Instant Pot Bacon & Egg Stuffed Sweet Potato

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

Sweet potatoes are not just for dinner. There great to use as a breakfast item. And even better when accompanied with a traditional breakfast combo.

It’s a great option for a weekend breakfast or when you have some extra time in the morning during the week.

This recipe even makes a tasteful Sunday brunch for family and friends.

Using the Instant Pot to cook your sweet potato turns out a perfect potato with a creamy inside every time.

Another Baked Sweet Potato Recipe – Deliciously Yummy

Hasselback Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Instant Pot Bacon & Egg Stuffed Sweet Potato

This recipe serves one plate. Serving more than one plate, adjust recipe accordingly.

1 sweet potato (small – medium – large – your choice)

2 thick slices smoked bacon, chopped

2 eggs

1 tablespoon butter

1 green onion

1-2 tablespoons goat cheese

Cooking Sweet Potato

Scrub sweet potato then prick 5-10 times with a fork.

Add 1 cup of water to the insert of a 6 quart Instant Pot or 1 1/2 cups to an 8 quart Instant Pot.

Cook’s Notes

Measure the width of your sweet potato and using the following times to cook the potato in your Instant Pot.

Small – under 2 inches: 15 minutes
Medium – 2-3 inches: 30 minutes
Large – 3-4 inches: 60 minutes.

Place the trivet into the Instant Pot insert. If placing more that one sweet potato arrange accordingly on the trivet.

Place the lid on the Instant Pot, and set the valve to ‘sealing’.

Select manual option on Instant Pot. Set to ‘high pressure’ and set timer according to the thickness of your sweet potato.

When timer beeps, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure.

Remove sweet potato to a plate and allow to cool before handling.

Cooking Bacon & Eggs

While sweet potato is cooking, fry bacon.

Place a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped bacon and cook just until crisp. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

While pressure is releasing naturally from Instant Pot, turn oven broil on to high. Next, cook eggs.

Using same skillet over medium heat, add butter melt, then crack eggs over pan and scramble. Remove from heat, set aside.

Place sweet potato onto a cast iron skillet. Slice open potato length wise and stuff potato with eggs and bacon.

Top with goat cheese and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, plate and serve topped with diced green onions.

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Iron-Skillet Roasted Sirloin With Sweet Peppers & Onions

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

This one skillet beef sirloin dish is mouthwatering, deliciously yummy and filled with flavor.

The beef sirloin is seasoned then skillet roasted to perfection with a charred outer exterior yet tender and juicy on the inside.

After the meat is cooked and cut into bite sized pieces, it is tossed with a generous amount of sweet colorful bell peppers and onions.

Iron-Skillet Roasted Sirloin With Sweet Peppers & Onions

1 1/2 lbs beef sirloin steak

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Himalayan salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, sliced

8 mini-peppers, yellow, orange, red, seeded and sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Rub steak with ground pepper and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Heat a large, cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the steak.

Cook about 7 minutes per side for medium-rare. When done remove from skillet and place on a serving platter, cover loosely with foil and keep warm.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Next add onions and sauté about 4 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.

Cook’s Notes

When sautéing the vegetables you want to char them so they become caramelized – that’s were the flavor is.

Next add sliced peppers, garlic and basil, sauté about 10 minutes, or until the peppers are soft.

Add balsamic vinegar and give it a few stirs.

Slice the steak into 1/2-inch thick, diagonal slices. Spoon the onion-pepper mixture on top of the steak slices.

Plate and serve with a salad or your favorite side dish.

Give these sirloin dishes a try.

Take Your Cake To The Upside Down

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

The pineapple upside-down cake is classic. But other juicy fruits like peaches, berries, bananas and even blood oranges are just waiting to take center stage.

The pineapple upside-down cake is a favorite American dessert since the roaring 1920’s.

It has been entrenched in our sweet pastry consciousness. So much so that an upside-down cake made with any other fruit seems like a mere afterthought.

An upside-down cake doesn’t require unblemished fruit that you’d want for a shortcake or tart.

No matter how wrinkled the fruit maybe or you may consider undesirable, once they’ve been caramelized and baked under batter, they’ll become syrupy and colorful, a glistening crown without further need of adornment.

An upside-down cake is easy to put together. The batter is whisked up in one bowl, the fruit is placed at the bottom of a baking dish and the batter is pour over it.

To bake one would be to follow in the footsteps of a long line of pastry chefs and cooks, who have inverted fruity desserts for thousands of years before rings of pineapple were stacked in cans.

