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Authentic Navajo Fry Bread and Indian Tacos - The Real Story You've Never Heard
Apr 15, 2026
Printable recipe below! We're diving into a significant part of American history by showing you how to make Navajo fried bread and Indian tacos. This video explores the story behind these dishes, offering insights into native american food and navajo culture. Join us in camp as we prepare these historic recipes and discuss their tribal history.
Used in this video:
Kent's Taco and Original Seasonings: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop
Propane camp stove https://amzn.to/2MG9vo9
Mesquite wood spatula https://www.kentrollins.com/shop
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Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com
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0:00
This may be one of the most well-known
0:01
foods [music] in American history,
0:04
but do you know the story behind it?
0:08
Today, we're making Navajo fry bread and
0:10
Indian tacos and tell you the story that
0:13
most people have never heard.
0:26
Ooh, welcome in the camp and we're
0:28
talking about something that I dearly
0:30
love and you have probably eat it, too,
0:31
if you've went to the state fair. And
0:33
that is Indian fry bread. By using the
0:36
word Indian taco or native fry bread,
0:39
something like that, there are still
0:41
places that do call it this or Navajo
0:43
taco. We mean no disrespect in any of
0:46
[music] these terms. In fact, we're
0:47
paying honor and tribute to those people
0:50
and the rich history that it created to
0:52
make this dish [music] possible.
0:55
Now, I can remember when we'd be going
0:57
to the state fair. We showed horses up
0:59
there in Oklahoma City. It was always in
1:00
September when school started. But one
1:02
of the highlights was we'd stop at what
1:05
is called the Cherokee Indian Village
1:07
Trading Post, right there on Route 66.
1:10
And what did we go for?
1:12
Indian tacos. They were so easy, so
1:14
good, and I never did understand why we
1:16
never did have them more. And when we'd
1:18
get to the fair, that would be the first
1:20
place we looked up to. I know a lot of
1:22
y'all have eat these when you've gone
1:23
out to places like this. We're going to
1:25
simplify this dish just a little bit
1:27
today, but we're not going to skimp on
1:29
the flavor. First of all,
1:31
flour in our little mixing bowl. We're
1:33
going to add some baking powder,
1:37
about that much, a little dab of salt,
1:42
and we need to get that mixed.
1:48
And a lot of people I've had a few
1:49
questions. They'll say,
1:51
"Is that all-purpose flour or
1:53
self-rising?" Most everything we cook
1:55
and use is all-purpose flour. If it is
1:59
in a recipe to where it's self-rising,
2:00
we'll be sure to note that to you. Now,
2:03
warm water.
2:06
Now, when we're talking about oil that
2:08
we're going to use in something like
2:09
this, and I'm thinking I'm going to use
2:11
corn oil. I think that's my what they
2:13
might have had at the time or lard,
2:15
maybe even some butter on occasion. But
2:17
anything like if I'm making a good dough
2:19
that's going to taste I think I'll thin
2:21
it to the period I would rather use corn
2:23
oil, but also remember it is the best
2:26
thing that you can use if you're going
2:27
to make some Mexican fried rice to crisp
2:29
that rice up. We'll get this
2:31
incorporated. We're going to make this
2:33
into a good soft dough ball, and then
2:35
we're going to let it set for about 30
2:37
minutes to rise out here in the 85°
2:39
temperatures.
2:43
Now, out here today
2:45
I went by the recipe,
2:47
but I had to add just a little more
2:49
water. Always want to err on the side of
2:52
this dough is too wet rather than too
2:54
dry because most of the time you can't
2:56
get it back to that stage of being just
2:58
right. So, always start out with a
3:00
little more than you think you need. You
3:02
can add flour to it to thicken it up.
3:05
So, we're going to flour up here just a
3:06
little, get our hands in it. I can
3:08
usually tell right off the bat if I
3:10
think it's too dry or too wet. You can
3:13
see by looking this that is pretty wet.
3:16
It is.
3:17
>> Can I ask why you're wearing gloves?
