Authentic Navajo Fry Bread and Indian Tacos - The Real Story You've Never Heard

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]This may be one of the most well-known foods in American history, but do you know the story behind it?

[00:00:08]Today, we're making Navajo fried bread and Indian tacos and tell you the story that most people have never heard.

[00:00:26]Woo! Welcome into camp. And we're talking about something that I dearly love and you have probably eat it too if you've went to the state fair and that is Indian fry bread. By using the word Indian taco or native fry bread, something like that. There are still places that do call it this or Navajo taco. We mean no disrespect in any of these terms. In fact, we're paying honor and tribute to those people and the rich history that it created to make this dish possible.

[00:00:55]Now, I could remember when we'd be going to the state fair, we showed horses up there at Oklahoma City. It was always in September when school started. But one of the highlights was we'd stop at what is called the Cherokee Indian Village Trading Post right there on Route 66.

[00:01:10]And what did we go for? Indian tacos.

[00:01:13]They were so easy, so good. And I never did understand why we never did have them more. And when we get to the fair, that would be the first place we looked up to. I know a lot of y'all have eaten these when you've gone out to places like this. We're going to simplify this dish just a little bit today, but we're not going to scrimp on the flavor. First of all, flour in our little mixing bowl.

[00:01:33]We're going to add some bacon powder, about that much. A little dab of salt.

[00:01:42]And we need to get that mixed.

[00:01:48]And a lot of people, I've had a few questions. They'll say, "Is that all-purpose flour or self-rising?" Most everything we cook and use is allpurpose flour. If it isn't a recipe to where it's self-rising, we'll be sure and note that to you. Now, warm water.

[00:02:06]Now, when we're talking about oil that we're going to use in something like this, and I'm thinking I'm going to use corn oil. I think that's my what they might have had at the time, or lard, maybe even some butter on occasion. But anything like if I'm making a good dough that's going to taste, I think authentic to the period, I would rather use corn oil. But also remember, it is the best thing that you can use if you're going to make some Mexican fried rice to crisp that rice up. We'll get this incorporated. We're going to make this into a good soft dough ball. And then we're going to let it set for about 30 minutes to rise out here in the 85° temperatures.

[00:02:43]Now, out here today, I went by the recipe, but I had to add just a little more water. Always want to air on the side of this dough is too wet rather than too dry because most of the time you can't get it back to that stage of being just right. So, always start out with a little more than you think you need. You can add flour to it to thicken it up. So, we're going to flour up here just a little. Get our hands in it. I can usually tell right off the bat if I think it's too dry or too wet. You can see by looking at this that is pretty wet. It is.

[00:03:17]>> Can I ask why you're wearing gloves?

[00:03:19]>> Well, it sticks to my hands really bad.

[00:03:21]And this way I ain't got near as much cleanup when I get through. I don't want you to need this so very long that you're drying it out. But I do want it to get mixed well.

[00:03:32]And I want it to have the consistency when you pull it that it has a little elasticity as you can see because as this rises a little, we're going to incorporate a little more moisture right there at the end because we're going to add some melted butter to it. Find you a warm place for this to set in the house or outside.

[00:03:54]But it feels good. It's got some texture, but it is still soft, very workable. Put her down in here.

[00:04:03]a magical rag and just let it sit for about 30 minutes. Now, if you're doing this house and this is cooler temperatures than you're normally used to this time of year or something, let it rise about an hour. Then you can start. But we ain't going to hurt nothing by 30 minutes today in the warm sunshine.

[00:04:26]Fry bread traces back to one of the most painful chapters in American history.

[00:04:31]The Navajo people who called themselves Da were sophisticated farmers and shepherds. In the winter of 1863 and into 1864, US Army Colonel Kit Carson was ordered to subdue the Navajo by the scorched earth campaign, burning their crops, destroying their orchards, killing their livestock, and contaminating their water. The Navajo called this period the fearing time.

[00:04:57]With no food left and nowhere to hide, thousands were forced to surrender. And what followed became known as the Long Walk. Over 53 separate force marches took place between 1864 and 1866.

[00:05:13]In total, around 10,000 Navajo and 500 Meascalero Apache were driven to an internment camp called Busk Redundo. The first year, the Navajo actually managed a respectable harvest, about 75,000 bushels of corn. Then an agricultural pest called the army worm destroyed most of what remained. The Pacus River flooded and wiped out their irrigation system. Year after year, the crops failed. The camp had been designed for maybe 5,000 people. There was over 9,000 living there. And the government rations that were given, flour, lard, salt, sometimes sugar, were often foods the Navajo had never cooked with before.

[00:05:55]Some accounts record that the rations made people sick and in some cases even killed them.

[00:06:03]Frab bread was not traditional food. It was created from rations on land they'd never chose to be on, out of ingredients that were foreign to their way of life.

[00:06:11]It was born from survival.

[00:06:26]While that dough is sitting over there getting a suntan, we're going to go ahead and brown up this meat. I just got a pound of 8020 ground chuck.

[00:06:35]We got a little sizzle in there, so that means things are going our way.

[00:06:40]Hi, Luke. Do you do you like ground beef? Huh? She said, "If it'll hit the ground, I'll sure grab it." Then here comes another one. They can sense meat from 40 miles away, except for Duke, who is asleep on the couch.

[00:06:58]Time to season the meat. So, little bit of our mosquite, a little bit of our taco seasoning, and it's got everything in there that you would think if you was making your homemade.

[00:07:18]Give it a quick stir.

[00:07:20]Still on medium heat. We are. Now, if you're cooking this along and you get quite a bit of grease built up in there, just move your meat to one side, tilt the skillet, drain it out of there.

[00:07:30]You'll be just fine.

