These wonton taco cups are the perfect appetizer or fun twist on taco night! Layers of seasoned beef and cheese are baked in layers of wontons in a cupcake pan, then finished off with your favorite taco toppings.
How cute are these taco cupcakes? They’re as much fun to make as they are to eat, and make a delicious and hearty snack for any occasion.
Tacos are one of my family’s favorite foods to eat – there are endless ways to mix and match the flavor combinations, and they’re all totally delicious! These taco cups are a fun play on tacos that use wonton wrappers instead of tortillas. The wontons are layered with meat and cheese and baked to crispy, gooey perfection.
How to make taco cups
The first step in making taco cups is to cook up your meat. I use 90% lean ground beef, although ground turkey will also work. The meat is flavored with taco seasoning and a can of petite diced tomatoes. It’s important to use the petite diced tomatoes so that you don’t have giant chunks of tomato in your taco cups.
After your meat is ready, it’s time to build your taco cupcakes! The first layer is wonton wrappers which get pressed into the wells of a muffin tin.
After that, you’ll add a layer of meat and shredded cheese.
Then you’re going to repeat the process by stacking a second layer of wonton, meat and cheese on top of the first. From there the taco cups get baked until the cheese is melted and the wontons are golden brown.
You actually can just eat the taco cups as-is from here, but I do like to add a few more toppings. I finish my taco cups with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh tomatoes and green onions. Other great topping choices are diced avocado, chopped cilantro, sliced olives or minced red onion.
I love that these taco cups feed a crowd, they’re perfect for birthday parties, Taco Tuesday, football parties or just for any time you have a taco craving!
More Mexican appetizer ideas
Taco Cups
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- salt to taste
- 1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes drained
- 24 wonton wrappers
- 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- 1/4 cup diced fresh tomatoes
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat.
- Add the beef to the pan. Use a spatula to break up the meat, stirring constantly. Add the taco seasoning and salt to taste. You may not need to add salt if your brand of taco seasoning already contains salt.
- Cook the meat for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. Stir in the canned tomatoes.
- Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Place one wonton wrapper into the bottom of each muffin cup.
- Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of meat into each cup and top with approximately 2 teaspoons of cheese.
- Place a second wonton layer on top of the cheese, then add the remaining meat and cheese across all the muffin cups.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until edges are browned and cheese is melted.
- Top each taco cup with a small dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of green onions and tomato, then serve.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Kevin and Amanda.
- 93% lean ground turkey may be substituted for the ground beef.
These taco cups are really wonderful. They look so beautiful and colourful. I sm sure a mere look at these are enough to give a huge appetite.
We are so trying these. We are taco lovers and generally eat them once a week. Because of our addiction I like to change it up a bit.
The cup is definitely half full (in a figurative way of speaking) with this recipe! These look wonderful. They’re also adorable, which never hurts.
My husband and I enjoy taco night and using wanton cups as shells is perfect for that! It’s also great for parties and all that. I love that it’s not difficult to make at all!
I make a similar version of taco cups and I love them so much!! I need to try these ASAP!!
I had some tacos last weekend and the everything on it tasted so good! It was literally finger-licking good just like how you presented yours through your photos! Plus, the meat lovers will surely have an indulgence with this presentation!
My kids would LOVE these! I don’t eat meat so I’m going to try it with vegan crumbles. I’m sure it will be just as yummy.
Oh my gosh, those taco cups look amazing! I love tacos (I just had them for dinner yesterday) and this is such a fun new take/spin on traditional tacos.
OMG now I am drooling over here! That looks so good and easy to make. Will totally have to try your recipe. Off to Pin it now 😀
I love the idea of using a wanton wrapper to make these little taco cups! It’s awesome and it’s definitely yummy!!! It’s also quite easy to make so you can totally include this in your menu.
Those taco cups are super cute. I kinda want to make something like this for my family. I need to change it up with some different recipes.
So there’s a fast food Mexican restaurant across the street from my kid’s high school that serves taco cups. He is addicted to these little cups. I figured it was phyllo dough that was used to make the base as it didn’t have the density of a tortilla but wonton wrappers, yep, that’s it. I can’t wait to surprise him on Taco Night with this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I think I will try them in the mini cupcake pan to make it an appetizer, they look too big for an appetizer!
I love that they’re in bite-sized pieces so you can easily eat them while you’re chatting away at a party! It’s definitely perfect for gatherings! I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a huge hit!
What a great use of wonton wrappers. We love anything to do with tacos, so I’ll have to make this soon!
These look absolutely delicious! I’ve definitely giving these a try as I love dishes with mince meat. Pinning this for later 🙂
Oh yum! Love love this! Great idea and gorgeous pictures. Will be filing this to my ‘need to try’ list! 🙂
Everyone loves these taco cups. Grab and go and add some sour cream and more cheese on top. We make all sizes depending on what we are serving. We make big ones for whole meal and smaller for appetizers.
Do you use a mini sized muffin pan for the small appetizer size? Thank You
I use a standard sized muffin pan, if you use a mini muffin pan you’ll probably have to cut the wontons in half.
Ooo this would be the perfect way to enjoy tacos! We normally do it the boring way with the regular shells on tortillas, but I think I’m going to try the cups next time.
My kids would love these. We are big fans of individually sized things like this in our house. Yum.
These look really yummy and would be a great appetizer for entertaining or snacking. I’d eat one right now if I could reach through the monitor, they look good.