One of the favorite and most requested meals in our house is tacos. They’re so easy and I’ve never met a person that didn’t like a taco.
My husband’s favorite tacos are always steak tacos and we probably either eat them or order them once a week.
Since moving to Michigan full time, we are working on finding a taco place that we still love. In the meantime, we are upping our at home taco game.
These skirt steak tacos are quickly becoming the go-to for taco nights and they are the perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday or even just a regular Friday night.
I’ve been focusing on really making the meat the star of the dish when it comes to tacos. Think about it, you can slap a yummy topping on any meat and kind of call it good.
But when you taste tacos that really have the meat working well with the other components of the dish, the flavors all sing together in your mouth. At least, that’s the experience I have whenever I go to a Mexican restaurant back in Chicago that we adore.
You can serve steak tacos with many toppings, but I decided to serve them with chimichurri, sliced carrots for crunch and honey radishes for a little sweetness. I wanted to add this tajin sour cream sauce too, but I was unfortunately, and unknowingly, out of sour cream. You will want to make this though for something because it’s flavor profile mixed with the chimichurri is something not to be missed!
For these steak tacos, I decided to use skirt steak. You can use flank steak or hanger steak if you want too, but I like skirt steak for many reasons. It’s also the cut of meat most often used in steak fajitas.
Skirt steak has a more beefy and intense meat flavor versus flank steak and it’s a thinner cut of meat, so it cooks faster. If you’re making dinner after work, sometimes all you want is a fast dinner and skirt steak does this nicely.
However, be warned. Skirt steak can be tough if you over cook it. It tends to be lean but can be tougher than flank steak. I never cook it over medium when working with it. Most people say medium rare is best but I’m not a rare-kind-of-girl.
You can make the steak for the steak tacos inside on the stove our outside on the grill. The key is not overcooking it. In either place, I like to set my grill or oven to medium heat and cook it for three minutes per side. Then turn the heat up and cook each side another minute to two minutes for a good sear.
Tip: Before cooking the skirt steak, you will want to marinade it in the marinade below. You should marinade it for at least an hour before cooking. If you don’t have an hour beforehand, do it in the morning before work or even the night before.
Tip: If you can, make the chimichurri the night before. It really needs a bit of time to have all the flavors start working together. If you can’t make it the night before, make it at least a half an hour before you start your meat.
Also, if you have kids, help them to keep it all together with these cute taco holders! We have these and it helps the kids to keep all the stuffings in the shell. They’re dishwasher safe and come a part for easy cleaning.
Grab the full recipe below! For more dinner recipes, click here.
Skirt Steak Tacos
Skirt Steak Tacos
Ingredients
Ingredients for the meat
- 2 pounds of skirt steak
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- Juice from 3 limes
- Zest from 3 limes
- 1/4 cup of pineapple juice
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic minced
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
Ingredients for the radishes
- 1 bunch of radishes sliced and then sliced again
- 3 Tbsp. of honey
- 1 Tbsp. vinegar
Chimichurri Ingredients
- 2 cups of cilantro chopped
- 1 1/2 cup parsley chopped
- 2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. of vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. red onion chopped
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. of garlic (or about two cloves)
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Additional Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil (Only if you're cooking in a pan on the stove.)
- Corn tortillas
- Cotija cheese crumbled
- Additional sliced limes to squeeze over the tacos.
- Tajin Lime Sour Cream sauce (Yum!)
Instructions
- Mix your marinade and rub it all over your meat. I recommend mixing it together in a bag or a bowl that you can add the meat to, so you don’t lose any of the ingredients by shifting them from bowl to bowl. Just don’t curt the meat.
- Refrigerate this for at least one hour. Again, if you need to make it the night before or before work that’s perfectly fine too.
- Make your chimichurri by blending all the ingredients together in a small blender. Make sure it is all well chopped and combined. Set it aside in the refrigerator. Again, make this before or even the night before. The longer it sits, the longer the flavors have to marry and the better it will taste.
