O’Marcos Tacos – French Tacos

Here’s my homemade take on the hugely popular “tacos,” or “French tacos,” from O’tacos. Step by step, we’ll break down the different components of their iconic specialty and try to recreate it—not only better, but a little lighter too. After all, homemade fried chicken may not exactly be health food, but mass-produced chicken is hardly better.

At first glance, French tacos can seem intimidating. With so many components, you might assume you’ll end up eating them cold… Not at all! The final step—melting and browning everything in the oven—saves the day, warming everything through for a hot, melty meal packed with flavor.

1. The fries

Any Belgians reading this can skip this step straight away. For everyone else, I’m going to show you a simple recipe for Belgian-style fries!

You will need:

• Beef fat / beef dripping (or frying oil/sunflower oil, if needed)
• Potatoes suitable for fries (or regular potatoes, if needed)
• A vegetable peeler

1. Heat the oil to 190-200°C
2. Fry the peeled and cut potatoes for the first time for about 7 min
3. Remove them from the oil and let them cool for 5 min
4. Fry them a second time (this is the Belgian trick), then remove them once they’re nice and crisp; this should take about 5 min

And there you go! The first component is ready; set it aside for later.

2. The chicken tenders

My favorite “extra” in a French taco is a batch of perfectly crispy chicken tenders… though they’re often bland and dry, fortunately hidden under all the other ingredients. Here, I’m going to show you the classic American technique for buttermilk fried chicken . The buttermilk tenderizes the meat and gives it a unique flavor, and the extra-simple breading is one I designed to come close to KFC in both texture and taste. This recipe also works with other cuts, such as drumsticks, wings, and thighs, so you can make your own chicken buckets hehe

You will need:

MARINADE

• 500 ml buttermilk
• 500 g chicken, cut into thick strips
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground thyme
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt

BREADING

• 300 g flour
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground thyme
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt

OTHER

• Frying oil
• 3 eggs
• A mixing bowl and a deep plate

1. Marinate the chicken in the buttermilk and marinade spices for at least 1 hour (up to 24h)
2. Prepare the seasoned flour by mixing the flour with the breading spices
3. Pour the beaten eggs into the deep plate
4. Heat the oil to 180°C
5. Dip each piece first in the flour, then in the egg, then back into the flour, and gently lower it into the oil. Fry the chicken in batches if needed; there are quite a few pieces.
6. Cook for about 7-8 min, keeping an eye on the color of the breading

3. The O’Marcos French tacos sauce

No cheese sauce here. For the cheese, I prefer adding thin strips of cheddar shaved with a peeler. Sorry.

Instead, we’re going to make the same sauce I use for my ultimate burger!

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 pickles, finely chopped
• A handful of fresh chives, finely chopped
• 115 g mayo
• 115 g ketchup
• 1 tiny pinch baking soda

1. Place the onions in a saucepan over medium heat with the butter and baking soda. Sauté for about 15 min, until caramelized (the baking soda speeds up the reaction; normally it takes 45 min—my gift to you 😘)
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl

4. The ground beef

For this, you will need:

• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 500 g ground beef
• 2 onions, finely chopped

1. Sauté the onions over medium-high heat until translucent
2. Add the beef and mix well for 5 min, breaking up any clumps
3. Add the spices and stir until the juices have evaporated

5. Assembly and folding

Layer the following on your tortilla, in this order:

1. The sauce
2. The ground beef
3. The tenders
4. The fries
5. A sprinkling of cheddar

Folding

For this part, I’ll refer you to the video I followed myself:

6. The cheese topping

Here we are at last! The final step for the French taco: melting and browning the cheese topping.

1. Start by preheating your oven to 130°C fan-assisted
2. Using a peeler, shave the cheddar into thin strips; these fine strips are the secret to a perfect cheesy topping that doesn’t run everywhere. Lay the strips neatly on top of the taco.
3. Bake for about 10 min

It’s done! Congratulations, you’ve just made an authentic French taco, just like at O’tacos!

By the way, I also have a delicious recipe for homemade kebab