Mexican Street Tacos
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Easy, quick, authentic carne asada street tacos you can make right at home! Top with onion, cilantro and lime juice!
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Now that I’ve moved to the brisk, cold winter of Chicago, all I think about is the proximity of that taco truck back home in Los Angeles. 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.
reasons to make Mexican street tacos
- 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 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 corn tortilla with different meats (al pastor, carne asada, barbacoa, carnitas or chorizo), served on small plates in street-style fashion from carts or trucks in empty parking lots or on the side of the street. Onion, cilantro and cotija cheese are classic street taco toppings.
tips and tricks for success
- Use a cast iron skillet. Cast iron skillets retain heat much better than a nonstick skillet, allowing for even cooking to quickly brown the meat while sealing in its juices.
- 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.
- Freeze as needed. Label, date and freeze up to 2 months.
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, flank steak or sirloin steak are all great options.
Yes! 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, will freeze beautifully. Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
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 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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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These tacos were amazing! Such a great marinade, my husband had flour and I had corn tortillas. We added a little pico and queso fresco. Wonderful recipe!
It’s an ok recipe, not a fan of soy sauce in Carne Asada.
Eric I don’t use soy sauce in mine either. Next time try to substitute with white vinegar. My Nana gave me a recipe that’s almost identical but that was the main difference.
And sorry one more tip…cook the meat in batches on high heat so the meat doesn’t sauté but instead will get a more grilled steak.
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!