Upgrade Taco Night With A Genius Cheese Hack

If your favorite day of the week is Taco Tuesday, you're not alone. Tacos are amongst the nation's most popular foods — Americans consumed more than 4.5 billion in 2022. But the popular food that's become synonymous with a day of the week is fairly new, at least to the United States. It's only been commonly consumed in America for just over 100 years. There are countless taco varieties out there, but when you can't decide between corn and flour shells, why not try both? All it takes is a sprinkle of shredded cheese and a quick zap in the microwave to transform run of the mill tacos into this next-level meal.

According to Smithsonian, tacos were introduced to the U.S. by Mexican immigrants in 1905 and were fully embraced by hungry Americans as a dinnertime staple around the 1920s. As Americans often do, they made it their own by adding shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and of course, cheese.

These days, tacos can be enjoyed with ground beef and cheese in hard shells or shredded chicken and chilis surrounded in a soft shell and every form in between. With the help of gooey, melted cheese, you can double up on your taco shell and enjoy both crunchy and soft shells in one delicious bite.

When you're craving a hard and soft shell combination, simply sprinkle some shredded cheese onto a flour tortilla, heat it in the microwave, and form it to your hard shell for a two-layered taco — you'll get that Instagram-worthy cheese pull. Some call this taco-making method the "hardie, softie" technique, but those who know and love all things tacos will also recognize the combination from Taco Bell's extensive menu.

The cheesy gordita crunch is a popular Taco Bell menu item that offers a traditional hard shell taco filled with ground beef, cheese, lettuce, and spicy ranch, surrounded by a "warm flatbread" with a layer of melted three-cheese blend in between the hard and soft shells. This taco shell combination sounds complex, but it's easy to recreate at home. 

If you aren't a fan of throwing tortillas in the microwave, try adding a flour tortilla to a warm skillet and sprinkling cheese on top, letting it melt on low until it's ready to adhere to the hard shell. The best cheese to use for tacos can vary, but shredded "Mexican blends" of Monterey jack and cheddar are popular due to their quick melting. This cheesy taco hack adds texture to the taco-eating experience — and who would say no to an extra layer of cheese?

Adding cheese to tacos can be a polarizing topic amongst foodies. Lovers of authentic Mexican cuisine may argue that cheese does not belong on tacos; traditional street tacos are served on bite-sized corn tortillas with nothing but cilantro, onion, and salsa. Many people consider cheesy tacos an Americanized or "Tex-Mex" version of the popular cuisine. 

But even authentic taco lovers can admit that a bite of the growingly popular quesabirria tacos, sealed with oaxaca cheese and dunked in consommé, seriously hit the spot. Pro-cheese foodies have embraced their not-so-authentic but oh-so-cheesy tacos, and some have taken it a step further by transforming cheese into taco shells.

These pseudo taco shells could be the next cheesy addition to your weekly dinner routine. TikToker @jenniferevemeyer shared her method for cheese-shell tacos, and the results are mouthwatering. Simply add shredded cheese to a hot skillet or non-stick pan, making sure to keep the heat at a medium-low level so the cheese doesn't burn. The cheese will become golden on the bottom; it's ready to flip when you can easily slide the edges off the pan with your spatula. Add your favorite taco fillings and toppings, and enjoy a bite of cheesy taco goodness.