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Soft, tender meat filling inside a taco? Yes, please. This recipe for street tacos is one for the books!
What are Street Tacos?
Unlike the standard American taco, which comes in a crispy taco shell with ground beef, street tacos are filled with seasoned and grilled smoked chicken, pork, or carne asada, and served in smaller tortillas made of corn and often handmade. Smaller portions and more servings…. more tacos = more happiness.
Authentic Mexican Street Taco Recipe
These street tacos are just like the ones I enjoyed when visiting Mexico City while creating recipes for the Taco Tuesday Cookbook. You'll find these on page 111 in the cookbook called Food Truck tacos.
The key to making authentic tacos at home is using similar cuts of beef and cooking them in a very similar method. For this recipe, I chose boneless short ribs because they're most similar to what they use in Mexico. They aren't eating steak if that's what you're seeking.
Ingredients
Other than the tender beef ribs and serving them in those smaller corn tortillas, what makes this authentic Street Taco recipe so delicious is the chipotle peppers in adobo mixed with barbecue sauce. Super simple and oh-so-good!
How to Make Street Tacos at Home
The sauce that gives these street tacos incredible flavor comes together in the blender in a single step. After that, it's a matter of cooking the ribs with the sauce in the slow cooker on high for 6 hours or on low for 10 hours. Once done, shred it and assemble the tacos. That’s all!
What to Serve with These Tacos
If you thought this was an epic taco night, wait, because terrific sides are joining the party! My favorite? Corn on the cob easily baked in the oven and this tasty cilantro lime rice. I also love making Margaritas with Mix or Strawberry Margaritas to enjoy with my husband. Cheers!
Loving this Street Taco recipe?! The Taco Tuesday Cookbook has 51 taco essential dishes you and your family will rave about!
Street Taco Recipe in the Slow Cooker
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
For the tacos:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 pounds boneless country-style beef ribs, fat trimmed
- 4 ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup barbecue sauce
- 3 limes, 2 juiced and 1 cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 large white onion, finely chopped, divided
For serving:
- 8-12 corn or flour tortillas street taco sized or regular, warmed
- Pico de Gallo
- 2 avocados, sliced
- Sour Cream
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Brown the ribs:
- An optional step I highly recommend. It can be done directly inside the slow cooker or multicooker if you have that function. If not, brown them in a large skillet by heating heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs in batches, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the browned ribs to the slow cooker.
Cook:
- In a blender, blend the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, water, barbecue sauce, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, cumin, and salt until smooth. Pour the thick sauce over the ribs. Reserve one-quarter of the chopped onion and put the rest in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 10 hours, or until the meat easily separates between two forks.
- In the last couple of hours, use tongs to flip the ribs and distribute the sauce on top of the ribs. When the meat is done, break it up into smaller pieces with two forks.
Assemble the tacos:
- To assemble the tacos, start with a base of meat on each tortilla, top with some of the reserved chopped raw onion, pico de gallo, sliced avocados, sour cream, and cilantro. Serve with grated cheese and lime wedges on the side if you desire.
Notes
- If you can’t find chipotle peppers in adobo sauce you can substitute ¾ cup of enchilada sauce.
Kelley says
These were so good and turned out melt in your mouth tender!