We love tacos! All kinds of tacos, and we could literally eat tacos multiple times per week. So it was only appropriate that we added another taco recipe that we often make at home to the blog. Our Marinated Skirt Steak Street Tacos are packed with flavor and are a must for your next Taco Night!
What's in the marinade for these skirt steak tacos?
We absolutely love this steak marinade for a variety of cuts of beef, but when added to a skirt steak, the result is a burst of flavor and a little heat. The marinade has garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and a neutral oil. When these flavors combine, magic happens and we guarantee this will be your go-to marinade for steak tacos from here on out.
The steak needs to marinate for a minimum or 30 minutes and up to 4 hours before you cook it, so this is a recipe that can be made during the week when everyone has a busy schedule if needed. Marinating the skirt steak longer will impart more flavor overall, but 30 minutes is enough time to get a good amount of flavor in the meat. Either way, you won't be disappointed.
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Of course you can buy corn tortillas from the store if you wish, but we included instructions to make homemade corn tortillas here as well. You won't believe how easy they are to make! The tortillas can be made while you marinate the steak, making the entire process easy.
We have a tortilla press, but these are so easy to roll out with a rolling pin as well. Homemade is always better, so we highly encourage you to give these a try.
Taco Toppings
We typically like to put fairly simple and straightforward toppings on our street tacos. The toppings we often use are lime-juice marinated onions and jalapeños, chopped cilantro, lime juice, cotija cheese, and our favorite hot sauce. We are partial to hot sauces like Tapatio or El Gringo for taco night, but choose your favorite!
Another option is to make our Jalapeño and Roasted Corn Salad (shown in photos), which adds a nice bit of texture and flavor to the overall dish.
Sometimes we will add our Roasted Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa or our Guacamole from Scratch to the mix, but generally we like to keep it pretty simple for street tacos.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Marinated Skirt Steak Street Tacos! If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
If you like this recipe, checkout our other Taco Night favorites below:
- Blackened Garlic Shrimp Tacos with Cilantro Cream Sauce
- Polynesian Pulled Pork Tacos
- Korean Short Rib Tacos
- Blueberry Ginger Mint Frozen Margaritas
- Mexican Street Corn Pasta
📖 Recipe
Marinated Skirt Steak Street Tacos
Ingredients
For the meat marinade
- 1.5 lb skirt steak
- 6-8 cloves garlic – whole and skin on
- 1 large jalapeno – whole
- ¼ cup neutral oil (such as grapeseed or canola)
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 limes, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt to taste
For the homemade corn tortillas (see note)
- 2 cups instant yellow corn masa flour
- 1.5 cups hot water
For the taco garnishes
- Onion – chopped
- Jalapeno – sliced
- Cilantro - roughly chopped
- Lime juice
- Hot sauce (like Tapatío – our favorite)
- Jalapeño and Roasted Corn Salad
Instructions
Marinate the Steak
- Cut the skirt steak in half or thirds so it will fit in your marinating bag and will be easier to cook. Dry the skirt steak with paper towels and then let the beef sit on a wire rack in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you assemble the marinade.
- Heat a small frying pan or skillet on medium high heat. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook, turning often, until brown and black areas start to appear on both the garlic cloves and jalapeño. This takes about 5-6 minutes. Get all sides somewhat scorched, then remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Remove the skins from the garlic and the stem from the jalapeño.
- Put the garlic and jalapeño in a container you can use with an immersion blender, or in a normal blender or a food processor. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients and process until thoroughly blended and smooth. Add to a zip top bag with the skirt steak and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to four hours, flipping halfway through.
Make the Homemade Tortillas
- While the meat marinates, you can make tortillas. Simply mix the ingredients well and make 25g balls. We prefer this size, but you can experiment. Press the balls in the tortilla press (we press them as thin as we can get them) or roll out. Cook on a flattop, griddle or dry cast iron skillet on medium high heat for about 1 minute per side. Set aside.
Prep Your Garnishes
- Prepare your taco garnishes. You can use whatever you want, but we prefer the simple and classic garnishes. We also like to soak our onions and jalapeños for 30-60 minutes in lime juice and a pinch of kosher salt. This is a great flavor enhancement to simple additions for street tacos.
Cook the Marinated Skirt Steak
- When ready, you can cook your steak on a grill outside, a grill-pan inside or a cast-iron skillet. Remove the meat from the marinade, and don’t add any extra marinade when cooking in a grill-pan or cast-iron skillet or you will just steam your meat. Depending on the thickness of your steak, it will take just a few minutes per side on very high heat to achieve a nice medium steak with caramelization.
- Let the steak rest for a few minutes (you can warm up your tortillas at this time) and then slice the steak across the grain in thin strips, taste and add salt to taste, and serve!
Kelsey says
The flavor of this marinade was absolutely awesome. The only downside - which is total user error - was that I think I got my pan too hot - I made this in a cast iron on the stove and it produced a LOT of smoke in the house. I ended up having to pull the steak off the pan to manage the smoke, but it was rarer than I would've liked. If I make this again, I will definitely do it on the grill (or not until I have a much more powerful range hood)!
Angela and Mark says
Hi Kelsey! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! And the grill is definitely a good option for this, especially if excess smoking occurs. We hope you make this again and again!