Best Taco Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated June 13, 2019
Credit: Greg DuPree
Here, our favorite taco recipes from both our own kitchen and chefs around the world. From fish tacos with creamy lime guacamole to crispy fried chicken-filled tacos, try as many of these as you can.
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Texas Chile Short Rib Tacos


Credit: John Kernick
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The sauce for these tender beef short ribs is intense. To round out the tang and heat from the tomatoes and chiles, 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
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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

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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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Fish Tacos with Tomatillo-Jalapeño Salsa

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For her light and satisfying tacos, chef Deborah Schneider fills warm corn tortillas with meaty charred halibut and aguachiles, a brilliant, spicy, tart salsa.

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L.A. Gas Station Tacos

Credit: © Kamran Siddiqi
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Los Angeles's Kogi BBQ truck started the Korean-taco craze. Chef Roy Choi also loves the convenience-food ingredients (processed cheese! pork rinds!) sold at American gas stations.

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Scrambled Egg and Swiss Chard Tacos

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These delicious vegetarian tacos are packed with scrambled eggs, sautéed Swiss chard and tomatoes, then topped with salsa verde and sour cream.

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Grilled-Chicken Tacos

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At New York City’s Dos Toros, brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer offer amazing San Francisco–style tacos, burritos and quesadillas—simple, fresh and sustainable.

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Grilled Pork and Onion Tacos

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Grilling pork quickly not only keeps it moist, but adds a charred, smoky flavor that is lovely in these tacos. Remember to grill the cutlets only until they’re just cooked through; leave them on the heat any longer and they can dry out.

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Fish Tacos with Creamy Lime Guacamole and Cabbage Slaw

Credit: © Matthew Hranek
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Fish tacos are a staple among California surfers but are often beer-battered and fried. Kerry Simon’s healthier, grilled version enriches the guacamole with low-fat sour cream.

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Chile-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos

Credit: © Con Poulos
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In 2006, three brothers—Jesse, Brian and David Vendley—started hawking homemade tacos from a cart on the streets of Soho in Manhattan. In 2009, the trio opened restaurant Calexico in Brooklyn. The secret to their success: superfresh fillings like the pico de gallo in these carne asada (steak) tacos.

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Tofu-and-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread

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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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Fried Chicken Tacos

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“Right in Tijuana’s red-light district sits Kentucky Fried Buches, where cooks fry chicken necks, skin on, to fill soft corn tortillas. I can’t stop eating them,”; says Andrew Zimmern. “At home, I fry skin-on chicken thighs until they’re supercrisp, then eat them with avocado-tomatillo salsa, my family’s favorite.”

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Chipotle-Rubbed Salmon Tacos

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These tacos are a great way to eat heart-healthy salmon; Deborah Schneider, a huge advocate of cooking with sustainable fish, prefers wild Alaskan salmon. She tops the fish with crunchy cabbage. The tangy apple-cucumber salsa is juicy and crisp.

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Chicken and Cabbage Tacos with Cilantro Cream

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

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Fresh-Chorizo-and-Potato Tacos

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Except for its Velveeta-y chile con queso, San Francisco’s Tacolicious prizes local ingredients—both at its Ferry Plaza stand and at its restaurant.

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Chicken and Poblano Tacos with Crema

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This is a variation on the chorizo tacos that Justin Large makes at Big Star. You can replace the chicken strips with chorizo; for a vegetarian taco, Large recommends subbing in crumbled spiced tofu.

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Chicken Tinga Tacos

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“The chicken is braised in the oven, but you can make it in a slow cooker or completely on the stove, in a casserole,” says Jenn Louis. There are many versions of tinga—the smoky Mexican tomato sauce—and this one is especially easy, calling for only a few simple ingredients.

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Crunchy Tofu Tacos

Credit: © Con Poulos
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From his Pepto-pink truck, Joe Kim of the Flying Pig sells French-Asian tacos and sliders all around L.A., playfully combining ingredients like the fried tofu and peanuts here.

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Duck Confit Tacos

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“If Mexico hadn’t shared its chiles with China, would we have spicy Chinese food?” asks chef José Andrés. His Vegas spot, China Poblano, with dishes like these Asian duck tacos, shows how more and more chefs are combining seemingly unrelated cuisines.

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Tacos al Pastor

Credit: © Con Poulos
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“Tacos, whiskey, hillbilly music”—that’s the promise of Chicago’s Big Star, famed chef Paul Kahan’s new project with Donnie Madia and mixologist Michael Rubel of Violet Hour. Though they call the place a dive (it’s not), the classic tacos—like the exceptional grilled-pork one here—are impressively fresh. And there’s a take-out window.

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Beer-Braised Turkey Tacos

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Skinless turkey thighs and drumsticks are packed with flavor; Deborah Schneider braises the meat in beer until ultratender, then shreds it for tacos. “It’s also fabulous in a sandwich,” she says.

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Spiced Crab Tacos

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Chef Michael Psilakis’s bright, fresh crab tacos get a hit of Sriracha chile sauce. Cooked shrimp would be great here as well.

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Falafel Tacos with Spiced Citrus Crema

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In this fun Middle Eastern–meets–Mexican gluten-free dish, Silvana Nardone serves falafel in corn tortillas with sour cream that she doctors with citrus juices as well as cumin and fennel.

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Greenmarket Tacos with Corn Crema

Credit: © Con Poulos
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Food & Wine's 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. Just be sure to get the freshest corn and beans you can find.

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Breakfast Tacos

Credit: © Abby Hocking
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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
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Just about everything served in a tortilla is better—even carrots! 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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