3:18
>> Well, it sticks to my hands really bad,
3:21
and this way I ain't got near as much
3:23
clean up when I get through.
3:25
I don't want you to knead this so very
3:27
long that you drying it out, but I do
3:30
want it to get mixed well.
3:32
And I want it to have the consistency
3:34
when you pull it that it has a little
3:36
elasticity, as you can see.
3:40
Because as this rises a little, we're
3:42
going to incorporate a little more
3:43
moisture right there at the end because
3:45
we're going to add some melted butter to
3:47
it.
3:48
Find you a warm place for this to set in
3:50
the house
3:52
or outside.
3:54
But it feels good. It's got some
3:56
texture, but it is still soft, very
3:59
workable.
4:00
Put it down in here.
4:03
A magical rag.
4:07
And just let it sit for about 30
4:09
minutes. Now, if you're doing this house
4:11
and this is cooler temperatures than
4:12
you're normally used to this time of
4:14
year or something, let it rise about a
4:16
hour, then you can start. But we ain't
4:18
going to hurt nothing by 30 minutes
4:19
today in the warm sunshine.
4:23
>> [music]
4:26
>> Fry bread traces back to one of the most
4:28
painful chapters in American history.
4:31
The Navajo people, who called themselves
4:33
Diné, were sophisticated [music] farmers
4:35
and shepherds. In the winter of 1863 and
4:39
into 1864, US Army Colonel Kit Carson
4:42
was ordered to subdue the Navajo by the
4:45
scorched-earth campaign, [music] burning
4:47
their crops, destroying their orchards,
4:50
killing their livestock, and [music]
4:52
contaminating their water. The Navajo
4:54
called this period the fearing [music]
4:56
time. With no food left and nowhere to
4:59
hide, thousands were forced to
5:01
surrender. [music] And what followed
5:03
became known as the long walk. Over 53
5:07
separate forced marches took place
5:09
between 1864 [music] and 1866.
5:13
In total, around 10,000 Navajo and 500
5:17
Mescalero Apache were driven to an
5:19
internment camp called Bosque Redondo.
5:23
The first year, the Navajo actually
5:25
managed a respectable harvest, about
5:27
75,000 bushels of corn. Then an
5:30
agricultural pest called the [music]
5:32
army worm destroyed most of what
5:33
remained. The Pecos River flooded and
5:36
wiped out their irrigation system. Year
5:38
after year, the crops failed. The
5:41
[music] camp had been designed for maybe
5:42
5,000 people. There was over 9,000
5:45
living there. And the government rations
5:47
that were given, flour, lard, salt,
5:51
sometimes sugar, were often foods the
5:53
Navajo had never cooked with before.
5:55
Some accounts record that the rations
5:57
made people sick, and in some cases even
6:00
killed them.
6:03
Frybread [music] was not traditional
6:04
food. It was created from rations on
6:06
land they never chose to be on, out of
6:09
ingredients that were foreign to their
6:10
way of life. It was [music] born from
6:12
survival.
6:26
While that dough was sitting over
6:27
getting a suntan, I'm going to go ahead
6:29
and brown up this meat. I just got a
6:31
pound of 80/20 ground chuck.
6:35
We got a little sizzle in there, so that
6:36
means things are going our way.
6:40
Hi Lo. Do you Do you like ground beef?
6:43
Huh? She said, "If it'll hit the ground,
6:45
I'll sure grab it." And here comes
6:46
another one.
6:48
They can sense meat from 40 mi away,
6:50
except for Duke, who is asleep on the
6:53
couch.
6:58
Time to season the meat. So,
7:01
little bit of our
7:04
mesquite,
7:07
little bit of our taco seasoning,
7:10
and it's got everything in there that
7:11
you would think if you was making your
7:13
homemade.
7:18
Give it a quick stir.
7:20
Still on medium heat we are.
7:23
Now, if you're cooking this along and
7:24
you get quite a bit of grease built up
7:26
in there, just move your meat to one
7:28
side, tilt the skillet, drain it out of
7:30
there, you'll be just fine.
