Chicken Street Tacos

These Chicken Street Tacos will become your new favorite when the taco craving hits. Fluffy corn tortillas are filled with flavorful crispy chicken bits and a simple onion and cilantro topping. So good, you will not be able to stop eating them. Best of all, they come together easily and quickly to make a fabulous weeknight meal the whole family will love.

Mexican street food is one of the tastiest in the world. Today, I’m highlighting a street-style chicken taco recipe because they’re one the simplest to make and out-of-this-world delicious. I make them on repeat, especially once grilling season is upon us.

The beauty of this street taco lies in its utter simplicity. Boneless chicken thighs, or chicken breasts, are generously seasoned then grilled until smoky and charred but still perfectly juicy on the inside. Hot off the grill, the chicken is chopped into bits then stuffed into warm corn tortillas.

Resist the temptation to add a flurry of toppings and serve these exactly how they do in Mexico; aside from a fresh, vibrant salsa of your choice, the only toppings are chopped onion and cilantro. So simple yet packed with punchy flavors!

Here’s three reasons we love these tacos so much:

1. Weeknight-friendly: Start to finish, it will not take you longer than 30 minutes to have these tacos on the table. You can marinate the chicken the night before to make things go even quicker.
2. Easy and not messy: Cooking the chicken on the grill reduces the mess in your kitchen and gives them a more authentic vibe. That said, they cook up super fast and just as delicious on a hot skillet, too!
3. Fewer toppings = moreflavor: It may seem odd, but the lack of extra toppings makes these chicken tacos extra-flavorful. The combination of those crispity little browned bits with the onion/cilantro garnish give you a flavor explosion with every single bite!

What Is A Street Taco?

Street food is prevalent throughout most major cities in Mexico and tacos make up a big part of this street food. Perhaps what distinguishes street tacos the most from regular tacos, is the size. They are typically served in very small tortillas to make them easy to eat by hand.

A classic street taco will always be served in doubled up corn tortillas. The filling is made up of some sort of chopped asada meat — well-seasoned meat that has been grilled. As for the toppings, they are kept very minimal. White onions, cilantro and lime wedges, that’s it. No lettuce, no tomatoes and no cheese.

Salsas are available at the stands, but the filling is so tasty you likely won’t use it.

Why Do Street Tacos Have Two Tortillas?

Traditional Mexican street tacos are always made with corn tortillas, never flour tortillas. However, corn tortillas are a little more delicate than flour tortillas and tend to rip easily.

For this reason, vendors typically double up the tortillas which helps contain the filling and makes it less messy to eat.

Ingredients Needed With Notes On Variations And Substitutions

• Chicken: Street tacos can be made with any asada meat you like but here we are using chicken. I prefer to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they don’t dry out when grilled. That said, I have also made these street tacos with boneless skinless chicken breasts and they are super delicious, too. For a different protein, swap the chicken out for skirt steak or pork shoulder. For a plant-based protein, use crispy cubed tofu.
• Onion: We are going to use onion for the marinade and the topping. For the marinade, I like to use a grated small red onion, but any onion will work. As for the topping, I pretty much always use white onions.
• Garlic: A few grated garlic cloves will add loads of flavor to the marinade. If you don’t have a microplane to grate the garlic, you can just mince it finely. If you rather not use fresh garlic, you can get away with adding a little more garlic powder.
• Orange juice, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar: Very often, in Latin American cuisine meat is marinated with the juice of sour oranges. Here we use a combination of orange juice, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar to recreate the tangy flavor of sour oranges.
• Seasoning: Here we use a simple taco-style seasoning of sorts. Ancho chili powder, dried oregano, paprika and just a bit of cumin. Ancho chili powder has a lot flavor without giving a Tex-Mex flavor like chili powder. If you can’t find ancho chili powder, go ahead and use whatever chili powder you have on hand.
• Fresh cilantro: You will need a very large bunch of cilantro. A generous amount of chopped cilantro is added to the marinade as well as the assembled taco. Unfortunately, if you are cilantro averse, I can’t really give you a substitute as the flavor is pretty essential to these chicken street tacos.
• Tortillas: For street-style tacos you need to use corn tortillas. If possible, look for corn tortillas that are super small, about 4-inches in diameter. These small tortillas are sometimes labeled “taqueria style tortillas” or “street taco tortillas”. They can be hard to find so if you can’t find any, just use the smallest corn tortillas possible.
• Lime wedges: Squirts of fresh lime juice will give your street tacos the finishing touch!
• Optional salsa: As I mentioned, the addition of salsa is not essential in street tacos. That said, I will sometimes blend up an avocado with jalapeños, cilantro, garlic and lime juice, and serve it alongside. If you serve a salsa with these chicken tacos, try and use something tangy and not red tomato-based. You don’t want to drown the great flavor of the chicken in a chunky salsa.

How To Make Chicken Street Tacos

Step 1: Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and whisk to combine. If you wish, transfer marinade to a sealable plastic bag.

Step 2: Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to thoroughly coat the chicken. Marinate for 15 to 45 minutes on the counter, or cover and refrigerate up to overnight.

Step 3: Preheat a clean grill to high heat. Cook chicken 4-5 minutes a side, or until nicely charred in spots and internal temperature reaches 170ºF. Let chicken rest for a few minutes, then cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Step 4: While the chicken is resting, warm the tortillas. Stuff the tortillas with chicken and top with generous amounts of chopped onion and cilantro.

Step 5: Serve immediately with fresh lime wedges on the side for drizzling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

When serving these filling tacos on a weeknight, I keep it super simple and don’t serve any other sides. But if serving a crowd, or if you’re looking for a more rounded meal, here’s a few suggestions:

• Side Dishes: Make it a Mexican fiesta by serving your delicious street tacos with a side of cilantro-lime rice, Mexican rice, this fabulous guacamole, or this street-style corn salad. YUM.
• Toppings: I know, I said no extra toppings and cheese, lettuce and tomatoes definitely are a no-no in your street taco. But hot sauce, chopped radishes, sliced avocado, and chopped jalapeños, would all be perfectly acceptable.
• Drinks: Bring on the chilled margaritas and cervezas frias, por favor. Agua fresca would be a wonderful Mexican beverage to serve, too.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

• MaKe Ahead: To get ahead on the prep, marinate the chicken up to 24 hours before cooking.
• To store: Leftover grilled chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. The chopped onion and cilantro can be stored in a separate container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
• To reheat: For best results, I like to warm the chicken on the stovetop over medium heat. If the chicken seems dry, drizzle with a little oil as it is heating. The tortillas can be heated as instructed in the recipe.

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