Every college town has a restaurant that’s the place, and in my college town in rural Pennsylvania it was House of Pizza, known to us as “Za’s”. I know you probably think this is just nostalgia, but it really was the best pizza ever, so beloved that alumni returning for homecoming would fill their trunks with stacks of Za’s pies, to bring the memories home.
Next door to Za’s – in its shadow both literally and figuratively – was Union Station, a tiny sandwich shop that went unnoticed until my sophomore roommate dragged me there and initiated me to the taco. It’s been many years now since I’ve had an actual Union Station Taco (don’t make me tell you how many), but just as with Za’s pizza, all others since have paled in comparison. Having given up on ever finding tacos as good anywhere else, I decided to recreate them at home.
There is absolutely nothing authentic about these tacos – no slow-cooked brisket, no handmade tortillas, no small-batch hot sauce. The filling is made from ground beef and the shells are from a box.
But there are two things that make them special. First, the beef filling is saucy. Juice-running-down-your-wrist, three napkins saucy. And highly seasoned. I use Better Than Bouillon brand chili base to season the filling, but it can be a little hard to find, so you can substitute taco seasoning mix. For a simple mix you can make at home, scroll to the bottom of the post – or use packets of store-bought. Start with 3 tablespoons (about 1½ packets of store-bought) and taste to make sure it’s to your liking – add more taco seasoning, and/or more salt or hot sauce as needed.
The other secret to out-of-this world tacos is the melted cheese. At Union Station they would wrap the tacos in foil and heat them until they were melted and melded like a spicy beefy grilled cheese. I tried that at home but found it messy and cumbersome. My technique is to line up the shells in a baking dish and fill them with the beef filling and cheese, then bake them until the shells are hot and crispy and the cheese is melted.
If your baking dish isn’t quite the perfect size to hold the number of tacos you’re making, add a crumpled up piece of tin foil to fill the empty space and keep the tacos standing up straight.
When you bite into one of these tacos, you get the salty crunch from the shell, then the spicy saucy kick of the beef, the oozy warm softness of the melted cheese, and finally the crisp freshness of shredded lettuce.
Now that I’ve mastered the Union Station Taco, maybe I’ll try my hand at recreating Za’s pizza…
Making these ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- The beef filling will keep for 5 days in the fridge, so make it ahead or keep leftovers within that time frame. Don’t assemble and bake the tacos until you’re ready to serve them.
Union Station Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (I use organic, expeller-pressed canola oil)
- 1 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)
- Kosher salt
- 1½ pounds 85% lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) Better Than Bouillon chili base (or 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning)
- ½ cup water, plus additional if needed
- ½ cup Heinz Chili Sauce
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce (such as Tabasco), or to taste
- 12 hard taco shells
- 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Finely shredded romaine lettuce
- Chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo, chopped avocado, sour cream and/or salsa, for toppings
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 2 Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onion and a pinch of kosher salt. Saute the onion until it’s just starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Step 3 Add the ground beef and the garlic powder. Cook the beef, breaking it up with the back of a spoon, until it’s nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Blot excess fat by moving the meat mixture to one side with the spoon and tilting the pan away. Use a paper towel to soak up some of the excess fat that pools at the side of the pan.
- Step 4 Reduce the heat to medium and add the chili base and water. Stir until the chili base is dissolved and completely incorporated with the meat. Stir in the chili sauce and tabasco. Heat the mixture for a couple more minutes until the sauce is heated through and the flavors have combined. The mixture should be very saucy – if it starts to get dry, add a little more water. Taste and add more Tabasco if you like it hotter. If you’ve used taco seasoning in place of the chili base, you may need to add a little salt, too.
- Step 5 Stand the taco shells up in a baking dish just large enough to hold them all in a row, standing upright. Scoop the meat into the shells, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the meat in all the tacos, dividing it evenly.
- Step 6 Bake the tacos for 8 to 10 minutes, until the shells are hot and crisp and the cheese is melted.
- Step 7 Transfer the tacos to a platter or individual plates and sprinkle the shredded lettuce on top of the cheese inside each taco. Serve with the remaining toppings of your choice on the side.
If you can’t find the chili base and want to use taco seasoning, here’s a simple mix you can make at home. This will make more than you need – it keeps for months.
Taco Seasoning
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1½ teaspoons onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
