on the backside of a muffin tin so that they create a boat-like shape. The bigger the muffin tin you use, the more you can cook at once.
Thoroughly spray each taco shell with nonstick cooking spray on both sides and then season with sea salt. Place in the oven and bake for around 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Assemble the taco cups
Assemble tacos by placing lettuce on the bottom of a taco shell, followed by about 1/4 cup of meat. Then, top with pico, cheese, black olives, and Greek yogurt. Enjoy!
Other Meat Options
These mini taco cups are delish with ground chicken, but feel free to sub it for any taco meat of your choice! Any of the following would be delish:
- Shredded Chicken: use up your leftover chicken breast or thighs by shredding It!
- Ground Beef: use the meat in our ground beef tacos for these taco cups.
- Carnitas: Our IP carnitas recipe is to die for and would be so delicious in this recipe.
- Lentils: Hoping to keep things vegan? Try our easy lentil taco meat!
- Sweet Potato: roasted sweet potatoes makes for another great vegetarian “meat” idea. It’s easy, too!
Other Lettuce Options
We opted for classic chopped romaine hearts for these taco cups, but feel free to sub in any green of your choice that you have on hand, like:
- Red leaf lettuce
- Bib lettuce
- Butter lettuce
- Arugula
- Iceberg lettuce
More Taco Fixings
Keep things traditional or feel free to jazz up your mini taco cups by adding any of these topping options:
- Slaw: slaw is a fun way to jazz up a taco cup! Our pineapple coleslaw would be delicious.
- Corn Salad: try our black bean and corn salad.
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Fajita Veggies: there is nothing better than peppers and onions. Try our grilled version.
- Guacamole: so many guac options! You can stay classic or go mango!
Storage
Store any leftovers from these mini taco cups in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. We recommend making the taco boats fresh before serving them with any leftover fixings.


Mini Taco Cups
Ingredients
For the Chicken Taco Meat
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1.5 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- salt to taste
For the Tortilla Boats
- 8 taco-sized tortillas corn or regular
- non-stick cooking spray
- sea salt
For the Rest of the Tacos
- 1 cup chopped lettuce
- 1/2 cup pico de gallo/salsa
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup black olives
- 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
Instructions
For the Chicken Taco Meat
- Place olive oil and minced garlic on a nonstick skillet and heat to medium/high heat. Then, add ground chicken and brown. Once it's almost fully cooked, add spices and maple syrup and finish cooking.
For the Tortilla Boats
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Begin by placing tortillas in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds to soften a bit.
- Then, place on the backside of a muffin tin so that they create a boat-like shape. The bigger the muffin tin you use, the more you can cook at once.
- THOROUGHLY spray each taco shell with nonstick cooking spray on both sides and then season with sea salt. Option to use a squeeze of lime.
- Place in the oven and bake for around 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
For the Rest of the Tacos
- Assemble tacos by placing lettuce on the bottom of a taco shell, followed by about 1/4 cup of meat. Then, top with pico, cheese, black olives, and Greek yogurt.
Tips & Notes
-Taco meat: option to use any kind of meat that you desire.
I can’t wait to try the taco cups! I love pan frying tortillas into chips and these look awesome!
This looks soooo good!
Defiantly making soon. x
Izzy -https://pinchofdelight.wordpress.com
Bel Ait Cantina is the best! I’m vegetarian, and their selection is out of this world. If you haven’t tried the Port Queso taco, you gotta try it next time you go!
I’ve never heard of this place! I NEED.
I love how you turned a muffin tin upside down to make these. What a genius idea!
RIGHT?!
Um, definitely making a bunch of extra shells just to eat plain. And I agree – black olives = no bueno 🙂
Glad I’m not the only hater out there 😀
Yum! These look like so much fun to eat!