So, what are French tacos? French tacos are large wraps filled with cheese sauce, a protein, fries, shredded cheese, and your choice of condiments. I’ve made two types of French taco, one with chicken nuggets and one with minced beef. I also made a sauce Algérienne, which a deliciously spicy harissa mayonnaise. The cheese sauce is made with crème fraîche, Gruyère, and dill.
French tacos: ingredients
To make these tacos you will need:
To assemble the tacos
- Chicken nuggets, I used Quorn
- Tortilla wraps
- Frozen French fries
- Grated Cheddar
Cheese sauce
- Crème fraîche
- Gruyère
- Dried dill
Sauce Algérienne
- Onion
- Fresh coriander
- Garlic
- Mayonnaise
- Lemon juice
- Harissa paste
- Tomato purée
- Ground cumin
- Sugar
Beef mix
- Beef mince, I used vegan mince
- Ground cumin
- Paprika
- Garlic granules
How to make French tacos
Firstly, make your Sauce Algérienne, or Algerian sauce. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a small bowl and mix well to combine. This spicy harissa mayo tastes delicious in these French tacos, however feel free to use whichever condiments are your favourite!
Secondly, prepare your beef mix. I used vegan beef mince, but you can use whichever mince you prefer. Add oil to a frying pan and fry diced onion until translucent. Add the beef mince and seasonings and fry until cooked through and starting to brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Tip the fries and chicken nuggets (I used Quorn nuggets) onto a baking tray and cook according to packet instructions.
Whilst the fries and nuggets cook, prepare the cheese sauce. Add the crème fraîche and grated Gruyère to a small pan and heat over a low heat, stirring until the cheese has melted. Stir through the dill and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Finally, prepare the wraps. Place two tortillas so they are slightly overlapping. Spread half of the cheese sauce in the centre of the wraps. Top with the beef, half of the fries, half of the grated Cheddar, and half of the sauce Algérienne. Fold in the sides of the wrap before tightly rolling them up.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients, replacing the beef with the chicken nuggets. You can replace the Algerian sauce with ketchup, mayo, and/or hot sauce, if you prefer.
Cook the wraps in a panini press until golden, flipping them halfway through so they have a criss-cross pattern.
Who invented French tacos?
The origin of French tacos is somewhat disputed. One theory claims they were invented in the mid-2000s in a Savoy kebab shop by Moroccan-born brothers Abdelhadi and Mohammed Moubarek. A French documentary credited Mohamed Soualhi, founder of the Tacos Avenue chain, with inventing the French taco in Lyon in the late 2000s. Further sources, including Soualhi, say that French tacos have been sold in Vaulx-en-Velin near Lyon since the early 2000s.
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French Tacos
Ingredients
Wraps
- 8 chicken nuggets use 16 for 2 chicken wraps, or replace with double the beef mix for 2 beef wraps
- 4 large flour tortilla wraps
- 300g frozen French fries
- ½ cup grated Cheddar
Cheese sauce
- ⅔ cup crème fraîche
- ⅔ cup grated Gruyère
- ½ tsp dried dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce Algerienne
- 3 tbsp white or red onion very finely chopped
- 1 tbsp coriander chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp harissa paste
- 2 tsp tomato purée
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp sugar
Beef mix
- 2 tsp neutral oil
- 200g beef mince I used vegan mince
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp garlic granules
Instructions
- Start by making the sauce Algérienne. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small bowl and set aside whilst you prepare the rest of the tacos.
- Next, prepare the beef. Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and fry until translucent. Add the mince along with the seasonings and fry until cooked through and starting to brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Spread the fries and chicken nuggets on a baking tray and cook according to packet instructions.
- Whilst they cook, prepare the cheese sauce. Add the crème fraîche and grated Gruyère to a medium saucepan and heat, stirring often, over a low heat until the cheese has melted. Stir through the dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Arrange your tortillas on a board so they are slightly overlapping (see picture below). Spread half of the cheese sauce in the middle of the tortillas and top with the mince beef, half of the fries, half of the shredded Cheddar, and half of the sauce Algérienne. Fold in the shorter sides of the wrap and roll up the wraps to create a cylindrical parcel.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients replacing the beef with the chicken nuggets. You can replace the sauce Algérienne with ketchup, mayo and/or hot sauce, if you prefer.
- Heat a panini press and cook the wraps until the are golden. Flip over half-way through for a criss-cross griddle pattern. Alternatively heat on a griddle pan until golden on both sides.
wow, can’t believe I’ve never tried these before, yummy