Looking to switch up your traditional taco night? These Mini Crispy Lamb Tacos are an easy-to-make dinner packed with Mediterranean flavors the whole family will love. They also make a wonderful party appetizer!
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We eat a lot of tacos in our household. But I have to admit we're often pretty boring with them. We often take hard taco shells and fill them with ground turkey or beef and all the typical toppings.
I recently wanted to do something a bit different for taco night and had some ground lamb in my fridge. So, I gathered up some additional Mediterranean ingredients and made these mini crispy lamb tacos!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
You'd be hard-pressed to find a taco recipe I wouldn't enjoy... But I can definitely say that these lamb tacos have quickly become new favorites of mine. Here are a few reasons I love them so much and why I think you will, too!
- They're easy to make and are perfect for Taco Tuesday or any other weeknight dinner.
- They're more unique than the typical taco and bring in a flavor combo that you may not have all the time.
- They're mini! Who doesn't love mini foods? That means there's a greater chance your kids will eat them, too.
- They make a great party food. While I love serving them for dinner, these mini tacos are also a fabulous party appetizer.
🗒 Ingredients
If the ingredients list for these lamb tacos looks a little long, you should know that it's mostly a lot of spices and herbs. Here's everything you need (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Olive oil
- Diced onion
- Minced garlic
- Ground lamb
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Ground oregano
- Salt & pepper
- Mediterranean olives: I recommend Castelvetrano, but you can use any variety you like.
- Street taco-size flour tortillas: If you can't find these, you can use any other small flour or corn tortillas.
- Crumbled feta
- Chopped parsley: for garnish
- Lemon wedges: for garnish
I also highly recommend that you make the accompanying yogurt sauce to go along with these mini lamb tacos. Here's what you need for that:
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Finely chopped parsley
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Salt & pepper
🛒 What size tortillas to buy
I actually initially bought these flour tortillas by accident when I was purchasing groceries online. I thought they were regular taco size, but it turns out they're "street taco" size, which means they're smaller than the typical flour tortilla.
For reference, here are the typical different sizes of tortillas (note that they do vary some by brand):
- Street Taco: 4 ½ inches
- Corn Tortillas: Typically 4-6 inches
- Fajita: 6 inches
- Taco: 8 inches
- Burrito: 10 inches
I ended up loving the street taco size and think they're absolutely perfect for mini tacos. But if you can't find them, you can certainly use a fajita size tortilla and they just won't be quite as "mini."
You can also use corn tortillas for this recipe since they're also quite small. I find corn tortillas to be more "crumbly" and a bit harder to fold over, but it will still work (make sure you microwave the tortillas before using).
👩🍳 How to make lamb filling
These lamb tacos consist of an easy-to-make filling that involves ground lamb, onion, garlic, chopped olives, and lots of spices.
To start, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 3-4 minutes to soften. Add garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
Add lamb to skillet and gently break up with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook until lamb is no longer pink.
Add spices (cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, and pepper) and chopped olives and toss together. Cook for another minute.
Your filling is done and now you're ready to assemble and bake the tacos!
🌮 How to assemble tacos
Start by wrapping the tortillas in a damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for about 45 seconds to make them more pliable.
Then brush both sides lightly with olive oil and set them on a baking sheet.
Add lamb filling to top of each tortilla and top with crumbled feta cheese.
Fold each tortilla in half to form little tacos. You may have to press pretty firmly to ensure tacos stay closed (this is why warming them in the microwave is helpful).
If any of your tortillas keep popping up, don't worry too much as you'll be able to close them back up when you take them out of the oven to flip them.
Now, bake at 425 degrees for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip each taco (pressing down again if any of them have popped up) and bake for another 5-6 minutes, until tacos are turning golden and crispy.
Top with Mediterranean yogurt sauce.
🥣 How to make Mediterranean yogurt sauce
I highly recommend serving the mini crispy lamb tacos with a little dipping sauce. This Mediterranean yogurt sauce is perfect because it's fairly mild and cooling, but also brings in some more Mediterranean flavors.
Plus, it's very easy to make. All you do is add all the ingredients (Greek yogurt, lemon juice, chopped parsley, and spices) to a bowl and stir to combine.
