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, 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 Tacos 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 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. Onion, cilantro and cotija cheese are classic street taco toppings.
Tips for Perfect Mexican Street Tacos Every Time
- Use a cast iron skillet. Use a cast iron skillet, the same tool used in many Mexico street food stalls. Cast iron skillets retain heat much better than nonstick pans, giving your carne asada that authentic sear for Mexican 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.
- Slice for tenderness. For the best steak tacos recipe, slice the carne asada thinly against the grain so every bite stays tender.
- 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 as needed. Label, date and freeze up to 2 months.
Best Sides 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
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 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.
Did you make this recipe?
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These turned out perfect and absolutely delicious! I marinated the steak for about 5 hours at room temperature. I added avocado sauce on top as well and these are a definite must try. These are as good as the street tacos I buy at my favorite local Mexican food truck.
very nice tacos approved by nihal bains
I plan to make this dish for thanksgiving this year ☺️ hope my family enjoys
I love street tacos! I can’t wait to make them!
Has anyone BBQ’s it?
Made these tonight. So good, authentic. I did add chorizo to the shaved beef! Will definitely make again.
I’ve made a number of your recipes and they are all fabulous! I wanted to make this recipe for a motorhome trip, but need to know first if the meat can be frozen.
Thanks
loved this…delicious everyone loved it.my grandson is 18 and he said it was bussin)…that means its awesome in todays vocabulary thank you so much will surely make it again for taco Tuesday!
So easy to make and the best street tacos I’ve ever had!
My first time I made street tacos it was a disaster.
Easy peasey, right?
I don’t think I can mess this one up.
I just discovered your recipe this month. I’ve made and eaten many a taco growing up in Southern California and crossing the border for street tacos. Yours are fabulous! My husband grilled the skirt steak, and as we devoured the tacos with our requisite corn tortillas, we couldn’t stop raving about them! I didn’t want him to take the leftovers for lunch the next day! We’re having them again tonight. Can’t wait! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Where did you get those amazing corn tortillas ?
I’ve made this about ten times now in various forms so I will list what I’ve tried.
1. Marinating makes this so much better but the first time I made it I was in a rush and didn’t let it sit. Still tasted great; just slightly less flavour but definitely edible.
2. I’ve done this as a bowl on white rice with black beans for meal prep and it was delicious.
3. I’ve turned it into a burrito style for my husband to make it more substantial for lunches and added a rice to the taco (does that make it a burrito I guess? Idk.) also with beans and hot pepper; still delicious.
4. I’ve prepped this the day before and let the meat sit bagged in the fridge overnight. This is my fav since it really gets to soak. I add some cilantro lime white sauce sometimes since I like to overdose on cilantro; also added some crunchy candied onions for a bit more texture.
5. I’ve used the meat only with Spanish rice and garnished with cilantro for a dinner dish; STILL delicious.
All in all, this recipe is so on point for the meat (I buy steak strips for faster cooking with this) that you can add whatever you like and this will still be delicious. Thank you for adding this staple to our routine!
These tacos are absolutely fabulous! My whole family loves them. The marinade makes the meat so flavorful and juicy. This is a recipe we will be making forever!
So good I made them twice in a weeks time!!! Made a batch 4x the recipe for a party and they were a BIG hit! Everyone at the party wants the recipe! Passing it on now.
very nice.
The marinade on this meat makes it delicious!! I like to eat the leftover meat (if there is any) on a salad. So good any way you eat it! Thanks for the recipe!!
Amazing recipe! My whole family loved them!
This was great normally I don’t like my cooking. My husband enjoy it.
Thanks
I would LOVE to know how the tortillas are warmed. It looks like they are pan heated/ seared?