Mexican Pizza: Taco Bell, Ken Rollins, etc

[jjdbike]

Hello folks,

I love Mexican food, especially authentic. Unfortunately much of my family prefer gringo Mexican (Taco Bell style). I recently saw some videos on making Mexican Pizza imitating and improving the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza. Being a fan of Ken Rollins I'm going to make his version for dinner tonight.

Anyone here make these or something similar? What were your results? Does anyone make any modifications that improves the outcome?

I'd love to hear from you!
JD

[captainlee]

Been interested in doing this but haven't yet. I'll follow this one for some advise.

[Mosca]

Calling Troutman for real Mexican!

I think of “gringo Mexican” as separate from Mexican, but still worthwhile. In general it’s easier to find ingredients, and it goes together much more quickly. Both have their place.

[jjdbike]

Calling Troutman for real Mexican!

I think of “gringo Mexican” as separate from Mexican, but still worthwhile. In general it’s easier to find ingredients, and it goes together much more quickly. Both have their place.

Interesting,
Can you please elaborate?
Thanks in advance!
JD

[Mosca]

If I were planning on making even a simple Mexican dish tonight, like carne asada, I’d have to go to the store for orange juice, lime juice, maybe cilantro (depending, I can take it or leave it), and skirt steak. But if I wanted gringo tacos, I have everything in house right now. Ground beef, tomatoes, onion, cheese, cumin, ancho, garlic, sour cream, both corn and wheat tortillas, beans (both canned and dried), lettuce, olives, corn, rice… putting that together would be chop/chop/chop fry done.

[jjdbike]

Got it.
Thanks!

[bbqLuv]

TacoSmell, or TacoHell, was just fine due to the dollar menu.

[jjdbike]

Been interested in doing this but haven't yet. I'll follow this one for some advise.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I am very also interested in what Mosca was talking about.

JD

[Mosca]

It’s just how I think of it. There’s a spectrum, on one far side you have the real cuisine with all the moles and salsas and tingas etc, and all the way on the other you have Jack-in-the-Box, with shredded American cheese. In between you have simplified authentic Mexican, you have Tex-Mex, you have gringo Mex (here the food trucks call them tacos Americanos), and you have Taco Bell. There’s nothing stopping you from enjoying Old El Paso hard shell tacos at home, if they taste good they are good!

[Oak Smoke]

Somewhere in Texas right now a hot debate is raging over whether beans are ok to put on it! I make a very gringo taco pizza that we like but it is in no way authentic Mexican food. My pizza is to Mexican what Chef Boyardee is to Italian.

[jjdbike]

TacoSmell, or TacoHell, was just fine due to the dollar menu.

I don't enjoy Taco Bell nor do I understand the popularity of Taco Bell.

I live in Northern San Diego County & we have a ton of really good Mexican restaurants. There's a Toco Bell right next to a really good and inexpensive authentic Mexican Taqueria. How does Taco Bell survive? The only good answer I've ever gotten is when it's 1:00 am, you're drunk and only have a couple bucks in your pocket.

JD

[Bkhuna]

I use to rent an apartment near the back gate of Camp Pendleton. We had an Alberto's (think it was like Alberto's number 10,005 or such). The carne asada burrito is something you just can't get anywhere else except SoCal.

My wife is Chicana so we have all the stuff for making Mexican. I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

[Mosca]

Same reason Olive Garden thrives in Times Square.

[bmillin]

DING DING DING We have a winner. Kinda like jack in the box tacos.

[hoovarmin]

Taco Bell has its place. Sometimes you're just in the mood to have diarrhea for a couple of days.

[captainlee]

Correct, I have to watch my spell check like a hawk, it changes perfectly correct words on me. And if I enter the word again it will change it to even a different word. Not an excuse, this Kindle is horrible. It doesn't even recognize correct perfectly spelled words at times and underlines them.

[Bkhuna]

Why spend a hundred bucks for a colon cleanse as some frou-frou quackatorium when there's a taco bell nearby.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for starting my day with a belly laugh. I love when I read something here and a laugh just bursts out of me.

K.

[Michael_in_TX]

And to really get into Mexican cooking, there is Rick Bayless: https://www.youtube.com/@rickbayless/videos

His Mexico: One Plate at a Time series is just pure fun.

[fzxdoc]

Agreed. I heart Rick Bayliss's cooking and recipes. So thoughtful and so delicious.