Serve the mini tacos with a little dollop of yogurt sauce on them. Plus, you'll definitely want more on the side for dipping purposes!
I also like to add on some more chopped parsley and lemon wedges.
💡 Alterations to recipe
I love these lamb tacos as is, but there's a lot of alterations you can make to them in order to make them your own (or to work with the ingredients you have in your kitchen). Here are some ideas:
- If you don't have ground lamb, you could use lamb shoulder or any type of lamb meat.
- Red onions would also be delicious instead of yellow.
- Feel free to add fresh salsa, salsa verde, or your other favorite taco toppings.
- I think feta goes best with lamb, but feel free to use the cheese of your choice.
- Instead of my yogurt sauce, you can make a creamy tzatziki sauce with fresh cucumbers. Or you can just add a dollop of sour cream to the tacos.
🥗 What to serve with tacos
While these mini crispy lamb tacos make quite the meal, chances are you'll want to serve them with some sides!
Here are a couple recommendations that would go deliciously with them:
- Guacamole: Though these aren't traditional "Mexican" tacos, guacamole still goes great with them! Here's a version that also adds in kale for an extra nutritional boost.
- Kale Greek Salad
- Roasted Cauliflower Salad
- Blistered Green Beans
- Chick-Fil-A Kale Salad
- Lemon Pepper Asparagus
- Greek Lemon Rice (from The Mediterranean Dish)
- Gigantes Plaki (from Lazy Cat Kitchen)
- Pomegranate Roasted Carrots (from How Sweet Eats)
Really, no matter how you serve these lamb tacos, you're going to love them! They're perfectly crispy and packed with incredible flavor.
We love Mediterranean spices and anything with feta cheese, so these were a big hit in my house.
Oh, and while I was doing the dishes, my dog jumped onto the table in my photo studio, snagged one of these tacos, and wolfed it down. She never gets into trouble like that, but I think the smell of them was just too tempting. So... it has her vote, too.
🎉 More taco recipes
If you're like me and could eat tacos every single week (it's called taco Tuesday for a reason!), you may want some more ways to switch things up.
Here are a few of my other favorite taco recipes:
- Flank Steak Tacos with Strawberry Mint Salsa
- Crispy Fried Fish Tacos
- Baked Avocado Jalapeño Tacos
- Chili Lime Shrimp Tacos
- Grilled Cod Tacos with Grilled Cherry Salsa
- Chipotle-Rubbed Grilled Salmon Tacos
- Fish Tacos (with Cheese)
- Instant Pot Carne Asado Tacos (from Jar of Lemons)
- Cauliflower Tacos (from Family Food on the Table)
I could totally keep going as I actually think they're are enough recipes out there where you could eat tacos EVERY night and not get the least bit bored.
But for now, I'm hooked on these mini crispy lamb tacos.
Serve them to your family for dinner tonight... Or make them as a party appetizer when you need a few good finger foods!
What's your favorite kind of taco?
📖 Recipe
Mini Crispy Lamb Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for tortillas
- 1 cup diced onion (from about 1 onion)
- ½ Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¾ cup chopped Mediterranean olives (I recommend Castelvetrano)
- 12 street taco-size flour tortillas (or other small tortilla, flour or corn)
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- Chopped parsley, for garnish
- Lemon wedges, for garnish
Mediterranean Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp paprika
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 3-4 minutes to soften. Add garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
- Add ground lamb to the skillet and, using a large wooden spoon or spatula, break lamb up into smaller pieces. Cook until no longer pink.
- Add cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, pepper, and chopped olives to lamb and toss to combine. Cook for another minute.
- Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for about 45 seconds to make them more pliable. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with olive oil and set on a baking sheet (or two baking sheets).
- Add lamb filling to one half of each tortilla. Top with crumbled feta cheese. Fold tortilla over to form taco, pressing firmly to close (if tortilla keeps popping up, don't worry too much as you'll be able to press it down after its first round in the oven).
- Place baking sheet(s) in oven for 6 minutes. Remove, flip each taco, and return to oven for another 5-6 minutes, until tacos are golden and crispy.
- Serve mini crispy lamb tacos with yogurt sauce spooned on top and on the side, chopped parsley, and lemon wedges.
Mediterranean Yogurt Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
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