From Newsgroup: alt.food.fast-food

On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:17:57 -0400
mummycullen@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (MummyChunk) wrote:

CHALUPAS
Tex-Mex style tostada

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You will need to first make a batch of frijoles refritos.

This dish is more properly known in Mexico as tostadas.

Yield

Makes 12 chalupas.

Ingredients

* Vegetable oil
* 12 corn tortillas
The thinner the better.
* 5-6 cups frijoles refritos, 1.5 kg
* 1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, 250 g, grated
* 1 large tomato, chopped
* 3 cups shredded lettuce, 300 g
* Chopped onion
Used in the assembly step; see note.

Method

1. In a small skillet, heat about 1/2 inch / 1 cm of vegetable oil.

2. Test the oil for proper temperature by putting in a small piece of tortilla. When the oil reaches the temperature where it immediately
begins to bubble frantically over the tortilla as soon as it is put
in the oil, and the tortilla piece becomes crisp quite quickly, you
are ready to cook the chalupa shells.

3. This is important because there is nothing worse than a soggy
chalupa shell, which results from the oil not being hot enough.

4. Fry the tortillas completely flat on both sides until very crisp.

5. Drain and keep warm on a newspaper-covered cookie sheet in a warm
oven.

6. Spread about a 1/4-inch / 1/2-cm thick layer of refried beans on
each fried tortilla.

7. Top with a generous amount of grated sharp cheddar cheese and 1
Tbsp / 15 ml chopped onion.

8. Place assembled chalupas on a cookie sheet and brown under the
broiler until the cheese melts.

9. Watch them carefully under the broiler; they can burn quite
quickly.

10. Top with shredded lettuce and tomato, and serve.

Notes

You will need to make a batch of frijoles refritos before assembling
these chalupas.

The contributor notes that this dish is more properly known in Mexico
as tostadas. In this recipe, the finished form is a flat, crisp fried
corn tortilla topped with refried beans, melted sharp cheddar,
chopped onion, shredded lettuce, and tomato.

The oil temperature is the key technique. If the oil is not hot
enough, the tortillas absorb oil before crisping and become soggy.
The test piece of tortilla should bubble vigorously and turn crisp
quickly.

The tortillas are fried completely flat, not folded. They are then
kept warm on a newspaper-covered cookie sheet in a warm oven before
being topped.

The cheese is melted under the broiler before the fresh lettuce and
tomato are added. This keeps the lettuce fresh and crisp while still
giving the beans and cheese a hot, browned finish.

Verified Recipe Note: The original ingredient list does not include
onion, but the method calls for 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped onion on each
chalupa. It is included above as an assembly ingredient.

Verified Recipe Note: The contributor line in the original text
spells rCLComprehensiverCY as rCLComprhensive.rCY The header preserves the organization line as supplied; the contributor section below
regularizes the spelling.

Rating

* Difficulty: Easy to moderate
* Time: 15 minutes, plus preparation time of frijoles refritos
* Precision: No need to measure

Contributor

Pamela McGarvey
UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
{ihnp4!sdcrdcf, ucbvax!ucla-cs,hao}!cepu!pam

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Origin Note

This recipe comes from the USENET Cookbook project, a moderated
electronic recipe collection distributed through early Internet
newsgroups. The original was written in the projectrCOs structured
recipe markup, where TEXMEX-CHALUPA was the recipe key and V marked
it as a vegetable dish.

The preserved entry lists the recipe as last modified on 22 Dec 1983
and posted to mod.recipes on 9 Jan 1987. It was contributed by Pamela McGarvey of the UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program in Los Angeles, California.

This is a Tex-Mex chalupa in the sense of a flat tostada-style
tortilla: crisp corn tortilla, refried beans, cheddar, onion,
lettuce, and tomato. The recipe itself points out the terminology
issue, saying that in Mexico this dish is more properly known as
tostadas.

And yet we have been Toxic-Belled into: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNVem-ZtthA/ https://www.missionfoods.com/recipes/loaded-beef-chalupas/
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