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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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!
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.