Mexican Street Tacos
by Chungah
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Easy, quick, authentic carne asada street tacos you can make right at home, topped with onion, cilantro and lime! Ready in just 20 minutes!
Featured Comment
Now that I’ve moved to the brisk, cold winter of Chicago, I can’t stop thinking about the taco trucks in Los Angeles serving authentic Mexican street tacos packed with carne asada, onion, cilantro, and lime. But until I can get back to sunny California, here is my rendition of my favorite street tacos that I miss so dearly. It’s a super quick recipe using a simple marinade for your skirt steak – it just needs 1 hour of marinating before you throw it onto a hot skillet. From there, you can top off your tacos with diced onion, cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice. Simple, easy and just perfect.
Why You’ll Love This Mexican Street Taco Recipe
- Make-ahead recipe. This is an easy peasy one skillet dinner with a simple 1 to 4 hour marinade, great for prepping ahead of time for those super busy weeknights.
- Favorited street tacos. Mexican street tacos are a crowd-favorite for the entire family, and now you can easily make these tacos right at home with easy-to-find ingredients and pantry staples. No fancy equipment or specialty ingredients needed here!
- Freezer-friendly. The carne asada meat can easily be frozen, great for batch cooking, meal prep or saving leftovers. This makes it even easier to whip up tacos using fresh tortilla and your favorite toppings, great for Taco Tuesdays!
What Are Mexican Street Tacos?
A Mexican street taco is a small taco on a corn tortilla with meats like carne asada, carnitas, or al pastor. They’re part of Mexico’s street food culture and are usually sold from carts or taco trucks, topped simply with onion, cilantro, and lime.
How to make mexican street tacos
- Marinate. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl with the diced skirt steak, letting it marinate for at least 1 hour. The marinade will help tenderize the steak (making it less chewy) and ensure juicy, caramelized goodness once cooked.
- Cook the steak. Cook the steak pieces in a hot cast iron skillet over medium high heat until browned and caramelized.
- Serve. Serve warm in tortillas, topped with onion, cilantro and lime (or your favorite toppings). If freezing, freeze the leftover carne asada prior to assembling in tacos.
What to Serve with Mexican Street Tacos
- Mexican Rice
- Mexican Corn Dip
- Creamy Chorizo Queso Dip
- Red and Green Chicken Enchiladas
- Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Mexican Street Tacos: Frequently Asked Questions
Skirt steak is the most preferred option as it is a thin cut of meat, cooks very quickly, and has great flavor from its high fat content and marbling (making it much more tender and flavorful than leaner cuts such as flank steak).
Flank steak is a great alternative. Just be sure to slice it thinly against the grain after cooking so it stays tender. Sirloin steak is another solid option if you prefer something a little leaner.
Yes! We have a recipe for that here.
Two things can cause tough steak here. First, make sure you’re cutting the steak into 1/2-inch pieces before marinating, not after cooking. Smaller pieces cook faster and more evenly in the skillet. Second, always slice against the grain. Look for the direction the muscle fibers run, then cut perpendicular to them. That short cut through the fibers makes every bite tender instead of chewy.
Yes, you can! We have a recipe for that here.
Leftover steak can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes! The leftover steak, prior to assembling in tacos, can keep in the freezer for at least 2 months, perfect for quick taco nights throughout the week!
Mexican Street Tacos
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 ½ pounds skirt steak, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 12 mini corn or flour tortillas, warmed
- ¾ cup diced red onion
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, lime juice, 1 tablespoon canola oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine soy sauce mixture and steak; marinate for at least 1 hour up to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add steak and marinade, and cook, stirring often, until steak has browned and marinade has reduced, about 5-6 minutes, or until desired doneness.
- Serve steak in tortillas, topped with onion, cilantro and lime.
Equipment
Notes
- Cut the skirt steak before marinating. Dice the skirt steak into 1/2-inch pieces prior to marinating, not after cooking. This will allow the marinade to coat each piece evenly, yielding a much better sear in the skillet. This is also key to getting that favorited caramelized crust on each piece!
- Avoid marinating for too long. The high acid content from the lime juice can break down the muscle fibers if marinated for too long. Marinate the steak for 1 to 4 hours.
- Use a cast iron skillet. A cast iron skillet is the same tool used in many street food stalls in Mexico. It retains heat much better than nonstick pans or even a grill grate, yielding a better sear on the meat without steaming it and giving the steak that authentic sear for Mexican street tacos.