[realdocBBQ]

I've always been a fan of the Taco Bell/Taco Hell Messicin pizza. I don't know, I actually put a bunch of their fire sauce on it and I like the crunch, but it's a different crunch than say corn tortillas like on tacos (and Taco Bell's crunchy tacos ALWAYS fall apart because they're SOGGY! EFF THAT! Because their meat is too wet. I love the fried flour tortilla. And I was sad when they took it off the menu - I think it looks in that video like Kent Rollins (and it's KenT, just as a small note, not Ken) got it at the drive through when he posted that video - which was 11 months ago. So... I'm trying to think the last time I've been to Taco Bell... I think... I think... hell, I dunno. I'm thinking a year and a half? Has it really been that long? I remember going after a theater show... performance, not audience. We did Gunsmoke, I think in Oct of 2022... that might have been it. Hell, I dunno. Anyways, irrelevant 730AM rambling...

I came here to post up Sam the Cooking Guy's version of this Mexican pizza. I liked Kent Rollins' take on it, too, but Sam's works better for me. I think I'd take some hints from both. I like Kent's plan for some masa flour on the tortillas before frying (yeah, like I've got THAT shite laying around my house), I like the sautéed peppers and onions and garlic Sam threw on there, I like Sam's tortillas better, and I think doing the tortilla last is a good idea - I honestly LIKE the excessive crunchiness, though it can't be too thin or it gets soggy with that amount of ingredients on it... I don't know. Anyways, I like to take ideas from lots of places and stack them together. Kind of like ingredients on this 'pizza'.

I'm gonna have to make this shite now. Jeez, I'm craving one, and it's 7AM.

Hey, what about a BREAKFAST Mexican pizza? ON THE BLACKSTONE??? Yeah... I think I see a recipe in my future...

Anyways, Sam's video... and I'm gonna take my 'squirrel!' ADD self off to find some coffee and head out to the shop for another day of cutting, grinding and welding.

Happy Sunday, time to go get DIRTY!

[fzxdoc]

Haven't been to Taco Bell since the last time I drove my kid home from college. Even then, I wouldn't eat anything, just get a bean burrito and a handful of hot sauce packets for her from the drive-thru.

I didn't even know what a Mexican Pizza was until I saw the StCG video that realdocBBQ posted. I like the way StCG adds chorizo though.

I don't really get it--a mess to eat and the same ingredients as a taco. Why not use better ingredients and have a better and easier-to-eat taco? Not much messier than eating nachos, though. I like the sharing vibe. Maybe I've changed my mind.

Kathryn

[jjdbike]

Yup!
Me too.
JD

[jjdbike]

And to really get into Mexican cooking, there is Rick Bayless: https://www.youtube.com/@rickbayless/videos

His Mexico: One Plate at a Time series is just pure fun.

Thanks I’ll have to check it out.
JD

[jjdbike]

I've always been a fan of the Taco Bell/Taco Hell Messicin pizza. I don't know, I actually put a bunch of their fire sauce on it and I like the crunch, but it's a different crunch than say corn tortillas like on tacos (and Taco Bell's crunchy tacos ALWAYS fall apart because they're SOGGY! EFF THAT! Because their meat is too wet. I love the fried flour tortilla. And I was sad when they took it off the menu - I think it looks in that video like Kent Rollins (and it's KenT, just as a small note, not Ken) got it at the drive through when he posted that video - which was 11 months ago. So... I'm trying to think the last time I've been to Taco Bell... I think... I think... hell, I dunno. I'm thinking a year and a half? Has it really been that long? I remember going after a theater show... performance, not audience. We did Gunsmoke, I think in Oct of 2022... that might have been it. Hell, I dunno. Anyways, irrelevant 730AM rambling...

I came here to post up Sam the Cooking Guy's version of this Mexican pizza. I liked Kent Rollins' take on it, too, but Sam's works better for me. I think I'd take some hints from both. I like Kent's plan for some masa flour on the tortillas before frying (yeah, like I've got THAT shite laying around my house), I like the sautéed peppers and onions and garlic Sam threw on there, I like Sam's tortillas better, and I think doing the tortilla last is a good idea - I honestly LIKE the excessive crunchiness, though it can't be too thin or it gets soggy with that amount of ingredients on it... I don't know. Anyways, I like to take ideas from lots of places and stack them together. Kind of like ingredients on this 'pizza'.

I'm gonna have to make this shite now. Jeez, I'm craving one, and it's 7AM.

Hey, what about a BREAKFAST Mexican pizza? ON THE BLACKSTONE??? Yeah... I think I see a recipe in my future...

Anyways, Sam's video... and I'm gonna take my 'squirrel!' ADD self off to find some coffee and head out to the shop for another day of cutting, grinding and welding.

Happy Sunday, time to go get DIRTY!

Thanks man!
I like the addition of the sautéed onion, jalapeno & garlic.
I made KenTs last night. It was very good. I added two diced fresh Romas to the sauce. I didn’t blend it. I simmered for a good amount of time to breakdown, reduce & meld flavors.
I’ll add the sautéed veggies next time.
Cheers!
JD