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Our easy Tostada recipe is ready in under 30 minutes, loaded with seasoned ground beef, refried beans, and all your favorite toppings. It's an inexpensive meal that's customizable at home for a fraction of the restaurant cost!
On busy nights, we make Tostadas.
I love how quickly I can throw together this tostadas recipe and and everyone gets to build their own, which means no complaints from the picky eaters. You can buy store-bought tostadas to make them really conveniently, or use our homemade corn tortillas recipe to fry your own tostada shells.
I like to use a can of pinto beans instead of canned refried beans–I drain them, reserving some of the juice, and mash them with some garlic powder, cumin, and salt, to taste. Add some of the bean broth from the can until they're the right soft refried beans consistency. YUM! Homemade salsa is also a great addition here. The higher quality ingredients, the better they taste, but I love that you can use a lot of shortcuts with these to make them really quick and easy, too. If you haven't made tostadas at home yet, I promise this recipe will become a regular in your dinner rotation!
Try more of my Mexican recipes, like Pork Carnitas, Smothered Burritos, Baked Tacos, Mexican Pizza, or Cheese Enchiladas!
How to make a Tostada:
Bake or Fry Corn Tortillas (instructions for both in the recipe card notes), if not using store bought tostada shells.
Cook Beef: Brown the ground beef in a pan over medium heat. Use a meat chopper or wooden spoon to break it into small pieces until cooked through. Remove the grease then toss in the onion and seasoning, stirring and cooking for a few more minutes.
Heat Refried Beans: Make my homemade refried beans, or if you are using canned, add them into a microwave safe bowl or a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in a small scoop of sour cream and stir until warmed through.
Assemble: Take your tostada shell and spread a thin layer of refried beans over the tostada shell. Top with a small spoonful of ground beef then sprinkle on lettuce, cheese, avocado, salsa, sour cream, and hot sauce. Enjoy immediately! If you love this recipe, make sure to try my crispy ground beef tacos!
Easy Mexican Tostada
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 tostada shells , (or soft corn tortillas, if making your own tostada shell)
- 1 can refried beans
- 1 lb ground beef, ,( or substitute cooked shredded chicken, pork or beef)
- 1/4 onion, , diced
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH paprika and salt
- ¼ teaspoon EACH garlic powder, oregano, black pepper
- 1/2 head lettuce , , finely chopped
- queso fresco , (or other cheese)
- 1 large avocado
- Mexican crema , (or sour cream)
- Salsa, , pico de gallo or salsa verde
Instructions
- Bake or Fry the corn tortillas, if not using store bought tostada shells. See recipe card notes.10 tostada shells
- Add ground beef to a skillet over medium heat. Cook, breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned. Remove grease.1 lb ground beef
- Add onion and seasonings and cook an additional few minutes.¼ onion, 1 Tablespoon chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons cumin, ½ teaspoon EACH paprika and salt, ¼ teaspoon EACH garlic powder, oregano, black pepper
- Add the refried beans to a microwave safe bowl, or a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in a small scoop of sour cream, or Mexican crema. Cook until warmed through.1 can refried beans, Mexican crema
- Assemble the tostadas: Spread a thin layer of refried beans over the tostada shell. Top with a small spoonful of ground beef, then lettuce, cheese, avocado, salsa, sour cream and hot sauce.½ head lettuce , queso fresco , 1 large avocado, Salsa
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Spray corn tortillas on both sides with oil based cooking spray.
- Lay the tortillas in a single layer on top of a greased sheet pan. Lightly sprinkle salt on the tortillas.
- Bake them at 400°F for 5 minutes. Then flip them over and bake them for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the tortillas are crispy.
- Heat about ¼ inch of vegetable oil in a medium, deep skillet.
- Once the oil is hot, place one corn tortilla at a time in the oil and cook, flipping half way once it's lightly golden brown.
- Place the fried tostada on a paper towels to soak up the extra oil.
- Lightly sprinkle with salt and allow to cool before serving.
- You can find pre-made tostada shells (usually fried) at most any grocery store near where you might buy hard taco shells.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe January 2020. Updated April 2026.
Absolutely fabulous recipe! Our wonderful Mexican market had the best baked corn tortillas and delicious Mexican crema instead of sour cream. We served it two nights in a row for guests and all loved it! Thank you!
So, if using store bought, you don’t warm them at all?
I always eat Tostadas, in restaurants! But wanted to do them at home! I just assumed they were warmed, somewhat…prior to ingredients being placed on.
Store-bought tostada shells are usually already cooked and ready to eat, so you don’t need to warm them up. However, if you prefer a warmer shell, you can definitely pop them in the oven for a few minutes at 350°F to heat them up a bit before adding the toppings. It’s all about your personal preference! Enjoy making your tostadas at home—they’re so fun and delicious! 😊
Great recipe, I used taco seasoning since I had one, followed the rest, added pico that I made to the top, was excellent! My boyfriend really liked it too!!
i must be going blind. it reads “Tostada shells: make your own (see directions below)”.
But I only see directions for store bought no recipe directions.
Where’s the recipe?
Hey Karen! Thanks for checking out the recipe. Scroll down just a little bit to the section titled “How to Bake or Fry your own tostada shells:”!
Great way to make tacos different and fun. My family loved the recipe. Thanks!
My family loved this. A couple of my kids gave it 11 out of 10 stars.
Very delicioso
10/10
Great recipe for tostados. I have some left over ingredients from enchiladas.
Petra
This is my favourite dish to make for a Friday night…. Or any night! Always amazing and having celiac disease, this is perfect!
First, I would do everything much as you would. But. I would place shredded cheese on the hot beans over the fried shells first. Then the salsa, chopped onions, chopped peppers) then shredded cabbage (I often use cole slaw mix from a bag).
I prefer making my tortillas and beans from scratch btw.
Make your own refried beans–way, way, way better.