Easy Taco Braid

Hello, yummy taco braid!

This is a twist on traditional tacos that's easy to make and fun to eat. I saw the recipe over at 365 Days of Baking & More, and then more adapted it for our family.

Step 1: Brown 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of ground beef and then add your favorite taco seasoning. Get out a canister of ready-made pizza dough, or make your own ahead of time. My version is here. 

Step 2: roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Using scissors or a pizza cutter, snip both long sides of the dough about 1-inch apart and 3 inches deep, like so:

Step 3: Take the prepared taco meat and pile it in the center of the dough between the snipped edges.

Step 4: Cover the meat with your favorite taco cheese. I used shredded cheddar-jack cheese. Top that with some diced tomato if you like. A little salsa would also be good.

Step 5: Simply fold all the snipped pieces of dough over each other to cover the filling. It is helpful to fold up the bottom ends first, then cover with the edge pieces. Then sprinkle more shredded cheese over the top. We like a lot of cheese around here. 

Step 6: Bake the taco braid in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 22 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let it cool for about 5 minutes, and then top it with your favorite taco toppings: shredded lettuce, more tomato, sour cream and avocado are our favorites.

This will definitely take your taco night up a notch! Our family loved it.