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30 Taco Recipes to Put on Repeat

30 Taco Recipes to Put on Repeat

By Food & Wine

Updated April 09, 2021

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Credit: Greg Dupree

Whether you prefer your tacos meaty, packed with seafood, or vegetarian, we have a wealth of recipes for you to try. Some of our favorites include classics like birria tacos and carne asada tacos—we also love crispy ricotta-kale tacos, fideos secos tacos, and green chorizo and potato tacos, too (the crispy potato cubes are irresistible). Read on for even more of our best taco recipes.

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Birria Tacos

A combination of two meats creates the best balance of tender texture (from the chuck roast) and succulence (from the short ribs). These birria tacos get slow-cooked flavor from the adobo sauce.

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Texas Chile Short Rib Tacos 

Credit: John Kernick

To round out the tang and heat from the tomatoes and chiles in the sauce for the short ribs, cookbook authors Matt and Ted Lee add a little semisweet chocolate. “It’s mellow and sweet,” says Ted. “The chocolate puts everything in balance.”

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Steak Tacos with Pineapple

Credit: © Eva Kolenko

A quick marinade of soy sauce, garlic and ginger flavors the skirt steak for these super-easy tacos.

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Barbacoa Beef Tacos with Two Sauces

While most meat is put on the grill raw, these intensely flavorful Mexican beef short ribs from chef Roberto Santibañez are first braised with chiles and spices until meltingly tender. The cooked meat is then crisped on the grill, shredded and served in corn tortillas with a sauce made from the braising liquid.

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Grilled Pork and Onion Tacos

Gonzalo Martinez grills the chorizo, the cheese and even the chiles in the salsa for these tacos.

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Chile-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos

Credit: © Con Poulos

These tacos come together in just two steps, and are ready in 35 minutes.

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Tofu-and-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread

Chef Alyssa Gorelick wraps grilled vegetables and tofu in tortillas with an eggplant-and-ancho-chile spread that gives the tacos a rich, smoky taste. The spread is also delicious as a dip with pita chips.

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Chipotle-Rubbed Salmon Tacos

These salmon tacos are served with an apple-cucumber salsa.

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Chicken and Cabbage Tacos with Cilantro Cream

Pickled jalapeño adds heat and bite to these crunchy slaw-covered chicken tacos.

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Fresh-Chorizo-and-Potato Tacos

In just under an hour, this recipe yields you 12 tacos—serve them with a plummy, peppery Zinfandel.

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Chicken and Poblano Tacos with Crema

You can replace the chicken strips with chorizo in these tacos; for a vegetarian taco, Justin Large recommends subbing in crumbled spiced tofu.

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Tacos al Pastor

Credit: © Con Poulos

We recommend pairing these tacos with a smoky bock beer.

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Greenmarket Tacos with Corn Crema

Credit: © Con Poulos

Kay Chun tosses sweet summer corn and raw green and yellow wax beans in a creamy, tangy mix of yogurt, feta, olive oil and cilantro to use as the filling for tortillas. It's a great vegetarian meal on a hot day because there's no cooking involved. For carnivores, it can easily be embellished with sliced roast beef, ham or shredded chicken.

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Breakfast Tacos

Credit: © Abby Hocking

For his take on breakfast tacos, F&W’s Justin Chapple fills warm corn tortillas with scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and Monterey Jack cheese.

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Steak-and-Carrot Tacos 

Credit: Greg DuPree

Here, small (not baby!) carrots are roasted with fragrant cumin seeds, then served in warm homemade tortillas with juicy, meaty skirt steak. For a vegetarian version, swap out the steak for roasted mixed mushrooms.

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Crispy Pork Belly Tacos with Pico de Gallo

Credit: © Con Poulos

Chef Enrique Olvera stuffs tacos with crispy pork belly, confited in fat, and serves them with a tangy salsa spiked with Mexican beer.

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Coke-Braised Pork Tacos

Credit: Coral Von Zumvalt

Coca-Cola is the secret to this super-simple braised pork recipe from chef and cookbook author Marcela Valladolid. “The cola both tenderizes the pork and gives it a dark, caramelized crust,” says Valladolid. “I like to shred this pork and serve right in the casserole that it cooks in. I lay out bowls of toppings so everyone can build their own tacos.”

