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BLT Tacos

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BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes.

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

Summer, for me, is synonymous with BLT sandwiches. They have sweet, sun ripened tomatoes, crispy lettuce, salty bacon, and creamy mayo. For me, it’s the perfect summer lunch. Instead of sharing a typical BLT sandwich, I thought I’d turn them into a fun and kid friendly taco. Because it is my ultimate goal to put everything on a tortilla.

 

Where does bacon come from?

 

Do you know where bacon comes from? I did not and thought I really should find out. I mean, as much as we eat, I should know how it got to be on my tacos in the first place. Don’t you agree?

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

Salt cured pork belly appeared in Asia centuries ago. But it was the Romans that took that dish they had on travel in Asia and switch it up a bit. Instead of curing the pork, they would boil it, then brown it, and finally season it. They even used the pork fat to cook with. How novel!

 

Since pigs domesticate easily which added to the popularity of bacon throughout Europe. This combined with it’s delicious flavor made bacon a staple in many houses. But not everyone could rear pigs. Nor could they butcher them and preserve the bacon to eat later. Enter John Harris. In the late 1700’s he created the first large scale bacon processing plant in Wiltshire, England. Wiltshire is still known as the bacon capital of the world.

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

Even though Christopher Columbus seems to be credited with bringing pretty much every non-America related it was Hernando de Soto who really solidified the pork industry in the New World. He brought 13 pigs with him in the late 1500’s. Within three years, he had a whopping 700 pigs on his farm and had hooked the indigenous peoples on the delicious flavor of pork. So much so that he used pork and bacon as form of currency to trade with them.

 

The next greatest bacon-vention is similar to the epiphany with bread. Serve it packaged and pre-sliced! Oscar Meyer introduced packaged pre-sliced bacon on the mass market. This revived the eggs and bacon breakfasts that were losing to the new cereal craze. But that wouldn’t last forever.

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

What is Canadian bacon versus American bacon?

 

Actually, if you ordered bacon way back in the day, it would be more like Canadian bacon. In fact, the word itself derives from the word “back” in several different languages. Old French called it bacun. Old Dutch called it baken. However, they also called any kind of salted pork bacon. Not just the pork belly bacon that we have today.

 

Canadian bacon is more from a pork loin. It tastes more like ham even though ham is another part of the pig. It’s not typically cured except maybe in a brine before cooking. And it’s usually not smoked like American bacon. However, it does maintain it’s moisture even when fried.

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

American bacon comes from the belly of the pig. Yes. While Canadian bacon is delicious, it doesn’t have as much flavor, in my opinion, then the belly bacon. And there’s all those streaks of fat that render as you fry the bacon up. It’s a delicious fat to save and use to cook up some potatoes, fry up corn, or put in cornbread.

 

Another main difference is Canadian bacon typically comes cooked already. American bacon is packaged raw. Canadian bacon is heat and eat and American bacon requires cooking. But it’s so worth cooking!

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

How do you cook super crispy bacon?

 

I don’t know about you, but this happens to me all the time. You put the bacon in the pan and the edges start to curl. Sometimes the ends even roll up. Sometimes I want to get my sandwich press out just to make sure the bacon stays flat in in contact with the pan.

 

Well, end the curly bacon dilemma. Just learn how to bake bacon! I do this all the time. It’s a great way to really control the crunch of your bacon. And it’s the best way to cook a lot of bacon for a crowd easily. 

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

No, I did not invent this method. I saw it on TV once. It’s my go to way to cook up bacon for this BLT Taco recipe and every other BLT sandwich I have on the blog. Including the BLT egg salad sandwich and BLFGT sandwich. Both are so delicious!

 

Cooking your bacon in the oven makes it super crispy with very little effort. I put the bacon on a baking rack. If yours isn’t a grid, then make sure to put the slices perpendicular to the slats of your baking rack. You don’t want them to fall through the slats when it shrinks.

 

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich.  This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco

 

Put the bacon in a cold oven. This is counter intuitive but starting the bacon in the cold oven allows temperature of the bacon to rise slowly. This ensures the crispiest bacon. You don’t start your bacon in a hot skillet, do you? The concept is the same. Starting with a cold pan or oven allows the fat to render. There’s nothing more unappealing than biting into a strip of bacon and have streaks of white fat that’s not been rendered.

 

What do BLT Tacos taste like?

 

A BLT sandwich on a taco combined with creamy guacamole and salty queso fresco. The tomatoes are juicy and sweet. The bacon is crisp, salty, and smoky. The guacamole is creamy with that hint of lime in there. Then the queso fresco on top is also salty and delicious.

 

I devoured all three of these for an early lunch. They’re great for a summer dinner. The bacon cooks quickly in the oven so the whole house doesn’t heat up. And the crisp, cool ingredients under the bacon are easy to prepare. This dish is on the table in under 30 minutes. And you can serve the (Southern Fried) Mexican Corn Salad with it for more Mexican flavors.

AKHA Signature

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich. This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes. #OurFamilyTable #baconrecipe #bltrecipe #bacon #taco
Yield: 4

BLT Tacos

Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

BLT Tacos are a fun twist on the classic sandwich. This recipe replaces mayonnaise with fresh guacamole and highlights in season tomatoes.

Ingredients

  • 8 bacon slices
  • 2 tomatoes, divided
  • 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno pepper
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
  • Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
  • 8 flour tortillas

Instructions

    1. Place the bacon on a baking rack lined sheet pan.
    2. Place in the oven and set the temperature to 400.
    3. Cook the bacon 15 to 20 minutes or until your desired crispness level. I like mine crispier than the hubs, so I wind up taking his out sooner than mine.
    4. While the bacon is cooking, slice the tomatoes in half and remove the core.
    5. Dice one tomato half and set aside to use in the guacamole.
    6. Thinly slice the remaining tomato halves.
    7. Slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, and use a spoon and scoop the flesh out.
    8. Dice the avocado, place in a mixing bowl, and mash with a fork until chunky.
    9. Stir in the diced tomatoes, red onion, minced jalapeno, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
    10. Add one tablespoon of lime juice and then taste. If it’s not quite to your liking add additional lime juice to taste.
    11. Heat the tacos in the oven or over your gas burner. I like the latter because it adds a nice crispy texture and smoky flavor.
    12. Spread the guacamole onto the tortillas. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese.
    13. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 650Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 51mgSodium 1335mgCarbohydrates 67gFiber 8gSugar 4gProtein 25g

Wow. Eat at your own risk.

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