Crispitos Beef with Cheese

These delicious crispitos with beef and cheese will be the star on the appetizer table. Everybody will love them. Made with ground beef, cheese, garlic, onions, and a few spices, and rolled all that stuffing mixture in a crispy tortilla. These treats are packed with flavor and perfect for any occasion.

Is not a secret that those crispitos are a perfect part snack and great finger food. Just be prepared to make them in a larger quantity as they will disappear in just a few moments.

What I like about them is that they are easily customizable and you can experiment with your favorite spices, seasonings, and toppings.

You may consider experimenting with different types of cheese like Monterey jack, or even a blend of cheeses to change up the flavor. You can also add different seasonings, like chili powder, or smoked paprika, to give it a different twist.

Want to go further? Top them with your favorite toppings such as lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream, or salsa.

The crispy texture of the tortilla combined with the savory filling of the beef and the cheesy goodness makes this recipe a must-try.

Intrigued? Let’s get started!

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

• Minced Beef. Besides the minced beef, you could also add minced chicken, pork, and turkey to the mix.
• Cheese. I used Cheddar cheese, but you could replace it with another type of cheese that has a creamy taste and texture and melts well.
• Onions. The onions in this recipe offer a sweeter taste and a juicier texture to the crispitos. If you don’t have onions at hand, you could replace them with chopped leeks to get a similar result.
• Garlic. We use it for its flavor in combination with the rest of the ingredients. If you don’t have it at hand or you’re not a big fan of the more intense taste of garlic, you could replace it with granulated dried garlic.
• Tortilla. I used wheat tortilla, but you could also use any other type of tortilla, be it whole grain or corn.
• Seasonings. I used a mix of turmeric, black pepper, salt, dried oregano, and cumin, but you could substitute this mix with your favorite spices that you like to eat in combination with minced beef meat.
• Olive Oil. If you don’t have olive oil on hand, you could easily replace it with another vegetable oil.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

Preheat the frying pan, pour a little oil into it and cook the meat on medium-high heat for approximately 7-8 minutes.

Pro Tip: Do not use a lid over the pan because you will smother the meat and you will not get a taste as pronounced as if it is fried.

Quick Note: When you’re frying on high heat, you could use the Splatter Screen for Frying will stop the splatters, but will allow the steam to escape from the pan.

After this, add finely chopped onions, and mix everything well. Reduce the heat to low and cook everything until the onion softens. This process should take about 5-7 minutes.

Add the chopped garlic, mix everything well and fry it for a minute on low heat.

Now add all the spices you decided to use except for the salt. Cook everything for another minute.

Pro Tip: At this stage, we do not add salt because it prevents the spices from opening fully their aroma. For this reason, we will add salt in the end.

In the end, add the salt, mix everything well and the stuffing mixture for the beef crispitos is ready. You can remove it from the heat.

If you prefer a larger texture, you can use it as it is:

If you prefer a finer texture, I recommend blending it until you get a smaller composition.

Pro Tip: If you think the composition is too dry, you can add a little bit of water, vegetable/meat broth, or cream to make it juicier.

In the end, cut the tortilla in 2 halves, put the meat on it and sprinkle the freshly grated cheddar cheese.

Roll the tortilla well to ensure that the filling does not fall out of it. Repeat these steps until you will finish all the stuffing mixture.

Now we need to bake a little tortilla to make it crispier.

You can do this step on a pan, oven or in the air fryer. I used a pan because I had a small amount of crispitos. If you plan to cook for a larger number of guests, then the best option for you would be to bake them a little in an oven to save time.

Quick Note: You could also give them this crispy crust by putting them in the air fryer at 350°F for 5-7 minutes.

Pro Tip: Be careful that if you bake them in the oven or air fryer, they won’t be so brown on the outside, but they will be more crispy. Make sure to not overcook and overdry them in the oven or air fryer.

If you use a pan, make sure that you brown the tortillas well on all 4 sides to get a crispy surface on the outside.

Quick Note: In the oven, they will become crispier on all sides by themselves.

Crispitos beef with cheese are ready to be served and enjoyed!

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

Serve them while the crispitos are still hot near a creamy sauce to complete their texture. As a suggestion would be some sauces based on sour cream or yogurt.

If you’re looking for the authentic recipe of the crispitos then they were usually served near a large amount of cheese sauce.

For an addition of freshness and color, you could sprinkle freshly chopped parsley or other aromatic herbs on top of them.

🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention On?

• If you prefer them to be more browned, then you will need to cook them in a pan. If you will cook them in the air fryer or oven, you will not get the same brown coating, however, in terms of texture, they will be similar.
• If you need to cook a larger quantity, then I’ll recommend baking them in the oven to save time.
• If you think the stuffing mixture for the crispitos is too dry, use broth or cream to make it juicier.

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:

📋 Recipe Card: