The Must-Have Aldi Shortcut For Restaurant-Worthy Chalupas

Aldi is full of quality products at some of the lowest prices on the market, thanks to the chain's private label brand. And many of Aldi's hidden gems have multiple uses. Aldi's naan is the best bread the store has to offer, but it's also the perfect must-have shortcut for restaurant-worthy chalupas.

While many authentic Mexican chalupas use a corn tortilla as the carby base to puff up in hot frying oil, many U.S. versions use flour tortillas. The famous Mission tortilla brand sells flour chalupas, not to mention the wildly famous fried bread-based chalupas and gordita crunch offerings from Taco Bell. The mini-naans from Aldi's Specially Select line are the perfect miniature size of a classic corn tortilla with a similar savory profile to a flour tortilla. And, we know from other similar flat breads like pita being fried into crispy chips that the naan will likewise become crispy and crunchy with the help of a little oil. The mini-naan chalupa idea is a viral idea on Reddit, with plenty of Aldi customers sharing their methodology. "I warmed up the naan to make it pliable. I just sprayed the outside with canola oil and stuck two toothpicks through to hold its shape. Air fried at 400 [degrees Fahrenheit] for about 4 minutes per side," says a Redditor. If you don't have an air fryer, another Reddit user makes chalupas the old-fashioned way. "The shell I fried up the naan in canola oil. Happens pretty quickly," they said.

In the absence of an air fryer or deep fryer, you can always bake the chalupas as we do in this recipe for crispy baked chicken chalupas: By brushing or spraying oil onto the mini naans over a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, adding beans, chicken, cheese, and sauce, and baking for 5 to 8 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another advantage the mini-naans have is that they're thick enough to still provide a little give, so you can fold them into chalupa tacos or gorditas. "Put a taco shell inside and you've got an at home cheesy Gordita crunch," says one Redditor. Considering how many Taco Bell chalupa and gordita copycat recipes there are, you can certainly draw influence from the chain's ingredient combinations. Top the fried naan with ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning, followed by shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and plenty of shredded cheese, before folding them into chalupa supreme tacos. Make a meatless chalupa with the help of refried beans, cheese, guacamole, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and diced red onions.

Aldi also sells garlic mini naans, which will make for an even more flavorful base for chalupas. If Mexican food isn't what you had in mind, you can make Indian-style chalupas by topping air-fried, crispy garlic naans with butter chicken, diced cilantro, and pickled red onions.