[00:07:34]But while that's cooking, it's time to get them beans on.

[00:07:40]Now, I just took a regular can of pinto beans and we just going to warm them through because we're going to add a little seasoning to them. Sure, they got a little in there from the canning process. But like I say, if you want to go back, we've got four different bean videos that you can make beans and then you can use them. Me, I've got some little bit of cumin, little bit of ano chili powder, and a little bit of garlic. We're going to sprinkle that in there.

[00:08:10]Add us just a little bit of oregano.

[00:08:15]If I can get in it.

[00:08:19]And always when you use this, and so many people say this is a brand I trust, always make sure that you crumble it in there. You're unlocking so much more flavor.

[00:08:31]So, we're going to finish browning that meat till it's done, letting them beans warm through, and then we'll get back to making that fry bread.

[00:08:46]Well, it has risen. It has. So, at this point, we have melted a half a stick of butter. I like to make me a little well right here in the middle. You can see it. It's a butter swimming pool. In it goes right there.

[00:09:01]And then you just going to go to working it because we needed that extra butter for the flavor, but also for the moisture. Just keep working it around in here. And if you think it gets too wet, we'll sure add a little flour to it. And we're probably going to have to, but just keep mashing. Keep getting that butter incorporated in there.

[00:09:26]Let's fl our surface.

[00:09:30]And since we put that butter in there, we better fly them paws up, too. Ain't that right, Maji? Bring her out.

[00:09:38]Just give it a good mashing. I'm not going to work this along that it dries out. I just need to make sure that everything is where it needs to be. And I'd say we was there. We still got some elasticity in that dough. We still have some moisture.

[00:09:56]So, we're going to make it into a ball, flatten it out, and go to rolling.

[00:10:02]When you get it to this point, I just ball mine up here like a loaf of bread.

[00:10:06]We're going to pinch these off into what I would say just a little bigger than golf ball.

[00:10:14]which is about that size.

[00:10:36]They are rolled out and ready to go. We have preheated the oil to 350°. I'm using peanut oil. Use whatever you want to as long as it has a pretty high smoke temp. These do not take long. Going to lay them in there. They're going to fry up till they're golden brown. They're going to puff up just a tad. Sometimes I even have to prick them with a fork to let all the air out of them to where they just don't blow plum out of the water. So, here come the first one.

[00:11:05]Check your oil temperature periodically.

[00:11:08]And you can see how this one is bubbling up oh so nicely. See that great big one there? Like a bullfrog fit to bust.

[00:11:14]We're just going to give him a little help there.

[00:11:17]I do like to splash a little oil up here on if I can. And it don't hurt to turn them as many times as you want. We're going to give it another pop right there. Don't be walking off. This happens quickly cuz you don't want these to be so crispy as you want them to be puffy, light, and fluffy. When you get ready and you got these rolled out, I like to go about an eighth of an inch if somebody wants to grab a tape measure from out in the forest and come run quick and check it.

[00:11:44]But that's about three major whiskers and one pine needle just right.

[00:12:02]After four years of hardship, the US Navajo Treaty of 1868 was signed, allowing the Navajo to begin the long journey back home. But they didn't return to the same world they had left.

[00:12:14]Their livestock was gone, their fields long untended, and their traditional food systems disrupted in ways that would take generations to rebuild. The Navajo were one of the only tribes ever allowed to return to their ancestral homeland. Throughout the 19th century, the federal government actively prohibited intertribal gatherings.

[00:12:35]Today's pow-wows are partly a direct response to that history of suppression.

[00:12:40]As those gatherings grew in the early 20th century, they needed a common food, something that could be made in large quantities over open fire with simple ingredients, fried bread. It fit perfectly. And as different tribes came together, the toppings started to evolve. beans, which had long been a part of many native diets, seasoned meat shaped by both native and ranching traditions, and eventually cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. That's where the Indian taco began to take shape. The first Navajo taco is credited to a man named Lou Shepard who managed the restaurant at the Navajo Lodge in the 1960s. One cold night in 1964, exactly a hundred years after the long walk, a friend came in hungry and asked to be surprised. Shepherd went to his kitchen, saw some fry bread, and built something new on top of it. What started as survival food on a government reservation eventually found its way to the county fairs, festivals, and roadside stands across the Southwest, and then the whole country. But what I want you to remember is this. A people who had everything stripped from them.

[00:13:49]Their land, their food, their language, their right together found a way to feed each other.

[00:14:21]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:14:41]There it is. A finished product out there. Like I'm at the state fair.

[00:14:44]Where's the ferris wheel and all the music going on? This is what we call a celebration. Now you can see over here we have made us some fried bread. Just a little powdered sugar and a little bit of honey. I like them with maple syrup on them. You could even add a little fruit, little whipped cream, whatever you want to do to it. But over here, this is what I'm talking about. The goodness is fixing to take place.

[00:15:05]>> Well, you're just doing one big old bite.

[00:15:06]>> You don't need a fork. It's got hand holds on both sides.

[00:15:15]Joker.

[00:15:20]Well, that was worth the wait it was, and we didn't have to wait long. But folks, I need you to remember what the great trials and tribulations that all these Native American people faced and all the food that they had to go through, whether they liked or disliked from the government to get it all made into something we love today. And what is it? Indian taco, fried bread. It is some good eating. It is. But it is with great pride, honor, and privilege that I tip my hat to all our servicemen and women and all the veterans that have kept that old flag of flying. We commend you to all we do and we lift you up in prayer daily. Rest of you, get on up in here quick. I'm f to give you a big old hug.

[00:15:58]God bless you each and everyone and I'll see you down the frail.

[00:16:06]This might be one of the most well-known foods in American history.

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