Take your Taco Tuesday to new heights with these tasty Taco Waffle Cones. The waffle cones are made with store-bought flour tortillas, and are ready to be loaded with your favorite taco fillings. Young and old will delight in these Taco Waffle Cones that are eaten like ice cream cones!
Making the Waffle Cones:
I used 6-inch store-bought flour tortillas to make the waffle cones. I started by heating my waffle cone maker. If you don’t have a waffle cone maker, don’t despair – I’ll tell you how to make the cones without the waffle cone maker in a minute!
I tried different variations with the waffle cone maker, such as brushing the tortillas with oil, not using any oil, and altering the time that the tortillas were in the waffle cone maker. With these variations, I concluded that using oil was unnecessary, and that 30 seconds was the perfect amount of time. Any longer, and the tortillas became hard and cracked when I tried to form them into the cone shape.
Armed with this knowledge, I removed the flour tortilla from the waffle cone maker after 30 seconds. I used the cone shape that came with the waffle cone maker to form the tortilla into a cone shape.
At this point, the waffle cone was still very pliable, and needed to be baked to crisp it up. On my first try, I just put it in the oven, but quickly found that it needed some support to keep its cone shape. Therefore, I stuffed a piece of aluminum foil that I had formed into a cone shape into the waffle cone to add support.
I baked the waffle cones at 325° F for 30 minutes to crisp them up. After 15 minutes, I turned them so that they would brown evenly. I had tried different temperatures and different times, but concluded that 325° F for 30 minutes was optimum.
Now, what if you don’t have a waffle cone maker? No problem! I took an uncooked flour tortilla, formed it into a cone shape using a piece of aluminum foil that I had shaped into a cone. I placed it seam-side down on a baking sheet, and baked it at 325° F for 30 minutes, turning it after 15 minutes – just like the waffle cones! It wasn’t quite as pretty since it didn’t have the waffle lines, but functionally, it worked fine!
The waffle cones can be stored in an air-tight container for up to a week. Why not be creative? In addition to Taco Waffle Cones, fill the cones with mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, French fries, Caesar salad, etc.
Making the Meat Filling for the Taco Waffle Cones:
My main filling of choice for the Taco Waffle Cones was my standard taco filling made with ground turkey, my home-made taco seasoning, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, and water.
I started by browning the ground turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. When all of the pink was gone, I transferred the turkey to a colander and rinsed it with hot water to remove as much of the fat as possible. After it had cooled a bit, I rubbed the turkey between my hands to break it up into small pieces. Then, I returned it to the skillet, and added the taco seasoning, Rotel tomatoes, and water. I cooked the mixture over medium heat until most of the liquid had evaporated. This took about 20 minutes.
Finishing the Taco Waffle Cones:
Once the waffle cones and taco meat were ready, the actual finishing of the Taco Waffle Cones was wide open. I chose to keep it simple by filling the cones with the taco meat, shredded lettuce, homemade Pico de Gallo, and shredded cheese. However, you could also add black olives, jalapeño peppers, spicy cheese sauce, chopped onions, etc. For Taco Tuesday, just make available the waffle cones, meat mixture, and condiments of your choice. Stand back and watch the fun. Yum!
For a bite-sized taco treat, you should try my Tasty Taco Cups. I first posted these awesome Taco Waffle Cones on August 19, 2018. This is an update of that post with some new photos and a new video!
Taco Waffle Cones
Ingredients
- 12 6-inch flour tortillas
- 1 pound lean ground turkey (93% or 97%) (See Note 1)
- 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning (See Note 2)
- 10 ounce can Rotel Original diced tomatoes and green chilies
- 1/3 cup water
- Shredded lettuce
- Shredded Cheddar cheese
- Pico de Gallo (See Note 3)
Instructions
Waffle Cones
- Preheat oven to 325* F.
- Heat waffle cone machine on #4 setting. Place flour tortilla on waffle cone machine; close and cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove the tortilla from waffle cone machine; form into cone shape with provided cone form. Hold for 30 seconds to allow the tortilla to set. Place an aluminum foil shaped cone inside of waffle cone. Place the waffle cone seam-side down on a baking sheet. (See Note 4)
- Repeat with remaining flour tortillas.
- Bake in preheated 325° F oven for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Cool.
- The waffle cones can be made in advance up to this point and stored in air-tight container for up to a week. (See Note 5)
Meat Mixture (See Note 6)
- Brown turkey meat in a large skillet over medium, breaking up into small pieces. Transfer to colander. Rinse under hot water. When cool, rub between hands to continue breaking up into small pieces.
- Return turkey meat to skillet set over medium heat. Add taco seasoning. Stir to combine. Add Rotel tomatoes and water. Cook, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes.
Assembly of Taco Waffle Cones
- Fill waffle cone 2/3 of the way with meat mixture. Add lettuce, Pico de Gallo and shredded cheese, or other condiments of your choice.
- Yield: 12 Taco Waffle Cones.
Chula's Expert Tips
- May use ground beef in place of the ground turkey. However, the ground turkey tends to be significantly more tender.
- Homemade taco seasoning is so much better than store-bought. However, store-bought will also work here.
- Rather than Pico de Gallo, you could use salsa, chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped onions, etc.
- If you don't have a waffle cone machine, you can use a cone shaped out of aluminum foil to form the flour tortilla. Wrap the flour tortilla around the aluminum cone, and place it seam-side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 325° F for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.
- Once you have the waffle cones, be creative. You can fill them with Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, French fries, etc.
- You can use whatever meat filling you choose. This one is my favorite!
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