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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My guests couldn’t stop raving about these Tacos!! They are delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Absolutely delicious dish and you can’t go wrong! It was quick & easy to make and I received thumbs up from everyone in my family. The Flavor was so yummy that everything disappeared with no left overs, which never happens in our home.
Very easy to follow and it was not what I expected. I was delicious!!!!! Tasted almost like some of the street tacos here in ny town. Just too lazy to go venturing into the world for it. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Going to put make it as burrito this time. Just thinking about is making me salivate.
Turned out great! Was trying to replicate the tacos I had on vacation last summer, and these were pretty damn close and very delicious!
I haven’t tried making it yet, planning on it tonight. Am I suppose to cut the steak up prior to putting it in the marinade or do I wait until it’s cooked?
wait until cooked
Did you try making this? It seems you cut and marinate the steak in smaller pieces but I’m not sure either!
I made this recipe as is the first time around. I loved it so much I didn’t change a thing the next few times I prepared it. I live on a tiny Island that has two terrible Mexican restaurants so I’ve resorted to learning how to cook my own. This recipe couldn’t be any easier or tastier. I read a few comments that clearly this recipe bland. They must have done it wrong. There is no way you can have that much chilli powder and cumin in a small recipe and have it come out bland. I paired my tacos with a radish onion cilantro relish and a fresh squeeze of lime.
Hafa Adai Guam!
I am in Boston and am thinking of trying this with “Beyond Beef” which seems to just be as versatile as ground beef.
Be well!
Celeste in Boston
I used shoulder tender, taco seasoning, garlic, soy sauce, and fresh squeezed mandarin orange (didnt have lime)
Marinated for one hour, heated corn tacos in a skillet and seared the meat.
Just added chopped onions and cilantro to the tortillas.
Delicious.
super good! just did this yesterday and we loved eating it and got many rave reviews about how good the meat looked (when i posted it to social media). i added jalepeno to my marinade and toppings and it made it sooooo good! i also subbed canola for olive oil.
The marinade was delicious and so easy to make. We splurged and made with beef filet and grilled. I cut the steaks in 2 pieces before marinating to expose more beef to the marinade and grilled to medium rare. Sliced the cooked beef and served with homemade guacamole, pickled radishes and onions (made from another recipe- so easy!), and pickled jalapeños. Served roasted mini peppers on the side. Next time will make pico de gallo to go with but it was delicious! Will be saving to our family cookbook ! THANK YOU 🙂
These were amazing, probably the best tacos I’ve ever had! Followed the recipe but instead of skirt steak, I used ribeye and sirloin I had on hand. This marinade adds great flavor to the meat!
Followed recipe exactly just doubled the marinade and they came out delicious !!
Hi, I’m going to make this tonight, but I’m a little confused. By 6 servings, does that mean enough for 6 people, or just 6 tacos? My family has 5 people so if it’s just 6 tacos I’d do a double recipe, but if not I’d do just a single recipe. Thanks in advance!
This recipe is the best! I diced up a strip steak instead of flank as that’s what I had on hand. Also diced up a link of chorizo and added a pinch of Tajin seasoning. So good!!
Can you marinade overnight so up to 24 hours or is 4 hours the limit?
You could but it doesn’t change the flavor any more than 4 hours.
These were really easy!! Family loved them! I will definitely be playing with this recipe some. The only thing I added to the marinade was rosemary. I’m a sucker for that herb. It just adds that little bit. This is a great base recipe and I think it would work great with a pork roast on a smoker and make some pulled pork taco. Thanks for the recipe and it lived up to your website name…Damn Delicious!!
Just made this recipe and it was off the chart!!!! Actually used two split chicken breasts (with skin and ribs) and tripled the marinade. Let it marinate for three and a half hours in a gallon bag in the refrigerator. I then grilled them in a Weber kettle charcoal grille over indirect and moderate heat for about 45 minutes (165F). This is, by far, the best chicken we’ve ever had. We can’t wait to try the steak.
Supper easy and really delicious!!
I followed the recipe but only used half the amount of skirt steak. I also heated the tortillas in a skillet. My picky family raved about how good they were.
Real real nice.
These were absolutely delicious! My entire family loved them. I used beef escalope and lemon juice because it was all I had on hand and they were so good. Served them with homemade tortillas, onions, pico de Gallo, and guacamole. The sauce is amazing to pour over the tacos or dip into.
This has gone into our family rotation! So good. So easy. We serve it with cilantro lime slaw. Amazing!
In response to comments saying skirt steak is fatty, I do look for leaner cuts and trim whatever I purchase when cutting pieces to marinate. It comes out great!
This looks delicious and can’t wait to make it! I have a silly question, is skirt steak the same as flank steak? Or what would I be looking for at the grocery store? Thanks!
Not the same. Skirt steak is better then flank.
Kristen
– My grocery doesn’t carry skirt steak so I had to use Flank. Worked just fine.