• Cocktails & Caterers

Who is ready to have a Cinco de Mayo party? Well .... might we suggest having a taco bar at this fiesta? Your guests will have a terrific time building their own tacos, plus it will allow you to interact with your guests since everything is already prepped. A taco bar is not only a great idea for Cinco de Mayo, but you can also consider this tasty menu option for your bridal shower or even your wedding!
Lucky for us, we had Brooke Keegan to explain how to make your own taco bar that is festive and fun. Not only does she show us exactly how to set up a taco bar, but provides recipes from catering company 24 Carrots and free printables designed by Jen Simpson Design. Making this a true Mexican fiesta. Who is ready to party like there is no mañana?

When guests arrive, offer them a Margarita or a Beer. To make your drinks festive, download our free drink flag printables here and your free printable cerveza labels here. They will definitely make your cocktail hour more festive and personalized! Created by Jen SimpsonDesign.
Hint: when cutting out these awesome printables, use a metal ruler and an X-Acto knife to ensure straight edges, and try using the bottom of a shot glass and an X-Acto knife for a perfect circle on the cerveza labels.
Beer and margarita table shopping list:
Assorted Mexican beer (Dos Equis, Corona, Corona Light, Pacifico, Negro Modelo, etc.)
Tequila Margarita Mix (Original or Strawberry)
Salt Limes

For this diy taco bar, you can customize the menu any way that you would like. If you would like to replicate our taco bar, we made a shopping list to use as a guide. Scroll down and read more to get the entire shopping list and all the recipes. Including recipes for the following dishes- Ground Turkey Taco Recipe, Picadillo Ground Beef Taco Recipe, Shredded Chicken Taco Recipe, Spanish Rice Recipe, Tex-Mex Caesar Dressing, and a Homemade Churro Recipe with Chocolate Dipping Sauce.

We found this diy Papel Picado Banner that you can make for your party from Honestly Yum! ¡ole!

As an addition to hard shell tacos and soft tacos, we included tostadas and a Mexican salad. This gives a few more items for guests to choose from, but once again, you can eliminate these to make things easier and more manageable. You can download the Menu printable and include all of the specific ingredients you used to build your Taco Bar to dress up your buffet. We have one here that is blank and you can write in all your toppings or you can use the one we used here.

You can also serve mini 7-Layer dips as an appetizer. You can make them in any small clear glass vessel. It is pretty, delicious and easy to make!

7 Layer dip Recipe
1. Start with a rocks glass, a clear plastic cup or mini martini glasses.
2. layering refried black beans on the bottom, followed by sour cream, salsa, guacamole and cheese then garnish with sour cream, diced tomatoes, green onion and a tortilla chip!

Dress up your dining table with bright colored décor. A colorful rug, placemats, napkins, colored glassware, flowers, pillows, and décor pieces will add to the overall look and feel. I suggest Etsy, World Market, Pier 1, or Home Goods for affordable décor items.
As a party favor, you can offer your guests fiesta inspired tote bags from our shop. We stuffed them with blankets since the party is outside and might get a bit chilly in the evening. However, you can stuff them with anything you would like to add to the festivities!

It is always fun to end the night with something sweet! Churros with chocolate dipping sauce is easy and delicious. If you want to be ambitious, you can make the churros from scratch. Scroll down for the entire recipe. If you are on a pinch for time you can buy them frozen and pop them in the oven. Either way, they will be mucho delicioso.

Here are a list of all the free make your own taco bar printables. Created by Jen SimpsonDesign Drink Flag PrintableCerveza Label Printable Taco Bar Menu Printable Taco Shell Holder Printable Churro Sign Printable Photography: Marisa Holmes Coordinator: Brooke Keegan Stationery: Jen SimpsonDesign Flowers: Elegant by Design Caterer: 24 Carrots Prop & Furniture Rentals: Casa de Perrin Read on to see then entire shopping list and all the recipes used in this diy taco bar!

Shopping List:
Mexican Salad:
Romaine Lettuce Corn Tomatoes Cilantro Pepitas Tex-Mex Caesar Dressing:
5 Poblano Chiles
3 Garlic Cloves, Roasted
½ cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Cream
1 cup Mayo
½ TBS Cumin
½ TBS Mexican Oregano
½ cup Pepitas, Toasted & Ground
1 batch Cilantro
½ cup Lime Juice (add more to taste)
1 Jalapeno, Roasted & Seeded
1 Tomatillo, Roasted
1 Yellow Onion, Roasted Salt & Pepper to taste Dash of Worcestershire In one bowl, mix the buttermilk, cream, mayo, and lime juice. In another bowl, mix all the other ingredients to create a “salsa verde” mix. Blend together for creamy dressing. (to make it faster and easier, you can buy a bottle of salad dressing)
Ground Turkey Tacos:
3 lbs Fresh ground turkey
2 TBS Cumin
2 TBS Sea salt
2 TBS Chili powder
2 TBS Granulated garlic
2 TBS Granulated onion
1 cup Diced peppers
1 cup Diced onions
½ cup Cilantro chopped

(to make it faster and easier, buy the Turkey Meat and add a Taco seasoning packet by Old El Paso, Ortega, or McCormick)
Picadillo Ground Beef Tacos:
3 lbs Ground beef
2 TBS Cumin
2 TBS Sea salt
2 TBS Chili powder
2 TBS Granulated garlic
2 TBS Granulated onion
1 cup Diced peppers
1 cup Diced onions
½ cup Cilantro chopped
12oz can Fire roasted canned tomatoes diced
2 TBS Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (pureed)

(to make it faster and easier, buy the Ground Beef Meat and add a Taco seasoning packet by Old El Paso, Ortega or McCormick)
Shredded Chicken for Tacos:
3 lbs Chicken Breast Lime juice and zest of
4 limes
4 TBS Cilantro minced
3 TBS Cumin
3 TBS Salt
12 oz can Enchilada Sauce
12 oz Chicken stock Spanish Rice
1/4 cup and
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups uncooked white rice
3 onion, chopped
1-1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
6 cups water
3 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste

(to make it faster and easier, buy the pre-made rice packs by Old El Paso, Rice A Roni, or Knorr)
Shells:
Hard Taco Shells Corn and Flour Tortillas Tostada Shells Toppings:
Lettuce Sour Cream Tomatoes Jalapeños Red Onion Green Onion Cheese (cheddar and jack)
Limes Salsa (green and red)
Tortilla Chips Black Beans Guacamole (pre-made or from scratch: avocados, diced red onion, diced tomatoes, finely diced jalapeños, lime juice, lime zest, & salt)
Your favorite Hot Sauces (Tapatio, Cholula, La Victoria, etc.)
Churros:
You can make them from scratch or buy them frozen at the grocery store and pop them in the oven. If you want to make them from scratch, please refer to the recipe from food network here.
Chocolate dipping sauce:
4 ounces dark chocolate or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1 ounce milk chocolate or 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips
1 tablespoon golden syrup or corn syrup
2/3 cup double cream (Melt all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and then it is ready to serve)