Tacos in a Bag
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camping, recipes
For dinner on our camping trip, the girls picked Tacos in a Bag. It was a big hit, and it’s perfect for a young troop because there’s really not much cooking other than the ground beef. You could even cook the meat ahead of time and just warm it up over either a fire or a propane stove.
Obviously, you’ll modify the recipe(link) based on the number of girls.
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
- 4 (2.5 ounce) packages corn chips
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 1 chopped fresh tomato
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Place ground beef in a large skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until browned. Drain excess oil. Mix in the taco seasoning and prepare according to the directions on the package.
With the bags unopened, gently crush the corn chips. Snip the corners off the bags using scissors and slit open the bags along the side edge.
We set out the lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, and cheese and let the girls put in what they wanted.
Clean up is very easy. If there’s a con, it’s that there’s a lot of trash.
Taco in a bag has been my go-to meal for cookouts for years. We have a LOT more toppings than that, though. Here’s why:
— cutting, tearing, shredding all of the ingredients gives all the girls jobs.
— retried beans means your vegetarians can still have protein, and lots of us like beans and beef.
— everyone gets to eat what they want and avoid what they don’t. Half my girls say “ew” to sour cream, but then I’ve got two who share the spoon and clean out the rest of the container when everyone is done with it. Olives are another thing where you’ve got your lovers and haters and nobody in between. I can always find somebody to help me finish off the avocado.
— we use nacho cheese Doritos mostly, although I get some Fritos for a couple who prefer them.
— I get enough of the lunch-size bags for everyone to have one, and then one or two big bags. Then I tell everybody to reuse their bags for seconds and thirds. Girls can adjust how many chips they get that way, too.
Giving everyone choices means that some girls will try something different (especially if they were the one who cut that ingredient up) If they decide that they like it, it’s one more reason that they remember camp as being great!