Homemade Mexican Chalupas Recipe

Main Dishes

Now you can make your own chalupa recipe that can be made with a few simple ingredients. Make this crispy and soft taco shell and fill with your favorite taco toppings such as ground beef, shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream and you have Homemade Chalupas.

When I was younger I worked at a few fast food places. The first place I worked was at McDonald’s. I also worked for Subway and Taco Bell. Although there are mixed feelings associated with fast-food workers, when you are a teenager the one perk you look forward to when working at a fast-food restaurant is the free meal you get during your shift. When working at all three of those restaurants, I tried just about everything on the menus that I could.

I had my favorites at all three, but at Taco Bell and I loved Chalupas!

What are Chalupas?

Typically, Chalupas are made using masa and are flat. They are then topped with various toppings such as:

Shredded Chicken
Queso Crumbled Cheese
Avocado
Pico De Gallo
Refried Beans
Salsa
Sour Cream

This Mexican dish has been interpreted a bit differently here in America. The bread that most of us may be familiar with is made out of flour, which is called Indian Fry Bread and it’s much thicker than how they are traditionally made. I don’t think I had a traditional Chalupa but I am sure it is just as delicious as the one that is in this recipe.

How to make Chalupa Shells?

What I loved the most about Chalupas is the bread itself. I mean, it’s almost like donuts just without the glaze if you think about it. It’s fried dough just like a donut, right? That would make so much sense as to why I like them so much. You know what? Making the chalupa dough is super easy and only takes a few basic ingredients.

All you need is

Flour
Milk
Salt
Shortening
Baking powder

Mix all of those ingredients into a ball of dough and you have the basis for the chalupa bread. After you have divided and rolled out the dough, you place half of the dough in a heavy-duty skillet, like a cast-iron skillet, and allow it to fry for about a minute. Then you flip the dough and allow the other side to fry, which should make for a nice curved chalupa shell. I won’t lie, you won’t get them all right, but you will get a few curved the way you like.

You will then fill the chalupa bread with your favorite taco fillings such as ground beef, chicken, or steak and lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream! You can fill the chalupas with whatever you want. This Homemade Mexican Chalupas recipe allows you to be as versatile as you want. You can fry the chalupa bread and set out different toppings and let everyone serve themselves.

I watched this video to learn how to make chalupa bread and this one. They both were helpful.

This chalupa recipe is one of my personal favorites. I don’t have a lot of copycat recipes on my blog but between this Copycat Taco Bell Chalupa recipe and the ones I have, which are Copycat Chocolate Hostess Cupcakes and Copycat White Castle Burgers, this chalupa recipe comes close to being as identical to the true version. I hope you like this recipe as much as I did eating them.

Commonly Asked Questions

How do you make Chalupas with Pita bread?

To be honest, I am not sure from experience. However, I imagine that you would bake the pita bread until slightly crisp and fill like a taco. For the curved taco shape, you might have to get a bit creative.

Can I use butter instead of shortening to make the bread?

Yes. You need a fat to bind and hold everything and to ensure the bread isn’t dry.

Can I eat the Chalupas flat?

Yes! If it is easier for you to fry the bread flat and eat it like a pizza, that is absolutely fine!

Items you may need

Rolling Pin

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Cast Iron Skillet

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