- Use flour or corn tortillas. Mexican street tacos are traditionally made with corn tortillas but small flour or corn tortillas can be used depending on personal preference.
- Double up the tortilla. Street tacos are typically served on two tortillas, known as la copia or “the copy”. This practice helps keep the filling together, and if the first tortilla breaks, the back up tortilla can be used for the rest of the filling.
- Serve with your favorite toppings. Serve with diced onion, cilantro, cotija cheese, salsa verde, guacamole or salsa. Cotija cheese is a classic Mexican ingredient that adds salty, authentic flavor to any street taco recipe.
- Freeze before assembling in tacos. Let the leftover carne asada cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Label, date and freeze up to 2 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Did you make this recipe?
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Holy Guacamole are these Mexican Street Tacos ever good! Best I’ve tasted. Very easy to put together. My butcher did not have skirt steak, so I went with flank steak and I will likely stick with flank next time we do street tacos, because they were PERFECT! We topped ours with Cotija Cheese and homemade Guac. Served the tacos with homemade refried beans and Mexican rice. I am adding this recipe to our tailgate menu as well. These tacos are CAN’T MISS!
They were delicious, but I used flank steak. They were pretty tough. I followed the instructions. Did I do something wrong? My store didn’t have skirt steak.
You maybe didn’t cut the steak in the right direction. Check YouTube for correct way.
This was wonderful!!!!!
We have been using this recipe for years, I am ashamed to say I never thought about leaving a review! SMH
This is the best street taco recipe ever, easy, and SOOOOO flavorful. We have used it with steak, chicken, and shrimp. Perfect 10/10 every time if you follow it!
This was damn delicious! Reminded me of my Nana’s tacos! Thanks for sharing
Holy cow these were so simple but so damn delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe- it was DEVOURED at my house. I wish I would have doubled the recipe for my family of 4 so we would have leftovers. Beef prices these days…but I will next time!
You know it’s good when your 13 year old says she wants it for her birthday dinner next year!
I think the only tweak I made was an extra clove of garlic. Marinated the full 4 hours. This recipe will be a staple for “Taco Tuesdays!”
Made this recipe tonight for dinner using most ingredients but substituting the canola oil for olive oil, fresh lime for lime juice and yellow onion instead of red onion because those are what I had on hand. It was still delicious and my family loved it! And so easy to make.
Can I cook this whole, or is it better to cut it up first???
Better to cut it up than whole. Each slice cooks evenly and the meat is easier to handle and brown when you pre cut it.
I NEVER LEAVE REVIEWS! But this was DELICIOUS!! I did not have any skirt steak but I did have two thin cut ribeyes. Cut them up and let them marinate for about three hours. Cooked it in my iron skillet. It is a must to squeeze the lime on top! We had Mexican roasted veggies as a side. Eveything paired perfectly. I would like to try this with some Korean slaw next.
The absolute best Street Taco recipe ever. So clean and fresh tasting . Not hard to prepare, let the beef marinate , prepare everything and have a delicious meal! I used petite sirloin because I had it , along with all the other ingredients. Just a delightful light taste during this Mississippi summer!
This is not the only Damn Delicious that is fabulous! You are missing out if you do not make anything from this site!
Oh, I NEVER STOP TO WRITE A REVIEW, that’s how great this is!!!!!
Blessings,
Melanie Pierce
Are you guys chopping up the meat then marinading and cooking, or marinading, cooking, then chopping?
Chop first! Found out the hard way a whole back, still do this recipe, it’s amazing
Needing a quick response and will be deeply appreciated!!! Can I use vegetable oil or EVOO instead of canola oil?
Vegetable oil would be great. EVOO would be ok but have a stronger taste than canola oil.
10
This is excellent! I used elk tenderloin, and it was amazing. The seasoning was so good. I added a side of Southwestern salad that had cilantro and Southwest seasoning, and garlic, lime rice.
These are so easy to make and bursting with flavor!!! These are now a staple in my house and I’ve shared this recipe with emails and friends.
Made these tonight and they were delicious! I served them in flour tortillas with shredded cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and homemade chimichurri sauce. Thanks for the recipe!
Juicy
Quite yummy and just what I was looking for. No changes needed.
I used beef tenderloin and it was delicious! Buttered corn tortillas added a nice touch.
Best street taco recipe I’ve come across!