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These tasty Steak Street Tacos are perfect for Taco Tuesday, or any other night of the week. This easy recipe combines tender steak with simple ingredients and wraps them in corn or flour tortillas.
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My Go-To Taco Recipe
Steak Street Tacos are easy to make and fun to serve. Taco Tuesdays, game days, any day! The tender carne asada comes together with just a few ingredients, and you can add any toppings you like. Serve with chips and guacamole, queso fresco and some lime wedges for garnish. These small size tacos are always a crowd pleaser!
Key Ingredients
- Meat: Typically, steak street tacos are made with flank steak or skirt steak. You can also use top sirloin. In addition to tender grilled steak, you could switch out the meat to just about anything! boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, pulled pork, leftover roast beef, tilapia, even ground beef!
- Cheese: In this street taco recipe we call for Cotija cheese, which is basically a Mexican Feta cheese. If you can’t find Cotija, you can use feta, shredded cheddar or whatever you have on hand.
- Toppings: The possibilities are endless when it comes to toppings. Some of our favorites include: chopped onion, shredded cabbage or lettuce, shredded cheese, Cotija cheese, pico de Gallo, diced, tomatoes, fresh lime juice. For a full list of street taco topping ideas, see the recipe card below.
- Sauce: What I love most about street tacos is their simplicity. More often than not, they are made with only a few simple ingredients and maybe a simple sauce. Most of the street tacos don’t have a sauce or salsa on them. For this recipe, there is so much flavor, extra toppings or sauces just aren’t needed. Of course you can add them if you really want to (just please don’t put ketchup on them… talking to you, Dad).
Steps to Perfect Steak Street Tacos
- Remove the steak from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
- Stir together the salt and other seasonings in a bowl. Then, rub the steak on both sides with the spice mixture.
- Grill over medium high heat on a grill pan, skillet or an outdoor grill, only flipping once. For steak cooked medium, cook until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Remove from the grill and let sit 5 minutes for internal temperature to reach 160 degrees.
- Slice the steak into small bite sized pieces and place on tortilla shells. Top with desired toppings.
- Enjoy your new favorite taco recipe!
The Tortillas
The toughest thing to find at the store for street tacos is the tortillas. I have seen Mission brand street taco-size flour tortilla shells at my grocery store. They are so cute and tiny! If you aren’t able to find actual street-taco tortillas, that is totally okay. Just get the smallest tortilla shells you can find. If you are really wanting to get the SMALL size but can’t find them at your grocery store you can get large tortillas and cut them into smaller tortillas using a large cookie cutter.
Technically there is no actual size requirement when it comes to street tacos, you just have to be able to eat them easily with one hand. Now for the TYPE of tortillas…corn or flour? It’s up to you. Personally, I prefer corn tortillas to flour, but either kind works. Give these little guys a try. You will not be disappointed!
Make Your Own Flour Tortillas
Flour tortillas are the starting point of so many popular Mexican-inspired meals – enchiladas, burritos, tacos, quesadillas and more. Up your taco night game by swapping your regular store-bought flour tortillas for these delicious homemade ones. Sure it takes a little more time, but the resulting taste is well worth it!
When you’re making tortillas, remember to only make what you plan to use. This is not the kind of recipe that you can make it bulk and use for weeks. Most of the time, tortillas tend to get a little stale after a few days.
While the most authentic Mexican tortillas are often made with lard, this recipe uses shortening, which can sometimes be easier to find. However, if you are averse to the idea of using shortening or lard, you can swap butter for shortening in most recipes. One reader suggested trying coconut oil if you’re looking for a healthier alternative. If you try any of these substitutions, let us know in the comments how your tortillas turned out.
Make Your Own Taco Seasoning
We love to make our own taco seasoning. Not only is making your own mix less expensive than buying the pre-made mixes at the grocery store, it tastes better too. Plus, since you are the one making it, you know exactly what the ingredients are. Our recipe for homemade taco seasoning is super simple, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry already. You’ll need dried minced onion (or onion powder), salt, paprika, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper (sometimes I throw in some garlic and cayenne pepper for a little more spice). Our recipe makes ½ cup of seasoning, and you only need 1-2 tablespoon per pound of meat. It will last up to a year on the shelf if stored in an airtight container.