One example is the French tradition of apple tartes renversées, created in the 19th century from apples caramelized in sugar, then baked beneath a pastry.

In the United States during the 18th and 19th century with limited access to an oven, cakes were cooked in skillets over hot coals.

A skillet of fruit would be simmered in a syrup or butter before adding the batter.

If the the cake was flipped for serving or offered directly from the skillet after being baked isn’t known, but the concept of caramelized fruit and cake was the same then as it is now.

One of the earliest upside-down cake recipes was published in 1923 in the Syracuse Herald (no longer in print).

Dole popularized pineapple as the go to fruit for a sponsored recipe contest in 1926. There were 60,000 entries of which 2,500 of them were for the pineapple upside-down cake.

The recipe for an upside-down cake is simple, there are some best practices for the most tender crumb and a fruit topping that’s sweet and deliciously yummy.

The first step is to caramelize the sugar before adding the fruit. Deeply caramelizing the sugar before adding the fruit tempers it, bringing out a mild bitterness and adding layers of nutty complexity, and it takes only a few minutes. No worries if the sugar clumps and seizes, it will melt again when the cake is being baked.

These type of cakes take longer to bake because of the moisture in the fruit, particularly stone fruit and berries, which have high water content that can make the cake soggy.

The cake surface should be well browned all over, with dark edges that yield a slight crunch. When a toothpick is inserted in the middle of the cake it should emerge without any unbaked batter.

Always let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes allowing the fruit and caramel to firm up a bit before inverting it onto a serving platter.

Warning though, do not let it go longer than that, or the caramel may cool and glue the fruit to the skillet or baking dish.

Just follow the recipes instructions and you will have a perfectly deliciously yummy upside-down cake to slice, serve and fall head over heals for.

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Asian Style Sticky Chicken

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

This Sticky Chicken recipe is based on Chinese stir-frying traditions, it’s such a flavorful dish that comes together quickly thanks to a few pantry ingredients.

An Asian dish that is a deliciously yummy homemade alternative to your local Asian restaurant take out.

Give this Asian Style Sticky Chicken a try and you’ll find a new meal to add to your list of favorites.

Asian Style Sticky Chicken

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

¼ cup ketchup

3 tablespoons raw honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce or your favorite hot sauce (optional)

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons avocado oil (or other neutral oil, for high heat cooking), plus more as needed

1½ lb. chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces

Need help deboning your chicken thighs? Check this out – How To Successfully De-Bone Chicken Thighs

Himalayan salt, black pepper to taste

Place the water and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Stir in the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce (if using), and garlic. Reserve the sauce.

Place the avocado oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add half of the chicken to the pan and season generously with salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon of each) and cook, stirring occasionally until browned all over, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and repeat the process, adding another tablespoon or so of oil to the pan if necessary, with the rest of the chicken.

Return the first batch of chicken to the skillet along with the reserved sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and coats the chicken, about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken over brown ginger rice and a side of steamed broccoli. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and enjoy.

Give this Asian Style Broccoli & Pork Fried Rice a try. Another great dish to add to your list of favorites.

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Molcajete Salsa

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

A traditional Mexican salsa is made with roasted tomatoes, chilies, garlic and onions.

Rather than using a blender, the roasted ingredients are smashed together in a molcajete or mortar and pestle.

The earthy texture created by the Molcajete is quite distinctive, and due to the seasoning of the Molcajete, it will carry a subtle difference in taste which can’t be duplicated in a blender.

Both Are Authentic Roasted Mexican Salsas – The left side is prepared in a Mortar & the right side prepared in a blender – Which one has better flavor – If you answered the left one, you are right

Molcajete salsa has a more smoky flavor and is deliciously yummy to serve with many favorite Mexican dishes.

It’s particularly amazing with grilled meats such as carne asada or this Beef Steak Fajitas.

Read More About Mexican Cuisine – Turning Hard Corn Kernels Into Something Eatable

What is a Molcajete?

A Molcajete is a Mexican mortar hand carved from a single block of basalt volcanic rock by artisans who for generations have kept this Mexican tradition.

The use of the Molcajete dates back several thousand years, and was used by the Aztecs and Mayans.

Making it one of the world’s oldest kitchen tools.

**Mexican Woman Using A Molcajete or Mortar & Pestle**

Today the Molcajete can be found in the kitchen of just about ever home throughout Mexico.

