Mexican Street Tacos
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Easy, quick, authentic carne asada street tacos you can now make right at home! Top with onion, cilantro + fresh lime juice! SO GOOD!
You truly begin to miss things once they are gone. That’s not just a saying. It’s real life.
See, I lived a block away from a famous taco truck back in LA. And as much as I love street tacos, I only went there maybe four times a year.
And now that I’ve moved to Chicago, all I think about is the proximity of that taco truck back home in Los Angeles. If that taco truck were here in Chiberia, I would go four times a day!
But until I get back to LA, here is my rendition of my favorite street tacos that I miss so dearly.
It’s a quick recipe using a simple marinade for your skirt steak. It just needs 1 hour of marinating before you throw it onto a skillet. From there, you can top off your tacos with diced onion, cilantro and fresh lime juice.
It’s simple, it’s easy and it’s just perfect. That is, until you can get back to Los Angeles!
Mexican Street Tacos
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 flour tortillas, warmed
- ¾ cup diced red onion
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Equipment
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 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.
Did you make this recipe?
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They were amazing!!!! I burned my kicker while making these, but it was all worth it!!! My family loved them while the firemen were taking out the fire 🙂
should this be cooked in a skillet or on a flat top griddle?
I think a griddle would work well on high heat. I’m actually planning on trying that tonight. I normally use a cast iron skillet, but I cook the steak in small batches so that the meat doesn’t begin to steam and I get a nice seared on it.
Hands down this recipe is fantastic! I made them about an hour ago and my wife and I loved them. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, can you use sirloin steak instead of skirt steak?
no, they burn your kitchen. taste better though
Many people have used sirloin for this recipe as well as many other cuts of meats, including beef ribs, spare ribs, pork shoulder steak, chicken, shrimp, etc. Sirloin is much more tender and has a great taste as well. Don’t be afraid to substitute!
Incredible! Yes cut up the meat before marinading. These are really good. Next time I’m going to make a little lime cilantro drizzle with sour cream to top it off… I’m really looking forward to making these again! Thanks for the great recipe!
This is TE BEST marination I’ve ever used to make street tacos. My husband absolutely LOVE THIS. I will make this again. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
So tasty and easy to make! I substituted the steak for chicken but it still came out great.
Oh my,my ,my third time making these and their always a big hit! Bursting with flavor,we add Cojita cheese and Roja Street taco sauce, unbelievable but so delicious,I wouldn’t change anything about this wonderful recipe, thanks so much
Delicious! I used sirloin because these days (on sale) it is half the price of flank steak. Everyone loved it.
The skirt steak, is it cut into 1/2-inch pieces prior to marinating and cooking?
Yes, as it says in the ingredient list
I was wondering you can marinade the meat overnight? I want to do as much prep work as I can in advance.
I cut mine into 1/2 inch peices prior and it turned out amazing.
My family LOVED this. It was delicious. Will definitely make again!
Great recipe. This marinade is great for tuna swordfish chicken steak pork chops and shrimp. To avoid the moisture I pat dry before I place in hot Cast iron skillet or on grill.And Basting the meat with the Marinade halfway Through cooking I also add lime zest And a Finally chopped jalapeño pepper to the Marinade and Use corn tortillas and top with a Spicy jalapeño or Habanero Pico de gallo
A solutly scrumptious. A family favorite.
Real Mexican’s don’t use soy sauce, this is not a real Mexican receipt.
You mean recipe? LOL
Real Mexican’s….lol. As opposed to fake Mexican’s? I’m confused, but hey, just like you I couldn’t refuse. I just had to say something and now I feel SO much better about myself. I’m a proud fake Mexican. (:
What do real Mexicans use instead of soy sauce? I’m looking for the real marinade. Thx Maria
Well, I’m Mexican and everyone I know is Mexican and they all use soy sauce in their carne asada actually I’m not Mexican and don’t know any Mexicans
Most of us are not mexican so it’s ok
As long as it taste like or close too a street taco I don’t think no one REALLY cares if MARIA did it or Shaquille from Mississippi
Made these tonight and they were absolutely fantastic! Flavor was wonderful!! Thank you for the recipe, I will certainly be keeping this for my go to steak taco recipe.
Could the meat be marinated overnight?
VERY delicious flavor! Will certainly make again. My only issue was the marinade seemed to water down a lot once cooking began and almost became like I was poaching the meat. Didn’t seem to reduce. Any ideas? Maybe less oil in the pan? Regardless, strained the excess sauce after meat was cooked and it was fantastic!
You could probably add a little cornstarch next time.
Pull the meat out of the marinade brutha! You don’t cook marinade, it is not a sauce to be reduced or thickened. Definitely DO NOT add cornstarch and ruin your meal. Just pull the meat out, give a light shake to reduce mess, throw (figuratively) into your skillet, and toss the marinade in the trash. A pro tip.
What they said about the marinade. Also, Cook the meat in small batches so you don’t poach the meat and it comes out kind of crispy. The meat shouldn’t fill the pan, there should be space for the liquid to dry up.
Could have been that the heat of your pan wasn’t hot enough. Try on a higher heat and don’t crowd the pan. You could also dry the meat off before cooking. You should get a better sear if the meat is relatively dry.
We made the recipe without any substitutions. Seriously, the best tacos we’ve ever had and hands down the best tacos I’ve ever mad (and we cook a lot). We were so excited about this recipe we ordered taco racks to really step up our A game. Thanks for such an amazing recipe. P.S. your garlic knots are one of our favorite recipes, too!
Anne, not really. Chile powder has a very distinctive taste. The only substitute would be if you have taco seasoning, but that will have added salt so you’d want to lessen the amount of soy sauce.
Freaking delicious marinade. I will always use this for steak tacos from now on. I followed the marinade recipe exactly but topped with pico de gallo and added chipotle mayo to the tortillas before filling with meat. Best tacos I’ve ever made at home.