My Vegetarian Tostada History
Ah, vegetarian tostadas, in my opinion, I think they are under-appreciated. Not going to lie, I don’t know a lot about every single Mexican tostada that exists. However, I do know of one tostada that I grew up eating, and it is this one.
As I said, I grew up eating this version of tostada, my mom made it this way, and so did the nice ladies that sold dinner to me as a child in Mexico. What makes it beautiful is the pure simplicity of it. It is just a fried tortilla, refried beans, a lot of veggies, and a good cotija cheese.
When I was a child, we would go visit my mom’s family in Mexico. I remember being dragged around by my mom and being forced to talk and hug strangers. It was in one of those forced encounters that I remember meeting what I call the cheese lady. She was sitting outside, making the cheese while there were baskets of cheese sitting around her drying and going through the cheese process. That’s when I learned how the delicious cheese I always ate was made. Of course, I was too young to understand or even care about the process. But now that I’m older, I hope she is still around so I can learn more and maybe make a video on it.
Cotija Cheese
What is cotija cheese? Well, cotija cheese is a white, dry, and crumbly cheese. It is made from cows milk and was initially born in Michoacan, Mexico. This cheese is very salty, sharp, and pungent. Another thing about this cheese is that is is very firm, so it does not really melt like other cheese might.
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of cotija cheese. My family tends to get there cotija cheese shipped from their home town in Michoacan, Mexico. And let me tell you, it is absolutely beautiful and amazing. But there is no need to fret because there are many places you can buy this cheese in the US. If you are lucky enough to live near a Mexican supermarket or store, your first stop should be there. However, if you can not find it there, Walmart or Safeway might have it. In the end, if you can not find it anywhere, it is ok. Luckily feta cheese is VERY similar to cotija cheese and will be a good substitute.
Vegetarian Tostada Direction Help
The first thing you want to do is go look at my bean recipe so you can learn how to make refried beans. Once your beans are done, you are smashing them You want to make sure that you leave the beans slightly liquidy, so it is easy to spread. Make sure to master this recipe cause you are going yo need it for next week’s recipe too.
As soon as you are done with your beans, all you have to do is fry up some tortillas. You want to make sure that they are golden brown and crispy at every inch. I know there are those premade Sh*ts, but please don’t use those. In my opinion, there are only a few things that they are good for, pozole verde and ceviche. It will not do justice for this recipe so don’t use it
From there, you just slice up your veggies, my family leans towards, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, and cotija. If I had avocados, I would have totally added them. To put these together you want to add a few spoonfuls of your beans onto the fried tortilla. From there you can add on your veggies, there is no specific way of adding them on is up to you.
Vegetarian Tostadas Recipe
Vegetarian Tostadas
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Saucepot
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Refried Beans Recipe in blog
- 12 Corn Tortillas Fried
- 3 Cups Vegetable oil
- 1 Cup Cotija Cheese
- ½ Cabbage Thinly sliced
- 2 Roma Tomatoes Sliced
- 2 Russet Potatoes Boiled, Peeled, Sliced
Optional
- Salsa Valentina
Instructions
- Using my bean recipe smash your beans to make refried beans. Make sure to leave them very loose and soupy.
- In a saute pan, add your vegetable oil and heat up until hot. Once your oil is hot, fry your tortillas one at a time. You want both sides to be golden brown and crispy, like a chip
- As soon as all of your tortillas are fried, carefully add a spoonful or two of your refried beans on to your tortillas
- Sprinkle some cotija cheese over the tostada and add your desired amount of potato, cabbage, and tomato.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
How To Eat Vegetarian Tostadas!
You can eat the vegetarian tostadas any way you want, with any side dish. These tostadas go great with my family’s morisqueta. Which I am going to teach you how to make next week. But for now, rice is great with this and if you want any meat with this then I would recommend some roasted chicken. So don’t be afraid to try this dish you will not be disappointed!