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Tacos envenenados

From WikiTacos, the taco encyclopedia · Taco type
Also known as: Poisoned tacos

Tacos envenenados ('poisoned tacos') are a Zacatecas specialty of large corn tortillas filled with beans, potato and chorizo and fried in lard until crisp. The alarming name is a joke attributed to a mid-twentieth-century taquero in the city of Zacatecas.

Contents
  1. Name and origin
  2. Description
  3. Related dishes
  4. Recipe
  5. Reviews
  6. See also
  7. References

Name and origin

Both Mexico News Daily and Luz Noticias tell the same story behind the name. Around 1940, a taquero known as Don Lauro sold tacos near the busy railway station in the city of Zacatecas and joked that the secret ingredient was poison. His sign was said to read, in effect, 'If you want to poison yourself, eat tacos.' The name stuck, and the tacos became a recognized local dish. Luz Noticias stresses that there is no official record of the name's origin and that the Don Lauro account is the version most often repeated, so it should be read as a tradition rather than a documented fact.

The joke plays on the dish's richness rather than any real danger: the tacos are heavy, greasy and filling, the kind of food a station crowd could eat quickly and cheaply.

Description

Mexico News Daily describes tacos envenenados as made with corn tortillas larger than normal, filled with beans, chile, chorizo and potatoes, and fried in lard. Luz Noticias gives a home method in which onion is softened in lard, chorizo is browned, diced potatoes are added and cooked without breaking, and the mixture is spooned over tortillas spread with refried beans. Each tortilla is folded, sometimes pinned with toothpicks, and fried until golden on both sides.

The finished tacos are served hot with onion, green chile or salsa and cheese. Their combination of beans, potato and chorizo is close to the fillings of many tacos dorados, but the larger tortilla and the use of lard give them their own identity.

Tacos envenenados belong to a group of Mexican tacos with deliberately off-putting names. Mexico News Daily lists them with the tacos de transmisión of Parral, Chihuahua, named for the dark frying fat; the tacos de basura of Querétaro, named for their mound of mixed ingredients; and the tacos de nada of Hermosillo, Sonora, filled with only a light potato mixture.

Recipe

Makes 8 large tacos · Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 large corn tortillas (about 18 cm)
  • 1 1/2 cups refried beans
  • 200 g Mexican pork chorizo, casing removed
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
  • 1/4 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons lard, plus more for frying
  • Salt
  • Toothpicks
  • To serve: chopped onion, salsa verde or pickled jalapeños, crumbled queso fresco

Steps

  1. Soften the onion in 2 tablespoons lard until translucent.
  2. Add the chorizo and cook until browned and crumbly.
  3. Add the potatoes, cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring gently, until tender, about 12 minutes. Season with salt.
  4. Warm the beans until spreadable; soften the tortillas on a comal.
  5. Spread beans over each tortilla, add a portion of the potato-chorizo mixture, fold in half and secure with a toothpick.
  6. Fry in 1 cm of hot lard until crisp and golden on both sides; drain on paper.
  7. Serve hot with onion, salsa and cheese.

Vegetable oil can replace lard, though the lard gives the traditional flavor.

Reviews

Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.

See also

References

  1. "What's in a name? Terrible-sounding tacos that taste great". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  2. "Tacos envenenados: qué son y por qué los consideran una delicia". Luz Noticias. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Categories: Fried tacos Taco formats Taco types Zacatecas cuisine