7:34
But while that's cooking, it's time to
7:35
get them beans on.
7:40
Now, I just took a regular can of pinto
7:42
beans
7:45
and we're just going to warm them
7:47
through because we're going to add a
7:49
little seasoning to them. Sure, they got
7:51
a little in there from the canning
7:52
process, but like I say, if you want to
7:54
go back we've got four different bean
7:57
videos that you can make beans and then
7:59
you can use them. Me, I've got some
8:02
little bit of cumin,
8:03
little bit of ancho chili powder, and a
8:05
little bit of garlic. We're going to
8:07
sprinkle that in there.
8:10
Add us just a little bit of oregano.
8:15
If I can get in it.
8:19
And always when you use this and so many
8:21
people say this is a brand I trust,
8:23
always make sure that you crumble it in
8:25
there. You're unlocking so much more
8:27
flavor. [music]
8:31
So, we're going to finish browning that
8:33
meat till it's done, letting them beans
8:35
warm through, and then we'll get back to
8:37
making that fried bread.
8:39
>> [music]
8:45
>> Well, it has risen. It has. So, at this
8:49
point, we have melted a half a stick of
8:51
butter. I like to make me a little well
8:54
right here in the middle. You can see
8:56
it. It's a butter swimming pool.
8:58
In it goes right there.
9:01
And then you're just going to go to work
9:03
in it
9:04
because we needed that extra butter for
9:06
the flavor, but also for the moisture.
9:10
Just keep working it around in here, and
9:12
if you think it gets too wet, we'll sure
9:14
add a little flour to it.
9:16
And we're probably going to have to.
9:19
But just keep mashing, keep getting that
9:22
butter incorporated in there.
9:26
Let's flour our surface.
9:30
And since we put that butter in there,
9:32
we better flour them paws up, too. Ain't
9:35
that right, Maji?
9:36
Bring her out.
9:38
Just give it a good mashing.
9:41
I'm not going to work this along that it
9:42
dries out. I just need to make sure
9:45
that everything is where it needs to be.
9:48
And I'd say we was there. We still got
9:50
some elasticity in that dough.
9:53
We still have some moisture.
9:56
So, we're going to make it into a ball,
9:58
flatten it out, and go to rolling.
10:02
When you get it to this point, I just
10:04
ball mine up here like a loaf of bread.
10:06
We going to pinch these off into what I
10:08
would say just a little bigger than golf
10:11
ball.
10:14
Which is about that size.
10:22
>> [music]
10:28
[music]
10:34
[music]
10:36
>> They are rolled out and ready to go. We
10:38
have preheated the oil to 350°.
10:41
I'm using peanut oil. Use whatever you
10:44
want to as long as it has a pretty high
10:46
smoke temp.
10:47
These do not take long.
10:49
Going to lay them in there. They're
10:50
going to fry up till they're golden
10:51
brown. They're going to puff up just a
10:52
tad. Sometimes I even have to prick them
10:55
with a fork to let all the air out of
10:56
them to where they just don't blow plum
10:58
out this water. So, here come the first
11:00
one.
11:05
Check your oil temperature periodically,
11:08
and you can see how this one is bubbling
11:09
up oh so nicely. See that great big one
11:12
there like a bullfrog fit to bust? We
11:14
just going to give him a little helper.
11:17
I do like to splash a little oil up here
11:18
on them if I can.
11:20
And it don't hurt to turn them as many
11:22
times as you want.
11:24
We're going to give it another pop right
11:25
there.
11:26
Don't be walking off. This happens
11:28
quickly.
11:32
Cuz you don't want these to be so crispy
11:34
as you want them to be puffy, light, and
11:36
fluffy. When you get ready and you got
11:37
these rolled out, I like to go about a
11:39
eighth of an inch. If somebody wants to
11:40
grab a tape measure from out in the
11:42
forest and come run quick and check it,
11:43
but that's about three major whiskers
11:45
and one pine needle just right.
