The crunchwrap supreme is one of Taco Bell’s most famous and popular menu items. Created in 2005, it eventually became the most popular menu item of all time, becoming a permanent addition in January of 2006.
It’s one of my favorite items too, but while the overall concept is interesting and delicious, the execution is often lacking.
Taco Bell doesn’t exactly have a great track record.
Sometimes you get this mess:
Other times you’ll get promised what’s on the left, only to receive what’s on the right:
And other times it just looks plain sad:
And at $3.49 a pop, it shouldn’t be anything less than great.
But we all know how fast food usually fares, and after many disappointments, I decided to recreate the recipe myself.
Here’s a photo of my version:
CREATING OUR CRUNCHWRAP
The best part about these is that they can be customized to your liking. I don’t like nacho cheese so I simply use shredded and go light on the sour cream while loading up the beef and cheese, but you can make ’em however you like!
What you’ll need:
- Ground beef or chicken – I use 1 lb., which should make 6 to 8 servings.
- Hard taco shells – One per crunchwrap
- 8″ flour tortilla – One per crunchwrap
- Taco*/fajita filling seasoning packet – 1 packet per 1lb. of beef or chicken (It shows “fajita” but I always use “taco” for beef! I took a photo of the wrong one) 🙁
- Shredded/Nacho cheese
- Sour cream
- 1 to 2 Tomatoes
- 1 head Green leaf or romaine lettuce
- 1 White Onion
- Jalapeno (optional)
Making this recipe yourself saves a bunch of money – each crunchwrap only costs about $1.75 – half the cost of a normal crunchwrap – but it’s even better because it’s guaranteed to be hot and can be made to order.
Let’s get cooking!
PREPPING OUR INGREDIENTS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for the hard shells.
Next, dice the tomato and onion (and jalapeno, if using). The tomato is used as a garnish on the crunchwrap, while the onion and jalapeno get added to the meat mixture during cooking.
Shred some lettuce and place into a colander and rinse. Set aside.
Next, brown the ground beef over medium heat in a frying pan. It shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes.
You want the beef to be pink in a couple spots – this ensures it won’t be overcooked and gross.
*We’ll cook this again with water and the other ingredients, so don’t worry if you don’t like your meat pink.
Drain the fat:
Turn on the stove to medium heat. Add the spice packet and 1/3 cup of water. Mix well. If the consistency is too thick, continue adding water to your desired thickness. You want there to be a little liquid, but not a puddle, like so:
Add the chopped onions and the jalapeno.
I also like to add some garlic, if you have it on hand. Cook until the water has cooked down, 3 to 5 minutes:
While the meat is cooking, place the hard shells in the oven for 3 minutes. Cool for 1 minute.
Now that everything is done, we can assemble our crunchwraps!
ASSEMBLING THE CRUNCHWRAP
Note – adding too many toppings will keep the crunchwrap from folding completely, which may cause leaks or falling apart.
First, place a soft tortilla on a plate. I like to add some cheese on top.
Then add the beef. I use about 1/4 to 1/3 cup – if you use too much, the tortilla won’t close all the way.
Add the hard shells. You won’t be able to use them as they are – they’ll have to be broken to fit. You want them to just cover the meat.
Cover with a layer of sour cream, (which is not really my thing, so I only add a dab):
Place some dried shredded lettuce on top of the sour cream, and top with diced tomatoes (and additional cheese, if you like):
FOLDING THE CRUNCHWRAP
The crunchwrap is folded in a six star shape but my walkthrough shows it done via the five point method.
You’ll see why it’s important to use a large tortilla, to not overstuff and to use the six-point fold below.
Fold one side of the tortilla towards the center:
Then, working in a clockwise motion, fold the sides of the crunchwrap toward the center:
Notice how mine isn’t closing completely? It’s because I used too small of a tortilla and filled it with too much stuff. All is not lost, though – you just have to be careful when cooking it.
If you’re having trouble folding, check out this video from Taco Bell – it appears to be a training module:
Also comes with this gem of a comment:
Next, spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and set to medium heat for a minute.
Place the crunchwrap, fold side down, onto the pan, being very careful not to let it open.
If yours was slightly open, like mine, you’ll have to be quick!
Cook for a minute or until browned on the bottom, then flip:
Cook for an additional minute until the other side is browned.
copycat taco bell CRUNCHWRAP COMPLETE!
Look at this beefy, cheesy goodness:
Looks better than the real thing, huh? It certainly tastes better. And it’s cheaper.
COST BREAKDOWN
This recipe makes about 8 servings, give or take portion sizes.
Because we only use 1 of these items per crunchwrap, the overall cost for each item is the unit’s overall price divided by the number of items that come per package.
I calculated the other ingredients’ costs by dividing by eight, as 1 lb. of beef or chicken should provide 8 servings, and most of the other ingredients should provide at least eight servings as well. Values rounded to the nearest whole cent.
See! I wouldn’t lie to you guys.
CONCLUSION
Now that you can make a crunchwrap supreme yourself, while drinking a Mountain Dew Baja Blast, there’s really no need to go to Taco Bell anymore.
These are a million times better than the ones you’d get from Taco Hell, and they’re guaranteed to be hot and fresh – and also totally customizable. Best of all, they’re half the price than a “real” one, at just $1.75 per wrap. Reasonable, huh?
I encourage any crunchwrap lover to try these out for themselves.
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