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Best Taco Recipes

September 5, 2024

We’ve rounded up our very best taco recipes, as well as a few taco-related recipes like taco salad, taco soup and of course our killer, put-it-on-everything homemade taco seasoning recipe!

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homemade carne asada tacos with onion, lime, and cilantro

Your New Favorite Taco Recipe Awaits.

Whatever type of taco you’re in the mood for– light and delicious fish tacos, true Mexican “street” tacos or cheesy, loaded Tex-Mex tacos—you’re sure to find it here.

shrimp tacos on a plate with slaw, limes and avocado, jalapeño crema.
cajun crispy fish tacos with jalapeño and avocado in a plate
Grilled Tilapia Tacos on a plate with cabbage, limes and avocado
beer battered fish tacos on a plate with radishes and limes

Our Favorite Fish Taco Recipes

We’d never claim that there’s ONE best fish tacos recipe. Because why choose!? We love all three of these fish tacos equally—there’s one for every mood.

  • Carnitas Tacos. Turn our favorite pork carnitas recipe into our favorite taco recipe ever by adding just a few simple ingredients.
  • Shrimp Tacos. Our super easy shrimp taco recipe comes complete with a slightly spicy avocado crema and topped with a crispy cabbage slaw that’s totally irresistible.
  • Spicy Fish Tacos. Featuring tender pieces of panko-crusted white fish loaded into warm tortillas, then topped with a crunchy cabbage slaw and drizzled with homemade spicy mayo, these crispy fish tacos totally rock.
  • Grilled Tilapia Tacos. Fresh and light, this grilled fish taco recipe is healthy, adaptable—use any firm white fish that is available and affordable—and always a crowd-pleaser.
  • Beer-Battered Fish Tacos. loaded with a slightly spicy, creamy coleslaw and topped off with a lime-spritzed crema, are pure heaven in a tortilla.
Chicken street tacos with mango slaw, avocado and lime
homemade carne asada tacos with onion, lime, and cilantro
Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef tacos on a plate
chicken Tinga tacos on a platter topped with avocado and radishes

The Best Street Tacos

The phrase “street tacos” refers to tacos that are made in a more traditional way, and meant to reflect the tacos you’d typically get as a street food in Mexico. When you see the phrase “street tacos” it usually means that the tacos you’re getting will be smaller and a bit simpler than other types of tacos—and are an especially stark contrast to Tex-Mex tacos—and made with corn tortillas instead of flour. Here are three street taco recipes we just adore:

  • Chicken Street Tacos With Mango Slaw. Topped with a crunchy, sweet lime-mango slaw, this easy chicken taco recipe is easy, healthy weeknight heaven.

  • Carne Asada Tacos. Nothing more and nothing less than the very best carne asada tacos recipe we could possibly create! Juicy steak, corn tortillas and fresh guacamole make for one killer dinner—just add margaritas.
  • Slow-Cooker Barbacoa Beef Tacos. Savory, juicy barbacoa beef tacos—just like the ones at Chipotle!—topped simply with crunchy radishes and diced onion, are a cinch to make thanks to our trusty slow-cooker.

  • Chicken Tinga Tacos. A few choice canned ingredients—like smoky chipotles in adobo and fire-roasted tomatoes—and a store-bought rotisserie chicken make this easy chicken tinga recipe a weeknight go-to.

homemade breakfast tacos with green chilis, bacon, avocado, cheddar cheese and salsa
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tacos

Tex-Mex Taco Recipes & Other Outside-the-Box Taco Recipes

We’ve got a real soft spot in our hearts for Tex-Mex food. Drenched in sauces and usually as loaded up with cheese as possible, it’s not authentically Mexican at all—it is a cuisine all its own. These hearty, Tex-Mex style taco recipes always hit the spot:

  • Breakfast Tacos. Because you can't fly to Austin every time you're craving breakfast tacos. But at least you can make them at home until your next visit! Loaded with bacon, eggs, avocado and cheddar cheese, our breakfast taco recipe is good enough to get you through!

