Street tacos can be found in almost any Mexican restaurant throughout the cities across America. Simple but packed with flavor, grilled marinated chicken and your favorite toppings are tucked into soft corn tortillas.
Now you can make chicken street tacos right at home for an easy, fresh and delicious meal!
What is a Street Taco?
A street taco is a very basic taco filled with grilled meat, often beef, chicken, pork, or sometimes shrimp or fish. Both the flavors and the ingredients tend to be simple, clean and fresh!
The meat mixture is scooped into a soft corn tortilla and served with onions, cilantro, and pico de gallo (or your favorite fresh toppings).
What are the Best Tortillas?
I travel to Mexico frequently (it’s my happy place) and I am obsessed with Mexican food while I’m there. Upon my travels, I’ve fallen deeply in love with the flavor of a warm soft corn tortilla.
While street taco tortillas are usually corn, flour can be used if it is your preference.
To Serve Street Tacos
These little bundles are often served in twos or threes, so keep the size of the tortilla small, 6 to 8 inches. If you can find them, our store sells little mini 4″ tortillas which are perfect for appetizer night! Tortillas are usually doubled up when serving (this is optional) because corn tortillas can sometimes tear or break and this’ll keep all of the filling in.
I usually heat the tortillas right on the grill or over the gas stove directly over the flame for a few seconds.
How to Make Street Tacos
Making the best street food right at home is as easy as can be!
Prepare the chicken in the marinade before you leave for work so the chicken is seasoned and super tender! Then serve with a Mexican style salad and fun drinks for a perfect evening.
- Prepare the marinade, add chicken and refrigerate at least one hour.
- Grill chicken until no pink remains, then chop into 1/2” pieces.
- Fill your tortillas (and your plate) and enjoy!
To serve, scoop a little chicken in the center of each taco and then add toppings as desired.
I find chicken thighs always come out juicy but if you prefer, you can use grilled chicken breasts in place of thighs.
The Best Toppings for Street Tacos
This is the part everyone loves the most! So, what goes on a street taco? There are so many tasty add-ons, but here is a list of all-time favorites:
- Veggies: avocados, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, or shredded lettuce
- Sauces: guacamole, sour cream, or homemade salsa (or pico de gallo)
- Cheese: cheddar cheese, Cotija, monterey jack
- Flavor Booster: jalapenos, onions or black olives
Can I Freeze It?
The chicken can be easily frozen after it’s been cooked. Remember to label a zippered bag with the date on it.
Street taco meat should keep in the freezer for about two months. Corn tortillas freeze great as well! Freeze the meat and the tortillas separately.
Taco Night Recipes
- Oven Baked Tacos – super cheesy!
- Easy Ground Beef Tacos
- Easy Fish Tacos – ready in 20 mins
- Shrimp Tacos – perfect last-minute recipe!
- Easy Taco Salad– fresh and flavorful
Chicken Street Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon cumin optional
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For serving
- corn tortillas
- chopped fresh cilantro
- pico de gallo
Instructions
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Combine chicken, cumin, oregano, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, and olive oil in a bowl. Marinate at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
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Grill chicken over medium heat until no pink remains, about 4 minutes per side.
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Once cooked, remove chicken and rest 3 minutes. Chop into ½" cubes.
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Meanwhile, warm tortillas in the microwave or on a skillet. Top tortillas with chicken and toppings as desired.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Chicken, Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
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The marinade needs salt and pepper or some variation thereof. Once I added salt and pepper to the cooked chicken it tasted great!
I am glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the suggestion.
Made these on our flat top grill while camping. So easy and full of flavor! Topped them with a little bit of sour cream. Yum!
Sounds delicious, Shelley!
I made the street tacos for family and they loved them!! So flavorful!
Just made mojo marinade and it tastes GREAT just by itself. I cant wait till tomorrow to bake chicken quarters… too bad they need overnite to soak. I’m sure I could cook tonight but really want full flavor. Maybe let you know how they came out later!! Got to try this on pork also. 5 stars so far… but got to cook
If you love the marinade you are going to adore the chicken! Can’t wait for you to try it, Mitchell!
You have orange juice listed as an ingredient but not in the instructions.
The orange juice is listed in step 1 in the instructions next to lime juice.
Tried this marinade for street tacos and it was a hit! I did tweak a little and add a teaspoon of kosher salt and chili powder and they did not disappoint. Thank you!
Can you put this in the crockpot? I like these flavors better because of there being no salsa.
We do have this crockpot chicken taco recipe you could try. It has salsa, but you could replace the salsa with additional diced tomatoes.
Can the chicken be baked in the oven?
Thanks.
Hi Ferryal! I haven’t tried baking the chicken in the oven for this recipe, but I think it would work just fine! Try baking at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. Let us know how they turn out :)
I really want to try this tonight but was wondering if it could be made in the Instant Pot? Do you have a conversion?
We have this delicious Instant Pot Chicken Tacos recipe you could try TJ.