- If you want to make the honey radishes, slice your radishes and add them to a bowl with the other ingredients for at least 10 minutes. Make sure they are all covered and the honey and vinegar are well mixed.
- When it’s time to cook, heat your pan to medium heat and then add your 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to the pan. If you’re cooking on the grill don’t worry about adding more olive oil but do make sure to pre-heat your grill to about 350 degrees before adding the meat.
- Once your surfaces are heated, add the meat and cook three minutes per side.
- Then, turn the heat up and cook for another minute or two to get a nice sear on the meat. If you like a more done piece of meat go for two minutes. If you like a more medium rare go for one minute.
- Remove from heat and then let the meat rest for about five minutes.
- Slice and serve with an extra squeeze of lime and your additional toppings.
I love mexican food, it’s my fave! These look like restaurant quality and so yummy.
Aww yeah. Now that’s what I call a taco. Steak tacos are my favorite. This is one great recipe.
Tacos are everyone’s favorite and those steak tacos look so good. I know this little recipe will make everyone’s taco night a success.
These tacos look fantastic! I love skirt steak because it’s affordable and easy to work with.
Oh yes, my family loves tacos, so I’ll be making these for dinner one night. They look so amazing!
In my opinion, seasoning is the hardest thing to learn with cooking! I’m a good cook, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut of what spices to use. Following recipes like yours helps!
I’ve never thought to add honey radishes to mine. That looks amazing. I can’t wait to give it a try!
I think I need to make this for dinner! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture! Dinner is served! YUM!
I love a good steak taco. This is an excellent recipe! The spices look like a perfect blend.
Another delicious taco recipe! We have taco tuesdays at home and I am adding this to the menu plan for next week.
This is briliant. I was just going to make tacos and this is a great lead into it.
These look amazing! Way better than my usual taco recipe. I will be making these next week for sure! Thank you for the recipe.
This recipe would be perfect for Taco Tuesday. My son is a huge steak fan. I know he would love this recipe.
Two of my favorites in one dish. I love tacos and steak. I could eat these every night!
I like this kind of dish. So flavorful and beautiful. I need to try this recipe.
That looks really good! I can’t wait to try it!
Skirt steak. I have to remember that for when I go grocery shopping. I can never seem to find the right cut of beef for when I make fajitas for my family. They love fajitas and I’ve tried making it with chicken (the only meat I eat) and they don’t like it. lol
Thanks for the tip!
I want to give these a try. Mine usually come out tough, so I am going to follow your recipe and see if I can’t break that cycle. Thank you!
I am all about some steak tacos. Those look so good and so authentic. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. Now I am off to buy a skirt steak.
I love street tacos better then regular. Those might have to make it on my dinner table soon!
Tacos are one of my favorite foods of all time. I love that these are made with skirt steak. I really want to try them!!
Yes! Give me those tacos now! I am all about delicious tacos. Can’t wait to add these to my dinner menu.
These look delish! And I love the pairing of veggies 🙂
These look and sound so delicious!! I am pulling this recipe out for Cinco de Mayo!
Oh yum!! I usually do chicken tacos, but I know my husband would love steak!
I love tacos and am always looking for new recipes. These look so good and I can’t wait to try them!
I’ve always wanted to cook skirt steak but have never tried it yet. This recipe looks so good with that.
Yep… these are going on my list of recipes to try in the very near future! These look amazing!!
Oh baby! These truly are perfectly seasoned and cooked – or so it seems at least. I am so drooling and now, really want some steak in my life!
My stomach just growled. These look amazing. We will certainly try these out for dinner.
I love making churrasco, but I don’t think I’ve ever put it in tacos. This is a genius idea!
I love tacos and even more so when it’s filled with steak. I usually just order out but now I can make them every night I’m craving them. Yum!
There’s nothing like a good taco. Skirt steak is one of the best options, I would say!
Oh wow! These look awesomely ddelish!