11:53
>> [music]
12:01
[music]
12:02
>> After 4 years of hardship, the US Navajo
12:05
Treaty of 1868 was signed, allowing the
12:08
Navajo to begin the long journey back
12:10
home. But, they didn't return to the
12:13
same world they'd left. Their livestock
12:15
was gone, their fields long untended,
12:18
and their traditional food systems
12:20
disrupted in ways that would take
12:21
generations [music] to rebuild. The
12:23
Navajo were one of the only tribes ever
12:26
allowed to return to their ancestral
12:28
homeland. Throughout the 19th century,
12:31
the federal government actively
12:32
prohibited intertribal gatherings.
12:35
[music] Today's pow wows are partly a
12:37
direct response to that history of
12:39
suppression. As those gatherings grew in
12:41
the early 20th century, they needed a
12:43
common food, something [music] that
12:45
could be made in large quantities over
12:47
open fire with simple ingredients. Fry
12:50
bread, it [music] fit perfectly. And as
12:52
different tribes came together, the
12:54
toppings started to evolve. Beans, which
12:56
had long been a part of many native
12:58
diets, seasoned meat shaped by both
13:00
native and ranching traditions, and
13:02
eventually cheese, lettuce, [music]
13:04
tomatoes. That's where the Indian taco
13:07
began to take shape. The first Navajo
13:09
taco is [music] credited to a man named
13:12
Lou Shepherd, who managed the restaurant
13:14
at the Navajo Lodge in the 1960s. One
13:17
cold night in 1964, exactly 100 years
13:21
after the long walk, a friend came in
13:24
hungry and asked to be surprised.
13:26
Shepherd went to his kitchen, saw some
13:28
fry bread, and built something new on
13:30
top of it. What started as survival food
13:32
[music] on a government reservation
13:35
eventually found its way to the county
13:36
fairs, festivals, and roadside stands
13:39
across the Southwest, and then
13:42
the whole country. [music]
13:43
But, what I want you to remember is
13:45
this. A people who had everything
13:47
[music] stripped from them, their land,
13:50
their food, their language, their right
13:52
to gather, found a way to feed each
13:54
other.
14:20
>> [music]
14:32
[music]
14:41
>> There it is, a finished product. After
14:43
like I'm at the state fair, where's the
14:44
Ferris wheel and all the music going on?
14:46
This is what we call a celebration. Now,
14:49
you can see over here we have made us
14:51
some fry bread, just a little powdered
14:53
sugar and a little bit of honey. I like
14:55
them with maple syrup on them. You could
14:57
even add a little fruit, little whipped
14:59
cream, whatever you want to do to it.
15:00
But, over here, this is what I'm talking
15:02
about.
15:03
The goodness is fixing to take place.
15:05
>> doing one big old bite.
15:06
>> You don't need a fork. It's got hand
15:08
holds on both sides.
15:15
Joker.
15:20
Well,
15:21
that was worth the wait it was, and we
15:22
didn't have to wait long. But folks, I
15:24
need you to remember what the great
15:27
trials and tribulations that all these
15:28
Native American people faced and all the
15:31
food that they had to go through,
15:32
whether they liked or disliked from the
15:34
government, to get it all made into
15:35
something we love today and what is it?
15:37
Indian taco fry bread.
15:40
It is some good eating it is. But it is
15:42
with great pride, honor, and privilege
15:44
that I tip my hat to all our servicemen
15:46
and women and all the veterans that have
15:47
kept that old flag a-flying. We commend
15:49
you to all we do and we lift you up in
15:52
prayer daily. Rest of you, get on up in
15:54
here quick. I'm fixing to give you a big
15:56
old hug.
15:58
God bless you each and every one and
16:00
I'll see you down the fry bread trail.
16:06
This might be one of the most well-known
16:07
foods in American history.
16:10
But don't you
16:13
This might be [music] known as one of
16:14
the most well-known foods in America.
16:17
>> History.
16:18
>> This might be known as one of the
16:21
most I don't even know what it is now.
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