Tacos are a very easy dinner to make, and very often normal lettuce will be part of the recipe.

But replacing the lettuce with lettuce leaf basil will provide an lovely extra flavour.

Why use Lettuce leaf basil?

This type of basil is very easy to grow and home – with large leaves and a slightly less strong basil flavour.

As a result it is great to use as a lettuce substitute – it will provide the same fresh flavour to tacos, but in addition will also give the taco a slight hint of basil.

How to make lettuce leaf basil tacos

The recipe below will show you step by step how to make lettuce leaf basil tacos.

Ingredients

• 500 g Minced Beef
• 1 taco seasoning mix – see note below
• 1 handful lettuce leaf basil
• 2 fresh tomatoes – chopped in half or quarters (depending on size)
• 12 taco shells
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 150g grated cheese (optional)
• 150ml water
• 2 tablespoons taco salsa (optional)

Equipment

• Frying pan
• Oven or microwave

Instructions

If you want to make lettuce leaf basil tacos then:

• Remove the lettuce leaf basil Leaves from the plant and wash
• Fry the minced beef in a little oil for 4 minutes (until brown) and drain the excess liquid
• Sprinkle the seasoning mix and pour the water over the minced beef
• Give a stir and simmer for 10 minutes over low to medium heat (stirring at times)
• At the same time heat the taco shells either in the oven or microwave
• Fill the taco shells with the some lettuce leaf basil leaves and
• Add the minced beef, chopped tomatoes, grated cheese and salsa

The lettuce leaf basil taco seasoning mix

There are 2 options:

Option 1 – use a ready made mix.

This is the easiest, most shops sell them.

Option 2 – make your own taco seasoning mix.

Really quite easy, but you will need a number of ingredients. (Usually onion powder, crushed pepper flakes, dried oregano, paprika, ground cumin, salt and pepper) Best recipe I’ve seen is on allrecipes

How to grow Lettuce leaf basil at home

Lettuce leaf basil is very easy to grow at home.

For step by step advice have a look at ‘how to grow basil indoors’

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5 from 1 vote

Lettuce leaf basil tacos

Tacos are a great easy meal, replacing lettuce with lettuce leaf basil will give it a great flavour.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword lettuce leaf basil, taco

Prep Time 3 minutes minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes minutes

Total Time 17 minutes minutes

Servings 12 tacos

Calories 225kcal

Author Minze Vries

Cost £1.50

Equipment

• frying pan
• oven or microwave

Ingredients

• 500 g Minced beef
• 4 tbsp Taco seasoning mix
• 1 handful Lettuce leaf basil leaves
• 2 Fresh tomatoes Chopped into half or quarters (depending on size)
• 12 Taco shells
• 2 tbsp Virgin olive oil
• 150 g Grated cheese (Optional)
• 150 ml Water
• 2 tbsp Taco salsa (Optional)

Instructions

• Prepare the lettuce leaf basil

  – Remove the lettuce leaf basil Leaves from the plant and wash
• Fry the minced beef

  – Fry the minced beef in a little oil for 4 minutes (until brown) and drain the excess liquid
• Get the Taco ingredients ready

  – Sprinkle the seasoning mix and pour the water over the minced beef

  – Give a stir and simmer for 10 minutes over low to medium heat (stirring at times)

  – At the same time heat the taco shells either in the oven or microwave
• Fill the Taco shells

  – Fill the taco shells with the some lettuce leaf basil leaves and

  – Add the minced beef, chopped tomatoes, grated cheese and salsa

Video

Notes

Please note that in the video I used quite a young lettuce leaf basil, planted from seed only 2 months earlier – the leaves can get a lot larger.

Nutrition

Serving: 170g | Calories: 225kcal

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More information

Hopefully the lettuce leaf basil tacos recipe might inspire you to grow your own fresh basil at home.

When you are cooking fresh herbs tend to make a real difference to the results. Herbs are really easy to grow at home and many of them grow really fast.

To grow your own basil

Basil is very easy to grow your own at home in your kitchen, dining room, etc. For the best & fastest results all you will need are seeds, growing system and some growing lights. There is detailed description at how to grow basil indoors