65 Best-Ever Taco Recipes You Need for Cinco de Mayo and Beyond
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Whether it's Taco Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, or just another average weeknight when you're craving Mexican food, tacos are always the answer. Crispy crunchy tacos, soft tacos piled high with all the toppings, open-faced tostada tacos, mouthwatering, saucy birria tacos...the list of ideas is endless.
Related: Best Nacho Recipes
How to Make Tacos
First thing's first: what kind of tacos do you want to make? Chicken, beef, pork, fish tacos—there are so many taco recipes to choose from in this roundup! There are also healthy, vegetarian tacos, keto tacos, low-carb tacos and plenty of cheesy tacos or dairy-free tacos.
Hard shell tacos: If you're making hard shell tacos, you can buy store-bought shells, load them with your ingredients of choice and serve!
Soft shell tacos: If you're making soft shell tacos, you can buy corn or flour tortillas (or tortilla alternatives, like cassava tortillas, coconut wraps and cauliflower tortillas), then grill them for a little char. You can also warm them in the oven in aluminum foil, heat them in the microwave in paper towels or use a tortilla warmer to keep them nice and toasty until it's taco time.
Related: Where to Get Free Tacos for National Taco Day
Best Taco Recipes
Our 65 best-ever taco recipes range from fish taco recipes and taco soup and taco salad recipes, to taco casserole recipes, street tacos, breakfast tacos, ground beef tacos, Mexican birria tacos and more. Plus, plenty of ideas for tacos in hard and soft shells.
Related: Easy Instant Pot Taco Recipes
Scroll through for inspiration, get ready to break out the guacamole, salsa and DIY taco bar toppings, then set them out and watch how fast they go!
Instant Pot Birria Tacos
Parade
They’re colorful, crunchy, messy and easy—Instant Pot Birria Tacos are the best taco you’ll ever taste. .
Fish Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce and Pico de Gallo
Fish tacos are typically made with fried fish, but this recipe cooks the fish in a skillet to keep it lighter, although you could certainly fry yours if you wish. Serve with ice-cold cerveza, of course.
Confetti Beef Tacos
The easiest ground beef tacos you'll ever make, thanks to chili powder, canned corn and prepared chunky salsa.
Roast Butternut Squash and Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
Sanura Weathers
In this autumnal taco, butternut squash is roasted with warm spices and tossed with shredded chicken. The meat and squash filling is placed over a corn tortilla, and before it's folded in half to enclose it, pineapple salsa is spooned on top for a fresh and sweet taste.
BLT Tostada
A tostada is like an open-faced crispy taco. You can add cooked ground beef or shredded chicken instead of the refried beans, and let everyone top it their way.
Caribbean Dream Fish Tacos with Mango Lime Salsa
With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, these Caribbean Dream Fish Tacos are what taco night dreams are made of. And, you can't have a fish taco without a tasty topper, so we've included a recipe for Mango Lime Salsa.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Tanous' Ground Beef and Pickle Tacos
This dish is an homage to one of Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Tanous’ favorite (sadly now closed) restaurants in Los Angeles. “The star of the place was always the ground beef and pickle taco,” the co-authors of Food Between Friends say. “It was like the secret love child of a hamburger and a taco.” This version features one of Ferguson’s must-have ingredients: Hatch green chiles.
Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
Fish tacos should be nice and light, with lots of pico, grilled seafood, fresh cilantro, jalapeños, maybe some slaw or lettuce—like these!
Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Tacos
Tossing the cauliflower and beans in a spice mix amps up the flavor—as does the high-heat roasting, in this recipe from blogger Erin Clarke of wellplated.com.
Buffalo Chicken Tacos
At the first bite of these crowd-pleasers from Megan Kober, blogger at thenutritionaddiction.com, it’s obvious why hard taco shells are making a comeback—the crunchy shell is the perfect counterpoint to the juicy, spicy, saucy chicken.
Grilled Tequila-Marinated Lime Steak Tacos
Mr. Steak and Tres Agaves Tequila
Not your average tacos, consider these next-level thanks to a tequila-based citrusy marinade. Pair with your favorite tequila cocktail recipe.
Tuna and Kale Tacos with Citrus Salsa
Mark Boughton Photography
Eat for better bones! These tasty tacos serve up the vitamins and minerals needed to keep you strong. Tuna provides vitamin D, which aids calcium absorption. Peppers are a good source of vitamin K, oranges will give you a boost of calcium, and kale is loaded with both of these nutrients that are crucial for boosting bone density.
Breakfast Tacos
Chicken Taco Cups
Chicken Taco Cups are a fun finger food to serve at parties. Skip the messy taco bar this year and serve these pre-assembled snacks from fortheloveofcooking.net blogger Pam Nelson.
Tropical Turkey Tacos
Mangoes replace cranberry sauce as a sweet accompaniment to Thanksgiving turkey.
Chicken Taco Recipe
These weeknight-friendly tinga-style chicken tacos are made with chicken that is shredded and simmered in chipotle-chile-laced tomato sauce. If you like it smokier and spicier, use two chiles!
Wushu Chicken Tacos
A trip around the world in a taco! Along with creamy peanut butter, this recipe combines fresh ginger root, garlic, and soy and Worcestershire sauces.