Seasoning Your Molcajete For First Time Use

Before using the first time, a Molcajete should be “broken into” to make sure that there are no small grains of rock that can become loose when used for the first time.

You do this by grinding a handful of raw rice several times in the bowl of the Molcajete with the tejolete using the rice as an abrasive agent to grind the surface of the bowl smooth. Keep grinding the rice until it becomes grey from the rock “dust”.

Empty the bowl, and keep repeating the process with new rice until the rice no longer turns grey.

Although a laborious process, once done, you will never have to do it again.

Some rice flour will remain ground into the surface of the rock, but this does not create any problems.

As with cast iron skillets, Molcajetes with use become “seasoned”, carrying flavors from one preparation to another.

The more you use your Molcajete, the more seasoned it will become.

You can jump start the process by seasoning the bowl prior to actually preparing your first recipe.

You can do this by grinding several cloves of garlic along with some kosher salt, cumin seeds, and some cilantro sprigs.

Let this paste sit overnight so the Molcajete can absorb the flavors. Wash as above, and you are ready for you first recipe (Source: Ancient Cookware).

Molcajete Salsa

6 small tomatoes (about 1½ lb.), cored, halved

½ small onion, peeled, quartered

3 garlic cloves, peeled

3 small jalapeños, stems removed

Kosher salt

Cook’s Notes

You can either roast the ingredients on a bbq, using a skillet (In Mexico it is called a Comal), on the stovetop, or under the broiler.

Roasting Vegetables On. BBQ For Molcajete Salsa

Heat broiler. Place tomatoes, onion, garlic, and jalapeños in a roasting pan or on a large rimmed baking sheet and broil until charred on top, about 4 minutes.

Remove from broiler and turn vegetables over. Broil until other sides are charred, about 5 minutes. (Watch the garlic carefully and remove earlier if needed.)

Transfer vegetables to a molcajete and mash into a coarse purée. Season salsa with salt.

Enjoy your irresistible Molcajete Salsa that is an iconic part of Oaxacan, Mexican cooking.

Search for more Mexican recipes in the search box below. Type “Mexican” – click search and find your recipe.

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Hasselback Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

Any time you want an impressive brunch dish, side dish, or even dessert, Hasselback Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes is the dish you want.

This dish is a great alternative to a sweet potato casserole, sweet potato pie or even roasted sweet potatoes.

This dish is deliciously yummy and are flavored with a few favorite ingredients we all love, maple syrup, and pecans. Did we say awesomely yummy.

Learn more about – Maple Syrup – The Same As Cane Sugar – Recipes Included

What Are Hassleback Potatoes

They are not a particular variety of potato, but rather the dish that employs the potato.

The name Hassleback comes from the restaurant Hasselbacken, where the potato dish was first introduced in 1940 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hasselback potatoes are a simple dish, and in their simplest form, are nothing more than whole potatoes (even sweet potatoes) cut in such a way as to resemble a fan or accordion when roasted.

The outside of the potato becomes crisp on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.

Preparing the sweet potatoes this way not only makes them look fancy, but it makes it easy to flavor them with different ingredients.

You can stuff between the slices with cheese, herbs, or butter either before or after they are baked.

Hasselback Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes

6 sweet potatoes – choose ones of approximately the same length and ones that are long and straight

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.

Wash and dry sweet potatoes. Using a sharp knife and starting from one end of the sweet potato, make slices about 1/8 inch wide, but make sure not to cut all the way through. Cut about 3/4 of the way down for each slice. Repeat with all sweet potatoes.

Place sweet potatoes onto baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

While Sweet Potatoes Are Cooking

Add maple syrup and butter to a small saucepan. Bring to low simmer and stir until butter is fully dissolved. Add in chopped pecans and stir to coat. Remove from heat.

Lower oven to 350°F.

Spoon sauce and pecans over cooked sweet potatoes. Place potatoes back into the oven to cook for approximately 10 minutes.

If desired, drizzle tops of sweet potatoes with additional maple syrup before serving. Plate and serve warm.

More sweet potato recipes.

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Asian Style Broccoli & Pork Fried Rice

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

Broccoli and pork fried rice is a quick and easy meal for lunch or dinner.

This recipe is like classic take out style Chinese fried rice. Made with pork, sweet peppers, garlic, green onions and of course broccoli.

Basmati brown rice has a very distinct smell that many be describe as being similar to popcorn when it’s cooked.

The word “basmati” in Hindi means “full of aroma” or “fragrant.” In some places, it’s called the “queen of perfumed rice.”