  • Crispy Ground Beef Tacos. Beefy taco filling, hot and crispy from the pan and spiced just-so, loaded into a fried flour tortilla and topped to your heart's content—plenty of sour cream and pico on ours, please!—beef tacos are one of the speediest, easiest weeknight dinners out there.

  • Jerk Chicken Tacos. Fresh lime juice and homemade jerk seasoning liven up the simple grilled chicken thighs that fill our pineapple-loaded, tropical fever dream of a jerk chicken taco recipe.

roasted cauliflower tacos with avocado cream and cabbage slaw
sweet potato tacos with goat cheese, black beans and avocado

Deliciously Vegan Taco Recipes To Love

We know, we know—vegan tacos don’t sound all that exciting. But, the way we make ‘em, they’re actually every bit as texturally interesting and powerfully flavored as their meaty counterparts. Here are our two very favorite vegan taco recipes:

  • Easy Roasted Cauliflower Tacos. Crispy roasted taco-seasoned cauliflower is piled into a warm tortilla and honestly you could stop there and dinner would be yummy. The avocado crema we make has sour cream, but just leave it out for a still-delicious sauce that’ll ensure your tacos are 100% vegan.

  • Sweet Potato Tacos. Bulked up with black beans and a crispy cabbage slaw, this vegan taco recipe has a hint of sweetness from the roasted sweet potatoes, so it’s super kid-friendly.

three homemade lamb tacos on a plate topped with cilantro, tahini and tzatziki sauces, sumac and pickled onions
crispy chicken tacos on a plate topped with hot sauce and shredded lettuce, served with lime wedges and avocado sauce
easy chicken tacos on corn tortillas topped with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato and avocado
5 Beef Birria tacos on a plate with a bowl of consomé

More Taco Recipes to Love!

From easy weeknight chicken tacos to braised taco meat that take many hours, we’ve got even more taco recipes to fill your hearts and homes.

  • Lamb Tacos. This easy lamb taco meat recipe can be made in a slow-cooker, Instant Pot or on the good old stove top.

  • Crispy Chicken Tacos. Flavorful shredded chicken tacos with crispy, lacy edges that develop when the tacos are baking in the oven.

  • Easy Chicken Tacos. Our favorite fresh ingredients come together to make quick and easy chicken tacos.

  • Beef Birria Tacos. Loaded with juicy, chile-spiced and succulent beef birria, this easy beef birria taco recipe is a real keeper.

Homemade taco salad on a plate with ground beef, avocado and tortilla chips
homemade taco soup recipe in a bowl with cheese and sour cream

Not Tacos: Taco-Adjacent Recipes That Rule

From the best taco seasoning ever—we even rounded up 10 ways to use it!—to a deeply all-American, salsa-and-sour cream dressed taco salad, these taco-related recipes are every bit as awesome as the more classic taco recipes that inspired them.

  • Homemade Taco Seasoning. Smokey and savory, with a satisfying mild heat, our homemade taco seasoning is an adaptable, simple way to turn a ho-hum dinner into a “make again, please!”.

  • Taco Salad. The best taco salad recipe starts with seasoned beef and gets better from there, with toppings piled high—beans, corn, cheese, avocado and chips. Finish it off with taco salad dressing and DIG IN!

  • Taco Soup. What’s easier than taco night? Taco SOUP night! Rather than fussing around with warming tortillas in one pan, and seasoned beef sizzling in another, we’ve taken the ease of taco night and made it even better by soupifying it!

  • Crock-Pot Taco Meat. Just three-ingredients and the use of our trusty slow-cooker make this Crock-Pot taco meat recipe an easy win.

  • Crock-Pot Chicken Taco Meat. A shredded chicken taco feast is even easier to make than you think. Like, three ingredients easy.

Taco Night, Every Night

For more recipe inspiration, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest or order our cookbook. We love when you share your meals. Tag us on Instagram using #themodernproper. Happy cooking!

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  • Jenn

    I loved the jerk tacos, can't wait to try more of these!

    Thank you!