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Grilled Fish Tacos with Cantaloupe Pico De Gallo

Credit: Katie Burton

Make these super-simple fish tacos from chef Harold Moore when cantaloupe is at its peak. The floral, fruity melon in the pico de gallo is the perfect compliment to the sweet, flaky grilled fish.

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Brat-and-Pepper Tacos

Credit: © Con Poulos

These playful brat-and-pepper tacos from Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple are inspired by classic Italian sausage-and-pepper subs.

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Carne Asada Tacos

Credit: Abby Hocking / Food & Wine

For this fresh take on a carne asada taco, chef Juan Pablo Loza of the Rosewood Mayakoba resort in Cancún includes a vegetarian option in the recipe. In addition to flank steak, he also grills up oyster mushrooms and nopal (cactus) for a meaty (but meat-free) alternative.

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Chicken Tinga Tacos

Credit: JOHN KERNICK

F&W’s Justin Chapple stews dark meat chicken with onion, tomatoes and spices, then spoons it into crispy tortilla shells for the perfect taco.

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Salt-Baked Snapper Taco Bar

Credit: Con Poulos

Upgrade taco night with perfect fish tacos by salt-baking a whole fish. The salt crust ensures loads of moist, flaky meat to pair with the curtido (crunchy cabbage slaw) and a fresh pico de gallo. We also love slicing up some creamy avocado to top each taco.

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Hot Chicken Tacos

Credit: Victor Protasio

Chef Felipe Riccio likes to top these tacos with spicy, chorizo-studded braised collards and bread-and-butter pickles. Use the best-quality corn tortillas you can find, such as those from Masienda brand.

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Mushroom Tacos with Salsa Guacamolada

Credit: Abby Hocking

Chef Juan Pablo Loza of the Rosewood Mayakoba in Mexico loves the rich, savory flavor of mushrooms paired with a bright and lightly spicy guacamolada. You can use any mix of mushrooms you like, though Chef Loza prefers the flavor of wild mushrooms.

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Green Chorizo and Potato Tacos

Credit: Greg DuPree

A punchy, herb-forward Green Chorizo is the star of these tacos, but the hidden heroes are the tiny cubes of fried potato—they’re salty, crispy, and absolutely irresistible. The addition of chicken broth helps hold the crumbly chorizo and bits of potato together.

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Crispy Ricotta-Kale Tacos

Credit: Victor Protasio

Be sure to heat the tortillas in a hot skillet before stuffing them with the ricotta-kale mixture. Warming them up first makes them more pliable and less likely to break during the stuffing and cooking process.

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Salpicón Taco

Credit: Victor Protasio

Chef Juan Pablo Loza of Rosewood Mayakoba makes this refreshing salpicón, a basic salsa made here with cucumbers, radishes, habanero, red onion, and tomatoes. “This is a classic way to serve different leftovers, which you have to reheat and add in to the salsa so all the spice and citrus will soak the meat, making this a warm and cold filling in a hot tortilla,” he says. “You don’t need to add anything else. It’s so simple and perfect just like that.”

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Al Pastor Fish Tacos

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

“You’d think the adobo would totally consume the flavor of the fish, but it doesn’t,” Marcela Valladolid writes. “It’s a lighter, beachier version of a Mexican classic—perfect with an ice-cold beer. Topped with the traditional raw white onions, cilantro, and avocado (or guacamole!), it’s heaven.”

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Crispy Pork Tacos with Red Chile Salsa

Credit: David Malosh

These hearty tacos, piled high with braised pork and topped with a shower of thinly sliced cabbage and cilantro, are a love letter to the Mexican cooking traditions that shape California cuisine. Fried in pork fat after cooking low and slow, the pork gets extra crispy without being dry. Dried chiles bring a mild, sweet heat to the salsa; their slight bitterness cuts through rich, fatty pork.

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Fideos Secos Tacos

Credit: Greg Dupree

These griddled tacos are filled with fideos secos, a Mexican dish of thin spaghetti cooked in a chile-based tomato sauce until the pasta has absorbed the flavor and rich red color of the sauce.

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