Tostadas are a fun recipe with crispy corn tortillas piled high with colorful toppings such as refried beans, roasted and fresh vegetables, avocado, and sour cream.
They are perfect for weeknight dinners – Tostada Tuesday, anyone? – game nights and casual entertaining.
You’ll love the combination of crunchy tortillas with creamy, fresh, and tender toppings.
What are tostadas?
Tostada means “toasted” in Spanish.
It’s a Mexican and Guatemalan dish similar to tacos, but unlike tacos, it is crisp, flat, and open-faced, not U-shaped.
Tostadas are made with a base of corn tortillas that are either toasted or deep-fried until crunchy and golden.
They are perfect for toppings such as veggies, meat, seafood, salsa, and cheese.
Here, we’ll show you how to make a delicious vegetarian tostada spread that you can customize to your liking.
We use a base of refried beans and toppings such as pico de gallo, sour cream, roasted sweet potatoes, guacamole or sliced avocado, salsa verde or hot sauce, smokey sauteéd corn, lettuce, and cabbage.
How to make tostadas
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
1. Gather your ingredients
CORN TOSTADA SHELLS: You can purchase tostada shells at the store (recommended), or you can make them yourself by deep-frying or baking corn tortillas.
We tried making them ourselves, but they will never be as crunchy as the ones you find at the store.
SALSAS: We use homemade refried beans, pico de gallo, salsa verde, or hot sauce.
VEGETABLES: Corn on the cob or frozen corn, sweet potatoes, avocado or guacamole, thinly sliced iceberg lettuce, and red cabbage.
CHEESE: Queso fresco and sour cream. Substitute crumbled feta cheese and unsweetened yogurt.
SEASONING: Sea salt, black pepper, taco seasoning, and olive oil.
2. Prepare the vegetables
SWEET POTATOES: Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into small bite-size pieces.
Transfer the dice to a baking tray and season with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and taco seasoning.
Toss well, arrange in a single layer, and bake for about 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender and slightly charred. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
SAUTÉED CORN: Slice the corn kernels off the corn on the cob. Heat the olive oil on a skillet, add the corn kernels, and season with salt and taco seasoning.
Sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the corn softens and gets slightly charred.
Move the corn around the pan often to prevent it from burning. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. Assemble the tostadas
Prepare a spread with the tostadas and the toppings on the table so everyone can build their tostada.
We recommend starting with a layer of refried beans. This helps the other toppings stay glued to the shell.
SWEET POTATO TOSTADA: Refried beans, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, roasted sweet potato, sour cream, salsa verde, and sliced red cabbage.
SAUTÉED CORN TOSTADA: Refried beans, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, sautéed corn, crumbled queso fresco or crumbled feta, hot sauce, and sliced lettuce.
Substitutions
Corn tostada shells: Substitute taco shells.
Refried beans: substitute white bean dip, lentil hummus, and avocado spread.
Pico de Gallo: substitute store-bought Mexican salsa.
Salsa Verde: substitute tabasco hot sauce or sriracha.
Iceberg lettuce: substitute thinly sliced Romaine lettuce.
Red cabbage: substitute green cabbage.
Corn: Substitute red bell pepper and chop it into small dice.
Sweet potatoes: substitute cauliflower, cut it into small florets, and roast it the same way.
Sour cream: substitute unsweetened yogurt.
Queso fresco: substitute crumbled feta cheese.
Vegan: to make the recipe vegan, you can substitute the sour cream for vegan sour cream and the queso fresco with non-dairy feta or vegan cheese.
Storage
Make ahead: You can prepare the toppings ahead of time and keep them in separate bowls covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for several days.
Avoid storing assembled tostadas: the corn tortillas get soggy shortly after they are topped.
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Tostadas
Ingredients
- 16 tostada shells
VEGETABLES
- 1 pound sweet potatoes
- 2 corn on the cob
- 2 avocados or guacamole
- 1 cup iceberg lettuce thinly sliced
- 1 cup red cabbage thinly sliced
SAUCES & CHEESE
- 1 dose refried beans or 2 cans refried beans
- 1 dose pico de gallo or 1 cup Mexican salsa
- ½ cup salsa verde or hot sauce
- 1 cup queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 cup sour cream or unsweetened yogurt
SEASONING
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- SWEET POTATOES: Preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into small bite-size pieces.Transfer to a baking tray and season with 1½ tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons taco seasoning.Toss, arrange in a single layer, and bake for about 30 minutes or until fork-tender and slightly charred.
- SAUTÉED CORN: Slice the corn kernels off the cob.Heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil on a skillet, add the corn, and season with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons taco seasoning.Sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the corn softens and gets slightly charred.
- ASSEMBLE THE TOSTADAS: We recommend starting with a layer of refried beans. This helps the other toppings stay glued to the shell.SWEET POTATO TOSTADA: Refried beans, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, roasted sweet potato, sour cream, salsa verde, and sliced red cabbage.SAUTÉED CORN TOSTADA: Refried beans, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, sautéed corn, crumbled queso fresco or crumbled feta, hot sauce, and sliced lettuce.
My husband and I loved this recipe. The sweet potatoes and corn with the taco seasoning are delish. This is going to replace our taco Tusday!
Thanks so much, Franny!
We are so happy you guys liked the tostadas.
All the best 🙂