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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Skirt steak is hard to come by here. Can I use sirloin with same results or what other cut would you recommend??
Sirloin would be just as good. I just made that last night and it turned out great
A favorite among “taco bar” protein options! Bursting with flavor; simple to prepare, with staples
Can you marinate this longer? Like 8 hours?
Omg… I got a new one for margaritas with my sisters. This was so easy and yet so good. I can’t wait to try it on the grill.
OMG OMG, these were tasty delish! Super easy, too. The only thing I changed was I used top sirloin because it looked so nice and marbled at the store, but I cubed it just the same. And I swirled in a couple of drizzles of Worcestershire with the soy sauce (.5 to 1 Tbs.) because it seemed like the thing to do at the time. Damn.
soooo goood omg it was delishhhhhh
Used a pound of inside skirt steak and it was AMAZING!!
This was awesome! Would not change a thing. Thank you!
So good, thank you!
I haven’t made this yet. I want to try this! Can this be made in a crockpot?
Loved this!
These were the best street tacos ever! The flavor combination can’t be beat. It’s our favorite taco Tuesday night
Truly Damn Delicious! The best tacos I have ever made and so easy to make too! The marinade is unbelievably delicious. I went low fat with ground turkey and low-carb with romaine lettuce for my wraps. And even with the healthy substitutions they felt sinful! You just can’t go wrong with this recipe!
We used chicken because we didn’t have steak and it was so good!
Delicious! I only had chuck steak and I thought it was going to be tough but it was absolutely perfect. Thank you.
My family loves this recipe I make these several times a month.
Yummy and easy! Followed directions and marinated meat for one hour, cooked on stovetop and ate stuffed into corn tortillas with homemade pico and feta cheese sprinkled on top. A hit at the dinner table!
We loved this. I (oddly for me) was out of soy sauce and I substituted Lea & Perrin’s. Other than that the only change I made was adding some thinly sliced poblano pepper.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I’m always looking for new taco ideas.
Absolutely Amazing !
This is an amazing recipe and we are trying it out tonight! Since we have a garden that has somehow been successful in particular with the resulting multiple peppers, we are now adding to the marinade a moderate amount of chopped fresh jalapeños, and limiting the amount of tiny chopped pieces of the intensely hot cayennes. Love the blend of spices, but as someone has commented here, the world’s various cultures have been connected for many many centuries. Thank you for being present as the go-to source of all wonderful recipes!!