34 Taco Recipes That'll Have You Telling Your Friends You Should Open A Food Truck (2024)

This flavorful handheld food has it all—tender marinated skirt steak, an aromatic corn tortilla, and all of the classic street taco toppings. Served for lunch or dinner, these are delicious with a hearty side of refried beans and rice, or you can keep it light with corn salad.

Get the Carne Asada Tacos recipe.

Any firm white fish like tilapia, catfish, cod, or flounder all work beautifully here, so save your $$$ and don't spring for an expensive one. The combination of flour, cornstarch, and cornmeal in the batter results in a crisp but sturdy crust no matter which fish you choose.

Get the Fried Fish Tacos recipe.

Nothing beats a street taco—super-juicy, tender grilled meat in a quick grab-and-go format, typically made possible by doubling up two smaller corn tortillas. This makes them easier to eat on the side of the street, in the car, anywhere! They're no frills yet tend to be some of the most craveable tacos around.

Get the Grilled Chicken Street Tacos recipe.

Although birria can be served in countless ways, we love making quesatacos stained red with the fat of the birria and seared until almost crispy. This helps melt the queso oaxaca and create what is essentially a mini quesadilla. What's not to love?

Get the Birria Quesatacos recipe.

Being a meaty, tender fish, mahi mahi stands up well to the grill and is even better when marinated. You could use a traditional citrus-oil mixture, or do like we did and go with a mayo-based marinade that adds some richness and a ton of flavor. Throw the fish on a tortilla with some spicy pineapple-jalapeño salsa, and you'll have an amazing summer taco night.

Get the Mahi Mahi Tacos recipe.

Extra crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside, these tacos are so much fun to make and eat. Putting cheese directly in your skillet might sound wrong, but it works! Once off heat, the cheese starts to harden and crisps up, giving the texture of a crunchy taco shell, but extra delicious.

Get the Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos recipe.

To get extra crispy "fried" cauliflower, you gotta use your air fryer. This recipe is basically the vegan version of our favorite fish tacos. The finishing touch? A quick and easy pickled slaw for a bite of freshness and a spicy mayo for a touch of heat.

Get the Air Fryer Cauliflower Tacos recipe.

We say the more toppings the merrier. We like our chicken tacos topped with red onion (pickled onions would be great too), avocado, cilantro, and cheese. Pico de gallo, salsa, sour cream, or some crushed corn chips would also be delicious, so have fun with it!

Get the Easy Chicken Tacos recipe.

The fish—we use cod, but any flaky variety, like tilapia, works—marinates in a mixture of lime juice, chili powder, and cumin that will become your standard. But the real gem of this recipe is the red cabbage slaw—don't skip it. It takes just a few minutes to toss together, and its brightness is the perfect condiment to the spiced cod.

Get the Perfect Fish Tacos recipe.

If you’ve ever bitten into a breakfast burrito and wished that it was just a tortilla stuffed with hash browns, these tacos are for you. We topped them with pickled onions, chipotle mayo, cotija cheese, and cilantro, but feel free to customize however you like.

Get the Spicy Potato Tacos recipe.

Traditional tacos al pastor are made on a vertical rotisserie just like chicken shawarma. The method was used by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico and the tacos adapted to fit the culinary scene of Mexico with their spices and quickly became a popular street food. Serve these up with some queso and call it a fiesta.

Get the Tacos Al Pastor recipe.

All the deliciousness of elote or esquites in taco form—and you don’t even have to fire up the grill. Oh, and did we mention you can get them on the table in 30 minutes?

Get the Elote (Mexican Street Corn) Tacos recipe.

A good breakfast taco is a thing of beauty. Not only will these keep you full until lunch, they've also been known to cure a mean hangover. (Hair of the dog, à la a Michelada, anyone?) Pickled red onions aren't necessary, but they do add a nice crunch.

Get the Breakfast Tacos recipe.

If you don't have Cajun spice, you can make your own! Just stir together some salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and dried oregano before rubbing it on the salmon here.

Get the Blackened Salmon Tacos recipe.

Enjoy the perfect combination of cheesy and beefy goodness with these unreal tacos. We promise you'll be so obsessed with this zesty, flavorful filling, you'll want to eat it with a spoon. Use whatever ground beef you like best. We usually go with 80% lean/20% fat, but you do you.

Get the Cheesy Ground Beef Tacos recipe.

Throw a beef chuck roast—which has a strong beefy flavor and needs time to tenderize—an onion, and some spices in the slow-cooker before you head out for work, and come home to a Tex-Mex masterpiece.

Get the Slow-Cooker Beef Tacos recipe.

These vegan tacos are loaded with bright flavors and a variety of textures—just like any good taco should be! Serve them up with some frozen margaritas and homemade guacamole for the full Taco Tuesday experience.

Get the Vegan Chipotle Lentil Tacos recipe.

Tequila-lime might sound like a margarita flavor profile, but we love using it in chicken marinades. While the chicken's marinating, prep the fixings: red cabbage, cotija, avocado... or really anything you want.

Get the Tequila-Lime Chicken Tacos recipe.

This recipe is inspired by chicken tinga, a Mexican guisado (or stew) that is tender chicken, shredded and added to a tomato sauce spiked with chiles, onion, garlic and spices. This preparation is a little more weeknight-friendly by relying on the ever-versatile and delicious canned chipotle chiles in adobo.

Get the Shredded Chicken Tacos recipe.

There are no extraneous ingredients here—once you grab shrimp, you've probably got almost everything to make these already! We left the tails on the shrimp for grilling, but feel free to take them off.

Get the Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Sriracha Slaw recipe.