Spicy Potato Tacos
These Spicy Potato Tacos are what you need when taco night happens on Meatless Mondays. Pile smoky roasted potatoes into warm flour tortillas, add your favorite taco toppings, and you’ve got a spicy soft taco that everyone will love.
So read on to get the details about the best potatoes for potato tacos and all the tips and tricks you’ll need – only if you want to. Or just grab your potatoes, hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make this spicy potato taco recipe!
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Ingredients
At times, Taco Bell – yes, that Taco Bell – has had a spicy potato soft taco on their menu with potatoes, lettuce, cheddar, and a creamy chipotle sauce. You can make my spicy roasted potatoes and top them like your favorite Taco Bell taco, if that’s why you’re here. Or you can take my suggestions for taco toppings (below), if you want to shake things up.
The clear winner for me for potato taco taste and texture are Yukon Golds, but you can use a russet (baking) potato, if that’s what you have. If it influences your decision, you don’t need to peel Yukon Golds, but you would need to peel russets for this recipe.
Got potatoes? Check out my potato galette, four-ingredient potato and leek soup, corn and potato soup, or my black pepper focaccia (which uses a potato for a softer and fresher crumb).
The spice blend is another thing that sets this spicy potato taco recipe apart from copycat recipes. I go simple and smoky, with enough chipotle powder and paprika and black pepper to make these potatoes a smidgen spicy.
(Chipotles are smoked jalapeños. They’re the classic pepper for elote and my elote-inspired Mexican street corn pasta salad.)
If you want your spicy potatoes even spicier, you can use a chili pepper powder from a pepper that’s higher on the Scoville scale. But don’t use “chili powder,” because that’s a blander spice blend mixed with cumin and oregano.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to riff on this recipe
- Use sweet potatoes in place of white potatoes in your spicy potato tacos.
- Use these spicy potatoes in a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs.
- Skip the tortilla and add your spicy potatoes to a taco salad.
Recipe tips and tricks
Boiling the potatoes before roasting helps create the best texture with crispy edges and creamy centers. Want your potatoes super crispy on the outside? Toss a half teaspoon of baking soda into the pot of water like Kenji Lopez-Alt recommends.
Once the potatoes are barely fork-tender, drain them well and return them to the pot. Toss with whatever fat you are using – olive or vegetable oil work well, but bacon fat reigns supreme in my house for the meat-eaters – then toss gently with the spice mixture until the potatoes are evenly coated.
Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. If they’re overcrowding, use a second baking sheet to give the potatoes space so they roast and not steam.
Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until crisp, about 40 minutes, tossing them with a spatula once or twice. Serve immediately with warm tortillas and your favorite taco toppings!
What to serve with spicy potato tacos
Taco night has no rules, but here are my suggestions:
- Pick and choose your toppings: cheese (cheddar or cotija), avocado slices or my easy guacamole, pickled jalapenos or spicy pickled onions, sour cream, pico de gallo or a mango corn salsa, toasted pepitas, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
- Cilantro or red rice.
- Black beans or refried beans.
- Cocktails: a spicy mezcal margarita, tequila gimlet, Oaxaca Old Fashioned, or jalapeño raspberry Bramble.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just warm them up at a low temperature in the oven. You can even freeze them overnight on a baking sheet before storing them in the freezer for up to three months. They might be a little mushy when you defrost them, but they’ll still work great for tacos!
No, but there is a traditional potato taco recipe, called tacos de papa or tacos dorados, where a corn tortilla is filled with mashed potatoes and deep fried.
Related Meatless Monday recipes
Check out other vegetarian dinner recipes from the archives, like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Spicy Potato Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 to 2½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes peeled if desired and cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 tablespoon salt for boiling the potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, vegetable oil, or bacon fat
Spice mixture
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For tacos
- flour tortillas fajita or soft taco size
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by about an inch. Add the salt to the water.2 to 2½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt
- Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on size. Drain well.
- Put the potatoes back in the pot, toss with the fat and then with the spice mixture until evenly coated.1 tablespoon olive oil, vegetable oil, or bacon fat, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Spread the potatoes onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper in a single layer.
- Roast for about 40 minutes, tossing once or twice during cooking, until browned and crispy around the edges.
- Serve immediately with warmed tortillas and topped however you like.flour tortillas
Notes
- Cheese – cheddar or cotija
- Sour cream or crema
- Avocado or guacamole
- Salsa – pico de gallo, mango salsa, etc
- Pickled onions
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Shredded lettuce
- Cilantro
- Toasted pepita
- Lime wedges
- Hot sauce
Nutrition
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