We don’t mess around when it comes to tacos. Whether it’s Taco Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, or just another weeknight, tacos show up on our kitchen table more often than we’d like to admit. We love how wrapping pretty much anything in a corn tortilla or flour tortilla turns it into a killer meal. Check out our list of 30 of our favorite tacos—we bet you’ll find a new flavor combo you love.
We’ve got all the most popular standards here, including basic recipes for fish tacos, chicken tacos, and pork tacos. You could just use whatever leftovers you got and put them in a warmed tortilla (it’s one of our favorite crazy simple lunches), but if you want something to really wow your tastebuds, you’ve got to add more flavor to your meat. Taco seasoning is an obvious pick (get store-bought or make your own), but we’re talking even wilder than that. Our beef birria quesatacos rely on three different types of chilis and spices (like sweet cinnamon—trust us, it works!) to get their flavor. Our tequila-lime chicken tacos go a little brighter by relying on a margarita for their flavor inspiration. Or try our Cajun shrimp tacos with mango-avocado salsa: The Louisiana Cajun spices will taste just familiar enough, while also adding something new and exciting, and the salsa helps cut through all the heat.
And don’t worry, it’s not just meat on this list. We’ve also included a few of our favorite vegan and vegetarian options here too, like our air fryer cauliflower tacos, our chipotle lentil tacos, or our buffalo cauliflower tacos. They’ve got SO much flavor, you won’t miss the meat. While we’re pretty happy to eat tacos for any meal, we’ve also included our specifically breakfast tacos (with eggs, ofc) and our death by chocolate taco, in case you were craving a crunchy dessert.
The fish—we use cod, but any flaky variety, like tilapia, works—marinates in a mixture of lime juice, chili powder, and cumin that will become your standard. But the real gem of this recipe is the cabbage slaw—don't skip it. It takes just a few minutes to toss together and its brightness is the perfect condiment to the spiced cod.
We say the more toppings the merrier. We like our chicken tacos topped with red onion (pickled onions would be great too), avocado, cilantro, and cheese. Pico de gallo, salsa, sour cream, or some crushed corn chips would also be delicious.
Although birria can be served in countless ways, we love making quesatacos stained red with the fat of the birria and seared until almost crispy. This helps melt queso oaxaca and create what is essentially a mini quesadilla. What's not to love?
These vegan tacos are loaded with bright flavors and a variety of textures—just like any good taco should be! Serve them up with some frozen margaritas and homemade guacamole for the full Taco Tuesday experience.
All the deliciousness of elote or esquites in taco form—and you don’t even have to fire up the grill. Oh, and did we mention you can get them on the table in 30 minutes?
Traditional tacos al pastor are made on a vertical rotisserie just like chicken shawarma. The method was used by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico and the tacos adapted to fit the culinary scene of Mexico with their spices and quickly became a popular street food. Serve these up with some queso and call it a fiesta.
A good breakfast taco is a thing of beauty. Not only will these keep you full until lunch, they've also been known to cure a mean hangover. (Hair of the dog, a la Michelada, anyone?) Pickled red onions aren't necessary, but they do add a nice crunch.
Enjoy the perfect combination of cheesy and beefy goodness with these unreal tacos. We promise you'll be so obsessed with this zesty, flavorful filling, you'll want to eat it with a spoon. Use whatever ground beef you like best. We usually go with 80% lean 20% fat.
With a little time and a lot of spices, you can make the best chorizo EVER. If you can't eat it all in one go, freeze it in servings so you can have freshly cooked chorizo whenever you please. We used it in tacos, but there's really nothing this spicy chorizo can't improve.
Throw a beef chuck roast—which has a strong beefy flavor and needs time to tenderize—an onion, and some spices in the slow-cooker before you head out for work, and come home to a Tex-Mex masterpiece.
To get extra crispy "fried" cauliflower, you gotta use your air fryer. This recipe is basically the vegan version of our favorite fish tacos. The finishing touch? A quick and easy pickled slaw for a bite of freshness and a spicy mayo for a touch of heat.
Tequila-lime might sound like a margarita flavor profile, but we love using it in chicken marinades. While the chicken's marinating, prep the fixings: purple cabbage, Cotija, and avocado — or really anything you want.
If you don't have Cajun spice, you can make your own! Just stir together some salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and dried oregano before rubbing it on the salmon.
PHOTOGRAPHER: JOEL GOLDBERG ; FOOD STYLING: MICAH MORTON
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Shredded Chicken Tacos
This recipe is inspired by chicken tinga, a Mexican guisado (or stew) that is tender chicken, shredded and added to a tomato sauce spiked with chiles, onion, garlic and spices. This preparation is a little more weeknight friendly by relying on the ever versatile and delicious canned chipotle chiles in adobo.
If we knew the Instant Pot could turn out delicious, juicy chicken tacos, then we would have bought one a lot sooner. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon already you're going to want to for these. Tender, juicy chicken that makes its own sauce while cooking. We love them spicy, but feel free to lessen the amount of hot sauce if desired.
Originating in Baja California, fish and shrimp tacos have become popular pretty much anywhere seafood is available. The combination of avocado slaw, marinated shrimp, and garlic-lime mayo makes for a seriously delicious taco. Serve 'em up with a margarita and extra hot sauce on the side.
You're going to want to use this pineapple slaw on everything. It pair SO well with the BBQ brown sugar glaze on the pork here. Don't worry, these have enough spice to cut through all that sweet!
These shrimp and pineapple tacos are full of flavor and will have you feel like you're sitting on the beach. Cleanup is a warm ocean breeze thanks to it all coming together on one sheet pan!
There are no extraneous ingredients here—once you grab shrimp, you've probably got almost everything to make these already! We left the tails on the shrimp for grilling, but feel free to take them off.
Everything is better when it's a taco, including Jamaican jerk! We modeled these steak tacos after our favorite Caribbean jerk chicken. Homemade jerk seasoning has amazing flavor, but you can use store-bought as a shortcut if you need.
We like using rotisserie chicken for this recipe because (sometimes) we're lazy. If you have the time, these would also be killer with grilled chicken breast — just swap lime juice for the balsamic and oregano for the rosemary and thyme.
Cauliflower florets get coated in a well-seasoned batter, roasted until crispy, then slathered in spicy buffalo wing sauce. Finish it off with a creamy ranch coleslaw topping to compliment the spice. Bonus: They’re vegetarian!
Our favorite sandwich filling, pulled pork, gets the taco treatment. The avocado crema here is SO simple—just avocado and sour cream—we can't believe we didn't think to combine the two before!
We can hear the ice cream truck music in our heads with each bite of these super decadent dessert tacos made with hard taco shells. There’s a bit of freezer work involved here, but don’t be intimidated. The recipe is incredibly simple and the end result is totally worth the wait.
These tacos are full of flavor and topped off with two of our all-time favorite ingredients: bacon and ranch dressing! Bonus, you can have them on the table in just 25 minutes!
Any firm white fish like tilapia, catfish, cod, or flounder all work beautifully here, so save your $$$ and don't spring for an expensive one. The combination of flour, cornstarch, and cornmeal in the batter results in a crisp but sturdy crust no matter which fish you choose.
