The Best Way To Reheat Tacos For Flavors That Still Pop The Next Day

From Taco Tuesdays at home to nights out at our favorite Mexican restaurants, feasting on tacos is a whole experience of topping options, big flavors, and different textures. Whether you go hard shell or soft shell, chicken or steak, fish or veggie, spicy or mild — there's really nothing like the way tacos all come together and instantly please any crowd. But tacos have long been plagued by one not-so-insignificant hitch: How can you ever enjoy leftovers at the same level of freshness and flavor when reheating them seems so tricky? There's good news for all you taco fans (so, everyone), though. With many home cooks out there testing every method under the sun, we can conclude that your oven is your secret leftover taco weapon.

The reason reheating tacos can present a challenge is because of those varying textures that make them magic. How can you keep a soft corn, flour, or any other tortilla types slightly crisped on the outside and doughy on the inside? Or a hard shell crispy and crunchy? Or meat juicy and tender? The oven wins over other approaches because it provides gentle, steady, thorough heat. Your tacos won't dry out while they slowly heat back up, getting warm without losing their freshness, moisture, or flavor. Microwaves' quick, intense heat will make hard shells dry and stale without a snap, and while the stove is effective, you'd have to completely deconstruct your tacos, which defeats the convenience aspect of leftovers.

You'll have to do just a bit of topping removal and re-adding when reheating tacos, but you don't have to take out the main fillings when you use the oven. Keep raw veggies aside as their water content will just turn them to mush. You can pop them back on when the tacos are out of the oven, along with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and any other favorite toppings. For ground beef tacos, smoked chicken tacos, or any others, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and evenly space your tacos out on a foil-lined baking sheet. For soft tacos, wrap them in foil — it may also help to spritz a touch of water on the tortillas to keep them moist and soft. For hard tacos, spray just a hint of oil on the shells and heat them upright in holders if you can for an even bake. Soft will take about 10 minutes, hard five to 10 — watch them so they don't burn. Then just remove, let cool, and top away.

If you can't use an oven, the air fryer is your next best bet as it also provides a steadier heat, and the steps are similar: Preheat to 350 degrees, heat hard tacos upright for three to five minutes or soft tacos wrapped in foil for five to seven. Shake the basket at the halfway mark and watch them closely to avoid burning.