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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The best way is to make at home Great meal on a cool night
Question, the recipe says six servings, is that six individual tacos or multiple tacos for six people? Thank you
We made this for our companys weekly taco bar. We usually cater something in but decided to try and make something as they were still backed up from the holidays. We used a variety of meats (skirt steak, pork, and chicken) and it was a huge hit. Some employees didn’t believe it wasn’t catered! Many said they were going to start making it at home. Thank you for the great, easy recipe!
Well it says 12 mini flour tortillas so it is 2 minis each. Pretty sure that would not be enough for me and I would increase everything by 50-100% for 6 people.
Street tacos are traditionally served with two tortillas per taco, as you can see in her photo. So I would say this recipe is for six individual tacos.
12 mini tacos / 6 servings = 2 tacos per serving. Maybe it will make more, probably depends on much you stuff your tacos. Making it tonight.
We loved this recipe! Although it involved a bit of planning ahead, we bumped up the flavor of the meat by making a rub from the dry seasonings (sans garlic), rubbing the meat and letting it rest overnight in a plastic bag. Stroke of genius, we thought…
Can you use pork instead of the beef?
Sure!
I used chuck roast and cut it in small chunks !
This recipe is FANTASTIC. Would I be able to use it with beef tongue?
Sure!
Can I marinate longer than 4 hrs?
Due to the lime juice, we recommend marinating up to 4 hours for the best results possible.
I loved this recipe i did it with my mom and OMG it was so good i could eat it everyday i am so glad that i made this i loved it alot of people should try it.
You’re right!! Damned delicious!! I used extra virgin olive oil instead of canola and didn’t have limes handy so used lemons. I marinated the beef for three hours. These were so delicious!!!! I will definitely make them again. I think a little grated jack cheese and your favorite taco sauce would really set these off! Great recipe. Loved them!
It really is damn delicious! I’ve tried several other recipes and they were ok, but this one delivers a depth of flavors!
I just finished making these tacos, they came out delicious!!! My whole family loves it, and I have some family members that are picky eaters and they loved it too!
Too American for my taste, nothing like the amazing street tacos I have had in southern Mexico. But, all you have to do is replace the chili powder with 2 tablespoons tequila reposado and then you’ve got some damn delicious authentic Mexican street tacos! Just add some grilled cactus and black beans on the side and sprinkle a little Mexican crumbling cheese (quest fresco) over everything!
Your recipes never fail to rock my tastebuds! I’m going to add some avocado to this next time, but really… these are great as-is!
Avocado is a great addition for these! We’re so glad you’re enjoying our recipes! 🙂
I always enjoy the recipes. I have some that are on a regular rotation in my kitchen!!
I made these tonight for my family and they were a HUGE hit! Followed the recipe and added cotija cheese and avocado salsa…delicious. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful recipes!
Awesome
Another amazing recipe. I made these tonight for my family and they were so delicious! Great flavors and tender beef. I didn’t change a thing. I’ve printed this for my recipe binder.
Amazing flavor – best recipie we’ve come across!
We’re so happy to hear it! Thanks Anita.
I thought this recipe was so easy and delicious, so much so that I just threw my second batch in 2 weeks into the marinade. My first try, I actually used the meat to make Steak Quesadillas and Mexican Street Taco Salad . . . INSANELY GOOD!! I’ve already shared the recipe with several friends.
Sounds good and everything but you should really be using corn tortillas. The ones in the photo are corn, yet it says flour in the ingredients..
Alexus, you can use corn tortillas if you prefer. However, we used flour tortillas in the photos here and we absolutely loved it. 🙂
This was really, really good. I just happened to have some Cotija cheese and used that as a topper as well and it was excellent. I was concerned though that the receipe says to add the steak and the marinade to the skillet but I had no extra marinade. But when you cook it that marinade seems to melt and provide the liquid you need to cook the steak.
I am a terrible cook and this still came out perfect. Great recipe!