Gorditas
Thick, puffy corn pockets split open and stuffed with a saucy beef and potato filling, crunchy lettuce and crumbly cheese.
- 60 min total
- 50 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.71 a serving
- 670 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 russet potato, small, peeled
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1½ cups shredded lettuce
- ½ cup queso fresco, crumbled
- ½ cup salsa
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 1¾ cups water, divided, 1½ cups of it warm
- ½ tsp baking powder
Each serving has about 670 calories, 32 g protein, 61 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $2.71 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No shredded lettuce? Iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce works.
- No queso fresco? Cotija cheese or feta cheese works.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the potato into small ¼-inch so it cooks quickly.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large over medium-high. Add the beef and potato and cook 8 minutes, breaking up the beef, until with no pink left.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 8 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and 1 teaspoon of the salt for 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce and ¼ cup of the water.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and 8 to 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Spoon it into a bowl, cover, and wipe out the skillet.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 9 min
Stir the masa harina, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt, then add 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1½ cups warm water and knead into a soft dough.
Dolly’s tip: Press a piece flat. If the edges crack, knead in more warm water a tablespoon at a time.Divide the dough into 8 balls and pat each into a 3½-inch round about ⅓ inch thick. Smooth any cracked edges with a wet fingertip.
Heat the last tablespoon of oil in the skillet over medium and cook the gorditas 4 at a time, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until in spots and a little puffed.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Let each one cool for a minute, then cut a slit into the edge with a small knife and open a pocket about halfway around, like a pita.
Dolly’s tip: Steam puffs them a little hollow inside. Go slowly with the knife; a small tear won’t matter once it’s stuffed.Stuff each pocket with the beef filling, lettuce, queso fresco and a spoonful of salsa.
Food safety: If you’re pregnant, buy queso fresco labeled “made with pasteurized milk,” and for extra care, warm it until it’s steaming hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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