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Learn how to make the best baked tostada shells! These crunchy 10 Minute Oven Baked Tostadas take just minutes to make and are so much better for you than frying. Add any of your favorite toppings and you’ve got a delicious, family friendly meal in a flash!
Oven Baked Tostadas with homemade tostada shells are one of our favorite easy dinners and are on the menu at least twice a month. We usually serve them with Authentic Mexican Rice, Black Beans and Rice or Mexican Street Corn Salad on the side.
Why We Love This Recipe
- Fresh and Easy Baked Tortilla Shells – Tostadas are super simple to make with homemade tostada shells, or for simplicity, you can buy them pre-made at the store. Sure you could also make fried tostada shells in a skillet but it’s super messy and heavy in calories. Since they only take a few minutes in the oven, homemade shells are the way to go!
- Customizable Toppings – These crispy tostadas can be topped with anything your heart desires! If you’d put it in a taco, you can put it on a tostada!
How To Make Homemade Tostada Shells
Brush Corn Tortillas with Oil – Start with corn tortillas, spread out on foil lined cookie sheet pans. Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt. You could also spray them generously with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake – Bake the tortillas in a preheated 400℉ oven for approximately 4 minutes per side, or until they are crispy and golden on each side. Remember that they will continue to brown and crisp as they cool.
How To Assemble Tostadas
Once the homemade shells are baked and crispy like a tortilla chip, now comes the fun part!
- Spread refried beans on the tostada shells first. This will provide a base for the rest of the toppings and will help them stick.
- Then add your favorite toppings. I usually set out cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, homemade salsa, sour cream, olives, onions and let everyone create their own masterpiece.
- Be careful not to top it too much or it could end up being too heavy and cracky the shell! and cheese and your favorite toppings – lettuce,
- For protein, we like to add slow cooker chicken, slow cooker beef, or slow cooker carnitas. Really you could use any protein you want, like ground beef, ground turkey, pork, steak or chicken.
- I like to keep it simple. For the tostadas pictured, I used my own chopped salad mix with romaine lettuce and shredded carrots, and both cheddar and cotija cheeses. But you can totally mix it up with the cheeses too! I mean, that’s the best part – These 10 Minute Oven Baked Tostadas are completely customized to suit your tastes and your family.
Best Tostada Toppings
Some of our favorite toppings for tostadas are:
- Refried Beans – make your own or grab a can of your favorite.
- Shredded Cheese – you can stay traditional or try something a little more adventurous like Pepper Jack or Queso Fresco.
- Shredded Lettuce – You can even buy pre-shredded iceberg at the grocery store.
- Diced Tomatoes – Fresh or canned.
- Guacamole – If you love homemade, mine is amazing. Sliced avocado works too.
- Pico de Gallo – Simple to make and with just 5 ingredients.
- Fresh Corn Kernels
- Diced or Sliced Jalapenos
How To Eat A Tostada
If you are my kids, you eat a tostada with a fork picking off all of the toppings before eating the crispy shell. However, as long as you don’t pile it too high with toppings, it’s very easy to simply pick up the tostada and take a bite. Start with a small bite to avoid breaking the whole shell and collapsing the whole thing.
What To Do With Leftovers
When I bake the tortillas, I almost always bake up a few extra so I can use them later in the week. Break them up into small pieces and add them to salads or on top of a bowl of refried beans. Or break them into larger pieces for chips and salsa or nachos.
Store leftover shells in a sealed airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. I usually just toss them into a Ziploc bag and leave them on the counter. They don’t often make it through the night though (because we end up snacking on them!).
Helpful Tips
- I usually just sprinkle the tortillas with salt, but you could get a little adventurous and sprinkle on some chili powder, taco seasoning, or garlic powder.
- I always have canola oil and olive oil on hand, so I use one of those 2. You can use avocado oil, vegetable oil, or any neutral oil you like. The oil helps the tortillas get nice and golden and crispy without being too greasy.
- It’s ok if they’re slightly soft as long as they’re browned. They will crisp up even more as they cool.
- The recipe uses 6 tortillas to make 6 tostadas/servings. Depending on how high you pile them with toppings, one is usually pretty filling. Consider how much you think your family will eat and prepare accordingly.
- Set a wire rack on top of the baking sheet, then add the tortillas, and you can get away without flipping them.
- Prep your toppings while the tortillas are baking.
More Mexican Recipes
- Mini Chicken Bean & Cheese Quesadillas
- Pozole Rojo with Chicken
- Chicken Tacos Recipe
- Shrimp Ceviche
- Chicken Poblano Soup
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Cheese Enchiladas
10 Minute Oven Baked Tostadas
Ingredients
- 6 Corn tortillas
- 1 tablespoon Canola oil or any neutral oil, or cooking spray
- pinch Salt
- Your favorite tostada toppings: refried beans, chicken, beef, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Arrange as many tortillas as will fit on the baking sheet without overlapping. (I can get 6 on mine – if you need more than that, bake in batches or bake two sheets at a time, rotating halfway through).
- Brush both sides of the tortillas lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for about 8 minutes, flipping the tortillas over about halfway through. You could also use a wire rack and omit the flipping.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a paper towel lined tray to cool.
- Serve immediately with your favorite toppings, or cool completely and store in a tightly sealed contained for 3-4 days.
Notes
- It’s ok if they’re slightly soft as long as they’re browned. They will crisp up even more as they cool.
- Nutritional calculations are estimates, and include only the tortillas, oil and salt. Toppings will vary.
- Store leftover shells in a sealed airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. I usually just toss them into a Ziploc bag and leave them on the counter. They don’t often make it through the night (because we eat them!).
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Hi. You said: “Remove from the oven and transfer to a paper towel lined tray to cool.*” What does the asterisk mean?
Looks like just a typo It’s been fixed.
Great recipe! These are way better than store bought. I used a cookie cooling rack to cook the tortillas, no flipping needed! Cooked them for 10 minutes and they were perfect!
Nice! Awesome feedback Lindsay, thanks for stopping by.
I’m always looking for a way to change up our weekly dinners and these were perfect. They’re in the rotation for sure! We like them crispy so I did them for about 10 minutes total. Perfect!
Nice! Awesome feedback CurlyMomto2, thanks for stopping by.
A quick and easy meal. So many different items you can use
Thank you! I have always fried my tortillas. It takes up so much time and oil to make enough for my family. I remember trying to bake them in the past using a different recipe but it was a soggy awful mess. This way yielded perfectly crispy shells. My family loved them and I will make my shells this way from now on. Saves me so much time!
Note: I had to bake mine for 10mins.
Awesome feedback Angela! Thanks for stopping by.
I will probably never buy pre-made tostada shells ever again! I had to do them for about 10 minutes total but they were great and held up so much better than the pre-made.
Nice! Love the feedback Melissa! Thanks for stopping by.
I love this website because it has easy to make food that I can enjoy any time thankyou Kristen
Im making these for sure. Thanks
Thanks for stopping by Margaret
me too they are awsome
These were a quick and easy alternative to tacos, sometimes we like to change it up a bit and these were perfect.
Awesome feedback Leeann! Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the recipe! It was super easy and a nice change from tacos.
You are so welcome ColorOnMaterial! Thanks for dropping by.
Kristin, this is genius! We had some leftover crockpot chicken tinga and this worked perfectly ?? thank you!
Great idea looking forward to doing this
Thank you Martha!