Brown basmati rice is flavorful and aromatic and frying it makes the dish stand apart, like with any Asian rice dish.

Broccoli Pork & Sweet Pepper Fried Rice

2 eggs, scrambled

1/2 pound pork loin, chopped into small pieces

½ cup brown basmati rice, cooked

½ lb broccoli

2 green onions, diced, separate green parts from white

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup sweet pepper, sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes

Cook The Rice

In a small pot, combine the rice, a big pinch of salt, and 1 cup of water. Heat to boiling on high. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low.

Cover pot and cook, 12 to 14 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat, fluff with a fork and set aside.

Preparing Ingredients

While the rice cooks, wash and dry the fresh produce.

Cut off the bottom 1/2 inch of the broccoli stem; cut the broccoli into small florets.

Cut off stems of the peppers, next remove the cores, then thinly slice lengthwise.

Peel and roughly chop 2 cloves of garlic.

Thinly slice the scallions, separating the white bottoms and hollow green tops.

Cooking The Meat & Vegetables

While the rice continues to cook, in a medium skillet, heat half the sesame oil on medium-high until hot.

Add the chopped pork in an even layer, cook stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl.

Next add the other half of oil to pan and heat. Add broccoli florets to skillet in an even layer. Cook, without stirring, 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Carefully add (as the liquid may splatter) 2 tablespoons of water and cook stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes, or until the broccoli is slightly softened and the water has cooked off.

Next add the sliced peppers, chopped garlic, sliced white bottoms of the scallions, pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes, or until softened. Transfer to large bowl with cooked pork. Cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe out the pan.

Make The Fried Rice

In the same pan, heat the remaining sesame oil on medium-high until hot.

Next add cooked rice in an even layer. Cook, without stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly crispy.

Add the soy sauce and vinegar. Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until combined. Transfer to the bowl of cooked meat and vegetables; stir to combine.

Taste, then season with salt and pepper if desired. Cover with foil to keep warm. Rinse and wipe out the pan.

Cooking The Eggs

In the same pan, heat 1 teaspoon of butter on medium-high until melted. Add cracked eggs and scramble until cooked.

Turn off the heat. Add scrambled eggs to fried rice mixture and stir in until combined.

Plate and garnish with the sliced green tops of the scallions.

Try these other fried rice dishes.

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Big Green Fried Rice With Pork

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

A one skillet meal packed with flecks of kale and punctuated with fresh asparagus, green onions and aromatics like garlic and ginger.

Every element of this fried rice delivers deliciousness.

Add pork and you have a very deliciously hunger satisfying meal.

This dish serves 2-3 plates. Prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time, and if you’re doubling the recipe to serve more people, cook it in two batches so you aren’t crowding the skillet.

Big Green Fried Rice With Pork

6 strips thick cut bacon, chopped, cooked

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

4 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

1 cup asparagus, sliced 1/4 inch segments

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cold cooked brown rice

2 cups kale, trimmed and ribs removed, chopped well

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

Sesame–chilli oil and zest of 1 lemon, to serve (optional)

Heat 1 tbsp of the sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over a high heat. Add the green onion and asparagus and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the onion softens.

Stir in the garlic and ginger. Wait 30 seconds, then add the rice and stir to separate the grains. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the rice is hot, then stir in the kale.

Shift the rice and vegetables to the sides of the skillet and add 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil to pan. Add the eggs and push it around until just set. Break up eggs with a spatula.

Drizzle in the soy sauce and stir-fry everything together until well combined, for about 30 seconds.

Optional to serve drizzled with sesame–chilli oil and lemon zest.

More flavorful rice dishes to try.

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Sweet Chicken Sausage Kale & Spaghetti Squash

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

If you haven’t tried making spaghetti squash before now, here’s a good place to start.

This is a versatile recipe as any sweet chicken sausage will do.

What is sweet chicken sausage?

It is ground chicken mix with different flavors of fruit and sometimes chilies could be added.

Fruits can include, apple, mango, peach, and cherry among others.

You can find in season fruits stuffed with chicken sausage at your local meat market.

This recipe used a Mango-Orange Chicken Sausage.

Why is the squash in this recipe called spaghetti squash?

Silver fork scrapping spaghetti squash from shell

It has this name because the meat of the squash looks just like spaghetti after it is roasted.

And the best part this Sweet Chicken Sausage Kale & Spaghetti Squash – it’s SO filling. No need to make anything on the side. Well, maybe this Toasted Sourdough Garlic Cheese Bread.

