How to have a Quick and Easy Taco Party

Whether you are planning a new years eve party or a birthday party, a Mexican Taco party is an excellent option for your family and friends. You can quickly add a pinata for activities too. When my daughter was three years old, we had a Dora the Explorer party were we cooked Mexican food and planned a Dora the Explorer game for the kids. Plus, we added a pinata to allow the kids to let loose a little after cake. It was well received, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Benefits of having a Mexican Taco party:

• It’s affordable. Mexican food goes on sale all the time. Tacos imparticular, are a monthly sale item in my area.
• It can feed a lot of people. Again, this is a cost-effective way to feed many people.
• It will satisfy everyone; you can have fresh toppings or mild toppings, flavorful toppings and more mild ones.

If you want to start, follow the instructions below.

First, start with the inside of the tacos will have.

We decided to serve 2 lb of beef and 2 lb of turkey filling in our tacos with two packs of the low sodium Mexican mix seasoning. We made the turkey filling with a can of cannellini beans.  We liked the idea of making the turkey more filling with the cannellini beans, and so did everyone else. (If you have vegetarian guests, add a vegetarian option too.) Then we placed the fillings in a heated disposable chafer dish. I purchased one from a wholesale store near me and had been using it for years. It came with several disposable aluminum trays to use for several different parties.

Then, determine your side dishes and your toppings.

I then purchased another small collapsible one from my local grocery store. We created a divider in the smaller one by rolling up heavy-duty aluminum foil then covered it with another piece of the heavy duty aluminum foil, and voilà, we created two sections of this smaller chafer dish. We used this one for the Mexican rice and refried beans. If you have parties often, you can invest in these below. They are more durable and less flimsy. Below are various chafer styles from Amazon. If you wish to buy any of them, I will receive a small referral fee that will not affect your cost.

We made black beans in the Instant Pot we purchased recently.  It was so easy to make and use the standard recipe. Here’s the recipe we used from The Food Network. I will be using the Beans and chili feature again soon. Yum!

We then made Mexican Rice from a prepared box, and it worked great for our guests to fill their bellies.

I then made my perfect Guacamole which I have perfected over the years. I will share this recipe next week.  Stay tuned.

Toppings for the taco party

In the divider tray, I added a shredded cheddar, shredded lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, and my dairy-free cheese.

Below are various divider trays from Amazon. If you wish to buy any of them, I will receive a small referral fee that will not affect your cost.

Decide on the decorations and make them. 

I then made a banner on my Cricut machine. It said “Taco bout a Party.”  lol. Cute, right? I then cut out the letters and made larger banner triangles for the background. 

If you don’t know anything about a Cricut machine, well, you are in for a wonderful treat. It is a machine that will cut almost any type of material.  I used it for this cardstock paper. Click through and find out more below about Cricut.  (affiliate)

Determine your schedule and write it down.

Now that we had the party planned out and the decorations to hang, we started making a timeline on when things need to get done. A great way of doing this is to have a weekly paper calendar with lots of room and time if possible.

Then, write down the activity and the time and to get things done. Include everything from now through to the day of the party. We referred to this timeline often, and it helped us stay on schedule.

Here’s a photo of our dining room.  This picture is our table all set up and ready to go, except for the holiday nachos. We opened that at the last minute and filled the bowls.

This photo is of our buffet area.  The meats and sides were covered to keep them warm.

Because our party was at lunch, we decided not to serve alcoholic beverages. A great tip for a taco party is to use large lawn bags, cut them open, and lay them on the counter for easy cleanup. We also added aluminum foil under the chafer and fondue cheese pot to protect the paper from catching on fire.

Find a place for drinks and create an area to write what you are offering.

Using a permanent marker, we wrote the drinks we will be serving. It worked nicely not just for the guests but for us to remember what we had in the fridge and in our basement fridge.

We decided to use plastic plates, but you can use regular plates if you had enough. At our party, we had 15 people including us, and we had minimal leftovers.  All that was left was a small serving of turkey, a big container of rice and black beans. That was pretty good for us. We usually make too much food and have lots of leftovers. I guess we are learning after 20+ years of doing 3-4 parties a year.

I hope this helps you organize and have a successful taco party.  Please leave any questions you may have below, and I will answer them as soon as possible. Feel free to visit our Making a Fabulous Party post that gives you tips and checklists to help you as well. And, don’t forget to have a great time with your guests. Hosting is fun but being strapped to the kitchen is not. Make sure you take time to speak with your loved ones throughout the night.