How to Make Carne Asada Street Tacos
If you want to take this recipe up a notch, try using our Grilled Carne Asada for street tacos. One of the secrets to this delicious carne asada recipe, is the marinade. Made with jalapeños, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, vinegar and more, there is so much flavor in this marinade! The process of soaking meat enhances the flavor of the meat. Generally marinades use an acid — like vinegar or citrus juice — to change the surface texture. You can marinade all kinds of meats, but in the case of this Mexican dish, having the marinade on beef turns it from a regular meat into a over-the-top flavorful meal. Letting the beef marinate means planning ahead a little for your meal, but I promise it is worth it!
Frequently Asked Questions about Steak Street Tacos
Flank steak is a perfect for tacos because it’s thin and cooks up quickly. It works well for slicing and is also a very affordable selection of meat. You can also use sirloin or New York strip steaks.
The main difference between street tacos and regular tacos is the SIZE. Street tacos are usually smaller than regular tacos, because you are supposed to be able to easily hold one in your hand and eat it on the go – thus the name “street tacos”.
We really like using cotija cheese, or Mexican feta cheese. If you can’t find cotija, you can use feta, shredded cheddar or Colby Jack cheese.
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Grilled Steak Street Tacos
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak or skirt steak top sirlion steak also works
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning or steak seasoning Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe
- 8 street taco tortillas flour or corn
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
- Cotija cheese to taste
Instructions
- Remove steak from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Rub with salt and seasonings and set aside.
- Heat grill to a medium high heat. Grill steak, only flipping once, until internal temperature reaches 155-degrees (about 8-10 minutes per side). Remove from grill immediately and set aside for about 5 minutes. Internal temperature will keep rising to about 160-degrees (this is MEDIUM doneness).
- Cut steak into thin strips or small, bite size pieces.
- Place steak strips on tortillas. Top with onions, cilantro, and cotija cheese.
- Serve immediately.
So delicious – thank you for this great recipe! It was a huge hit for the whole family and everyone commented that they were the best steak tacos I have ever served up!
I love going out for street tacos, but there’s nothing better than a date night in & turning on the grill. These are delicious & not hard to make at all!
Steak street tacos are mine & my hubby’s favorite! They are small enough that you can eat as many as you want! They are a weekend fav!
How can the whole taco be 13g of carbs when just the tortilla by itself is 14g???
The nutrition information is just for the taco filling. There are so many different kinds of tortillas, we couldn’t confidently add them to the nutrition facts.
Is the nutrition information listed for one taco?
Yes!
Made the recipe as is, and the meat came out tender and delicious! Love how versatile the recipe is as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
Yum! I made these for lunch, they were so quick and easy! Will be saving again to make for my next taco tuesday 😉
My favorite street taco to order at any restaurant! Very easy recipe & a hit with my family!
My mouth is watering…can’t wait to try these street tacos. Is it Tuesday yet?
So easy & so good!! I never get sick of eating street tacos, because there are so many ways to change them up & this is one of my top favs!
No for steak tacos you are supposed to use skirt steak if you can’t find fresh skirt then use flank steak
I’ve seen (and eaten) a lot of tacos and these are the best tacos ever!! The flavors are spot on!
a must make! I used this recipe for Salsa verde to put on top and it was SO good.
https://cookieandkate.com/2015/homemade-salsa-verde-recipe/
So glad you liked these street tacos! We will have to try this recipe for salsa verde, it sounds delicious!
I meant cotija cheese….darn autocorrect
What cheese can be substituted for cortina? I’ve been to 3 stores and none of them carry it.
You can use Feta cheese instead of Cotija. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Looking for a sauce to add to the steak. Any suggestions?
For these tacos I would use our Tomatillo Ranch Dressing sauce
My mom always just dipped them in extremely hot oil for a few seconds..longer to make totada shells..but taco shellsbwas so greasy.. I love corn much more than the flour.. Can you offer any cooking hints?? Thank you. : )
You don’t need to dip them in oil– you can just heat them on an un-oiled pan to soften them. Do it on medium-high heat until it get soft and pliable (maybe like 6-10 seconds on each side). Hope this helps!
Nothing wrong with heating them briefly in some oil. A little crispyness to the tortilla is next level.
How do you cook the corn tortilla?
You can just heat them in an un-greased pan for about 10 seconds on each side until it is soft and pliable. 🙂
Quick easy good
You can air fry them, fastest way I have found.
That looks delicious, I am going to buy the meat tomorrow