Sweet Chicken Sausage Kale & Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash or 2 small spaghetti squash

1 1/2 lbs. Italian chicken sausage, casings removed

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch kale

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes

1/2-3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp pecans chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place squash in the microwave for 3-4 minutes to soften. Using a sharp knife cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard.

Place the halves, with the cut side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper flakes (the flakes are optional).

Roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until you can poke the squash easily with a fork. Let cool until you can handle it safely.

Meanwhile, prepare the kale by removing the center stems and either tearing or cutting up the leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 4-5 minutes.

Sautéing onions & garlic in large skillet

Next add the chicken sausage and break apart with a spatula to crumble. Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sausage is browned and cooked through.

Next add the kale and stir. Cook until kale has wilted. Remove from heat and stir pepper strips. Set aside.

Once cooled, scrape the insides of the spaghetti squash with a fork to shred the squash into strands.

Transfer the strands into the skillet with the sausage and toss to combine.

Top with shredded Parmesan cheese and place under broiler on high. Leave until cheese has melted and it a little toasted.

Remove from under broiler and top chicken squash mixture with chopped pecans and parsley.

Green plate with Sweet Chicken Sausage Kale & Spaghetti Squash and a silver fork

Plate and serve.

You know you like spaghetti squash – so you’ll love making this Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Spaghetti Squash Bake.

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Mexican Cuisine – Turning Hard Corn Kernels Into Something Eatable

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Cook Plate Fork

In every part of the world and from every culture there is a story to be told not just about the people and their culture, but their cuisine as well.

There’s history behind every recipe and particular custom that goes into making a dish.

Historic Mexican Cuisine

Mexican cuisine is one of the most historic the world has to offer, and the history is evident in every Mexican dish that is put together.

Mexican cuisine can be traced back to 7000 B.C.E. The indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America were able to eat wild chile peppers, beans and corn.

Corn became a part of their diet in 1200 B.C.E. They had learned to farm corn and through a system called Nixtamalization, they were able to soften the hard corn kernels for grinding.

With the ground corn they made tortillas and other corn based recipes.

What Is Nixtamalization

Nixtamalization is a traditional maize preparation process in which dried corn kernels are cooked and steeped in an alkaline solution, which is typically water and calcium hydroxide a food grade lime.

Graphic Image Credit: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

After steeping in the alkaline solution the maize is drained, rinsed and the outer kernel cover called the pericarp is removed.

Next the kernels are milled to produce a dough that is the base of over 300 Mexican food products, which includes tortillas and tamales.

As mentioned earlier, Nixtamalization is native to Mexico, though the time in history they learned the process is not know.

Turning Hard Corn Kernels Into Something Eatable

Here are some traditional Mexican plates that have been part of Mexican cuisine for 2000 years or longer.

The Ancient Tostada

Tostadas date back about 2,000 years ago and is said to be invented in Oaxaca, Mexico around the Monte Alban ruins.

Tostadas became a delicious and hearty way to extend and make use of leftover tortillas that were no longer fresh enough to fold for tacos but still fresh enough to be eaten.

Tostada quite literally means “toasted” and typically refers to dishes made over crispy flat tortillas that are either oven toasted or fried.

Find recipe here: BBQ Chicken & Roasted Garlic Black Bean Tostadas.

The Ancient Quesadilla

Quesadillas were developed after Spanish settlers arrived to Mexico in the 16th century.

Turnovers (filled pastries) were very popular in Medieval Spain.

Old world ingredients, such as cheese, chicken or turkey were combined with New World foods such as tortilla (tlaxcalli in Nahuatl) to create what is now known as the quesadilla.

Find recipe here: Chicken Quesadillas.

The Ancient Taco

The taco as we know it today is a blend of ancient Mexican recipes and International influences.

However, before it was known in America, natives in Mexico were eating a version that looked quite different.

Some believe the taco was invented between 1000 and 500 B.C.E.

An article published by the Smithsonian, states the origin of a taco is not exactly known.

Professor Jeffrey M. Pilcher at the University of Minnesota suspects that the taco comes from Mexican silver miners, who likely were the first to invent such a convenient entrée.

Such a theory dates the taco all the way back to the 18th century, making it more than 300 years old.

The original tacos did not contain the cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and tomato that we associate with the meal today.

In fact, the taco as we know it is less than 100 years old.

Find recipes here:

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