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DIY Taco Cups are easy & fun spin on traditional tacos with endless options for everyone including vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free individuals!

While it is time to gear up for football (for a lot of people), for me it’s about the food and festivities that comes with it. I am partnering with Pace® to show how to host a perfect game day party with DIY Taco Cups. I was able to quickly shop for everything at my neighborhood Walmart and have the DIY Taco Cups station ready in 30 minutes or so which is always a bonus when you are hosting and still have 10 millions things to do before guests arrive. I am a huge fan of DIY food stations because it allows me to pick & choose what I want (and don’t want) instead of settling with what’s on the table. I figured with a rise in different dietary lifestyles, intolerance, and allergies why not create a large spread of taco festivities and let guests build their own taco cups.

DIY Taco Cups have 3 main components : the base, filling, and toppings. I am going to share few options for each of these components, including the versatility of 24 oz. Pace® Salsa Verde and 24 oz. Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium. They both pack a ton of flavor & little kick from jalapenos that never disappoints when making it part of  snacking and even meals.

“Ready to shop for delicious Pace® products? Hover over the photo to click through to Walmart.com and purchase them!

For the base, I am using all purpose flour (13″) tortillas but you can definitely add a gluten-free version to your spread to accommodate gluten-sensitive folks.

If tortilla is not your jam, you can use bread cups like I have used for Grilled Corn, Tomatoes, and Avocado Cups. When it comes to fillings, it’s really flexible as you can do cups that are totally meaty, meatless, or do a combination of meat + veggies. I am sharing both meaty and meatless version because it’s always nice to have a variety and we can all do better with our veggies, right? Am I right?

Can we talk about the fun part already? TOPPINGS! Yes, more the merrier. Pace® Salsa Verde and Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium are the highlight of the spread’ they help “ban the bland” with their bold Southwestern flavors and love that chunky texture. I bulked up the Pace® Salsa with black beans and corn to tie in with Southwestern flair (and hello more fiber!). Since taco bar isn’t really complete without the classics like onions, cilantro, shredded cheese, & sour cream! Both Pace® Salsa Verde and Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium adds a little kick but you can always provide chopped jalapenos on the side for anyone who is looking for more heat.

DIY Taco Cups may look like a lot of ingredients and work but honestly, most everything is chopping and mixing together which can be done ahead of time. The meat can also be cooked prior and reheated right before serving or kept at low temperature on a crockpot or something similar. The beauty of this DIY Taco Cups is once you have everything set up, you really don’t have to worry about anything. Simply enjoy the game or act like you are enjoying the game & devour DIY Taco Cups!

Use the recipe as a rough guideline and feel free to adjust the quantity depending on how many people you are serving.

DIY Taco Cups

Author: Dixya @Food, Pleasure, and Health
Serves: 30 cups

Ingredients

Base:

• 4 – 13″ flour tortilla (each tortilla makes about 7-8 cups)
• cooking spray
• Filling:
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 3 tablespoon low sodium taco seasoning, divided
• salt, to taste
• 0.5 lb ground chicken
• 1 small onion, chopped, divided
• 1 squash, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

Toppings:

• Pace® Salsa Verde Medium
• Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium
• corn
• black beans
• shredded cheese
• shredded lettuce
• chopped onion
• chopped cilantro
• sour cream or plain yogurt
• jalapeno

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Lightly grease muffin tin with cooking spray.
3. Use a glass to cut tortilla into circular disc (about 4″ diameter).
4. Tuck them in a muffin tin and lightly use cooking spray.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until slightly brown.
6. Meanwhile, heat skillet with 1 teaspoon oil and saute 1/2 chopped onion for 2 minutes.
7. Add ground chicken to the pan and let it cook. Add 2 tablespoon taco seasoning and salt.
8. Cook for 8-10 minutes until meat is done. Remove from heat and set aside.
9. Alongside, heat another pan with remaining oil.
10. Saute remaining chopped onion, bell pepper, and squash. Add 1 tablespoon taco seasoning and salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are just done.
11. Remove from heat and set aside.
12. Chop and assemble toppings when needed.
13. Mix about 2 cups of Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium with 1/4 cup black beans and 1/4 cup corn.
14. To serve:
15. Add about 1 tablespoon meat or vegetable filling into the cup. Pick and choose your toppings and enjoy with Pace® Salsa Verde and Pace® Salsa!

Like I mentioned earlier, I was able to find both 24 oz. Pace® Salsa Verde and Pace® Chunky Salsa Medium at my neighborhood Walmart. Go to the Hispanics Food section and look for Pace® Salsa located in the middle or bottom shelf.

Few key things to note on Pace® if you are not familiar with it:

• their salsas have variety of textures from normal to chunky & heat level ranges from mild – hot!
• you can use salsa not only for snacking but also make it part of your meals by incorporating them in recipes like salsa chicken, enchilada, or even as a dressing for your salad.

Now you tell me, are you into sports or just for food & festivities? Or, both? How are you going to ban the bland with Pace®? Get recipe inspiration here.

Make sure to check out an awesome Ibotta® deal on Pace® products at Walmart! Earn $0.50 cash back with Ibotta® when you purchase a jar of 24 oz. Pace®! (Offer is valid on any ONE (1) 15 oz. or larger Pace® Salsa or Pace® Picante Sauce.)