Mexican food does not have to be greasy and heavy! Try my Vegetarian Baked Tostadas recipe: Corn tortillas baked in the oven until crispy, then topped with refried beans, avocado, homemade pico de gallo, avocado and goat cheese!
Update Feb. 2016: I first shared this baked tostadas recipe in October 2014 and I'm re-sharing it today because I made a video to show exactly how it's done! Scroll down just before the recipe box to see it. Enjoy!
The quick weeknight enchilada casserole I shared with you last week inspired me to continue on the Mexican road and try new Latin-inspired specialties.
This vegetarian baked tostadas recipe was my first attempt at tostadas, although it has been on my "to-try" list for a very long time (this list is ever growing!). I had seen many baked tostadas recipes on different blogs, magazines and cookbooks and from their looks I definitely suspected them to be very good.
I finally managed to give this famous Mexican street food classic a try and the crispy baked tortillas loaded with classic Mexican ingredients did not disappoint: they definitely ARE delicious and really addictive!
If you are wondering what Mexican tostadas are, well, they are basically like a Mexican-style open-faced sandwich. Except instead of bread, a crispy corn tortilla is used.
Traditionally, the corn tortilla is fried to make a crispy shell, but I decided to go the healthy way and bake them in the oven instead. The baked tostadas came out perfectly crispy and golden brown, exactly how they should be.
Now, I was expecting these baked tostadas to be very messy and completely fall apart as we ate them but they did hold together beautifully! I think the key is to not overload them with too many toppings. In the baked tostadas recipe, I detailed exactly how much I put on each tostada.
Speaking of toppings, as the title suggests I went meatless and used refried beans (another recent awesome discovery!), iceberg lettuce, pico de gallo - a tomato salsa and mashed avocado (of course, it's me, there's got to be avocado!), topped with a few crumbs of feta. I absolutely adored these healthy baked tostadas and I hope you will too!
Here's the baked tostadas recipe video (click here if you are reading this via email and can't see the video):
If you tried this baked tostadas recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe below and let me know how it went in the comments – I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook for more deliciousness and behind-the-scenes!

Vegetarian Baked Tostadas
Mexican food does not have to be greasy and heavy! Try my Vegetarian Baked Tostadas: Corn tortillas baked in the oven until crispy, then topped with refried beans, avocado, homemade pico de gallo, avocado and goat cheese!
Ingredients
- 8 small corn tortillas
- olive oil spray
- 1 14- oz can refried beans 1 x 400 g can
- 2 ½ cups iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1 large avocado or 2 medium mashed
- ¼ cup goat's feta cheese crumbled (leave out to make vegan and dairy free)
Pico de gallo (tomato salsa)
- 4 large tomatoes chopped into small cubes
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 garlic clove thinly minced
- 1 tbsp red onion thinly chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper seed removed and thinly chopped (optional)
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the tostadas:
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Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
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Generously spray corn tortillas with olive oil on both sides. Arrange on two baking sheets, in a single layer. Bake 5 minutes then flip tortillas and bake 3 additional minutes or until tortillas are golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and set aside.
For the toppings:
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While tortillas are baking, reheat refried beans combined with ¼ cup water in a small pan, on low heat. Let cool slightly.
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Prepare pico de gallo. In a medium bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, lime juice, garlic, onion, jalapeño pepper and cilantro. Season with salt to taste.
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Prepare remaining ingredients: chop salad, mash avocado and crumble feta cheese.
Assembling:
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Assemble tostadas. Spread ¼ cup refried beans on each tostada (be careful not to break the shell!), top with ⅓ cup lettuce, ¼ cup pico de gallo, 1 tbsp avocado and sprinkle with ½ tbsp feta. Repeat with remaining shells and serve immediately. You can also serve the prepared shells and toppings and let people make their own tostadas.
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
Hi Marie. These baked tostadas are lovely. The colors are brilliant and your flavors are amazing. Healthy and delicious!
marie
Thanks a lot Nagi 🙂 Mexican food does have amazing flavors and colors, love it!
40A.
What I love about Mexican food is its simplicity - and if you manage to reduce some of the unnecessary calories, even better! These look delish!