It’s Taco Tuesday baby, which calls for a taco board so the whole family could pig out to an epic taco night in! We’re all stuck in the house, so why not make our meals as fun, and creative as we possibly can? Instead of having tacos already made with everything the same on each one.. this gives everyone the opportunity to make the perfect taco.. or heck, even nachos! You don’t even have to put out the exact toppings, and fixings that I did, but these are my go to taco making necessities! This is the perfect game night, or party platter as well! After everything is said and done that is going on in the world right now, you can keep this idea in the back on your mind to impress guests at your summer parties by the pool! A taco board is an amazing date night creation as well. You could of course substitute not only the toppings on the board, but especially the meat. Chicken, shrimp, or marinated strip steak, cut thinly would be super unique!! No matter how many people you’re entertaining, or how inventive you want to get, this board is the most versatile!

• We’ll start with the meat making process:

Fry your 80/20 ground beef over medium high heat. No need to add oil to the pan before cooking! The fat from the meat coming out will do all the work for you.

Fry for ten minutes or so until the meat is thoroughly cooked through, and golden brown to color.

You can surely make your own taco seasoning, or lightly season the meat if you’re not a fan of how insanely flavorful taco meat usually is, but honestly, thats my favorite part about tacos! I used two and a half pounds of meat, and one and a half packs of seasoning. In that case.. to get what I think is the perfect flavor profile.. add one packet of taco seasoning mix to every pound of meat that you use, whether it’s ground beef, or something else that you choose in place of it.

After adding the seasoning packets, do not throw them away! Fill the packets up with water, and pour em in! Cook for another five minutes to let all the flavors soar together.

• NOW: For the fun part Diamonds.. THE TOPPINGS. Yum! 

In my book, a taco is not a taco without cheese. You need it. Cheese to me, is part of life! Even if you are vegan and making these tacos with “beyond” meat, or “impossible” meat, I would still add vegan cheese onto your board of options!

Next to the cheese, I decided to add slices of fresh radish. Usually you’ll only see these at gourmet restaurants on top of fish tacos, but guess what, Diamonds? I live a gourmet type of life.. so I think radish is absolutely necessary to brighten up the rich meat, and cheese you’re going to pile on top of your taco. You could also see the other original fixings like the scallions, which I can’t live without.. even on nachos! I NEED them. It gives it such a zip that nothing else can rally compare. Also, a big dollop of good sour cream is so needed for anything like this. Don’t skimp and get yourself the light, or non-fat sour cream.. you’ll be disappointed in yourself, trust me!

Spice up your life with a dash of hot sauce, and chopped up pickled jalapeños! I love jalapeños sooo much. I put them on salads, in sauces, casseroles, and on Italian hoagies. Definitely wouldn’t to live my culinary life without them in my fridge!

You always need that crunch, and color to your taco! Thinly shred iceburg lettuce, and small dice a red ripened tomato. It’s classic for taco night!

We decided to have a little more fun than usual to keep things exciting, and not use tortillas, or taco shells. I actually don’t prefer a taco shell to begin with.. I much prefer tortilla chips in view of the fact that a when you bite into a hard shell it falls apart on you, nine times out of ten, anyway! For a little softness, since I wasn’t using original tortilla wraps, I found these “boats” that I thought were perfect! I’ll tell you what.. they held everything together so extremely well; nothing fell out like it normally does from a classic folded up taco!

This is a gorgeous sight, wouldn’t you say? The colors and textures are awesome. Everyone in your house will love it so much. I promise you, Diamonds.

You can surely add the meat onto the board, and have it in the center to be the focal point, but I decided against that because I wanted to keep the cold food with the cold, and the hot on the side. Also, let’s be real here… I went a little overboard with my toppings, LOL. I’m an overboard kind of gal though, so not much more to say about that!

Again, the toppings are of personal choice, so your board doesn’t have to be the same as mine! Use what you have on hand right now, and in your pantry. Things you wouldn’t even think of opening. Cans of corn, and black beans would be exceptional! Also, don’t forget about the avocado that’s about to be too ripe in your fruit bowl on the island! Whatever you have, and whatever your preference is just right!

Happy TACO TUESDAY, Diamonds, and I’ll be back tomorrow with new!

 xoxo