Grilled Tilapia Tacos with Coleslaw
Fire up the grill to transform fish fillets into a summery feast.
Actor Danny Trejo's Easy Carnitas Tacos
Tacos - photography by Mark Boughton / food styling by Teresa Blackburn
This simple recipe for easy carnitas (slow-cooked Mexican-style pork shoulder) with all the fixings is adapted from actor Danny Trejo’s forthcoming cookbook, Trejo’s Tacos, which features recipes from his popular Los Angeles restaurant chain of the same name.
Sloppy José Tacos
Chef Eddie Hernandez's Taqueria del Sol restaurants have won him national acclaim. His new cookbook Turnip Greens and Tortillas captures his crowd-pleasing mix of Mexican and Southern cuisines. Hernandez notes that it was his longtime chef David Waller who created this dish inspired by a Tex-Mex Frito chili pie.
Chipotle Shrimp Tacos
Chef Jon Ashton's Chipotle Shrimp Tacos are perfect for tailgating!
Veggie Tacos
Pork Tacos with White Cheddar, Poblano Pico, and Lime Crema
Who knew that a pound of leftover pulled pork in the fridge could turn into such rock star tacos?
Chicken Tacos with Peach Salsa
Serving a homemade dinner that is big on flavor is easy with the right ingredients on-hand. Thanks to canned chicken and peaches, prep time for these tacos—and the bold and zesty salsa—is just minutes. But the raves will last much longer.
Baja-Style Fish Tacos
The grilled mahi-mahi adds flair to these zesty fish tacos.
Summer Veggie Tacos
Colorful squash, peppers, and zucchini top protein-packed pinto beans to make vegetarian-friendly tacos.
Guerrilla Tacos' Sweet Potato Taco
Photo © 2017 by Dylan James Ho and Jeni Afuso
These flavor-packed vegetarian tacos are inspired by the tacos de papa dorados—mashed potato tacos.
Chef Aarón Sánchez's Tequila-Battered Cauliflower Tacos
This recipe for Tequila-Battered Cauliflower Tacos, adapted from MasterChef judge Aarón Sánchez, proves vegetarian tacos can be downright decadent. Tequila-battered fried cauliflower tossed with a zippy chimichurri sauce is served on chipotle-mayo-schmeared tortillas and showered with queso fresco.
Fish Tacos in a Snap
These salmon tacos are beyond delicious. The salmon is simple to prep and quick to bake, while the salsa just requires a little bit of chopping and throwing together in a bowl. No matter what time you get home from work, dinner can be served pretty quickly.
Grilled Chicken Tacos
Call it a soft taco, call it a Mexican sandwich, call it a wrap. Whatever you call it, Grilled Chicken Tacos are easy and delicious!
Tiny Tacos
These miniaturized versions of tacos are so much fun!
BBQ Shrimp Tacos
In most parts of the country, it's still pretty warm out and "light and refreshing" remains the way to go before we dive into rich and hearty comfort foods. These BBQ shrimp tacos fit the bill with their dynamic flavor profile that's sweet one second and tangy the next, with a little bit of crunch thrown in for good measure.
Grilled Steak Tacos with Poblano-Mango Salsa
Beef Checkoff Program
Pro tip for these grilled steak tacos: char your corn tortillas before serving for a smoky, flavor kick
Paprika Portobello Tacos
The Kids Cook Monday
Earthy portobello mushrooms are seasoned with lemon pepper, apple cider vinegar and paprika before being wrapped up in soft corn tortillas. The whole family will love customizing these tacos with their favorite combos of cabbage, cilantro, onion, avocado and salsa.
West Coast-Style Pulled Pork Tacos
This is a restaurant-quality meal that you’re going to love. Seasoned in authentic IPA Beer BBQ sauce, the pulled pork used in this recipe offers a non-alcoholic flavor that's sweet and tasty. Topped with a medium queso combined with the explosion of flavors.
Bartaco's Secret Crispy Avocado Taco
This Crispy Avocado Taco is not only vegetarian and crazy good, but ideal for summer snacking. When it comes to finger food eats, anything fried is usually fine by us, but a fried avocado makes it semi-healthy, right? RIGHT.
Fish Tacos with Coleslaw
The Asian flavors of sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger complement the subtle flavor of the fish and the crunch of the coleslaw.
Meat and Potatoes Tacos
The best of both worlds, loaded onto a taco.
Post-Easter Breakfast Tacos
Nisa Burns
These egg, sausage, and veggie breakfast tacos are easy to whip up whether you're cooking for just you or for an army of post-holiday houseguests.
Heart-Healthy Salmon Tacos
This taco recipe swaps fried fish for sautéed salmon, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids known for reducing blood pressure and triglycerides. The slaw adds extra crunch and nutrients, thanks to vitamin K-packed collard greens and vitamin C-rich jicama.
Border Grill's Roasted Corn Esquite and Black Bean Tacos
Border Grill
Chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken have become famous for cooking up sensational Cinco de Mayo fare. The owners of Border Grill (with locations in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Santa Monica) provided Parade.com with this special recipe for our readers to enjoy.
Tacos al Pastor
The technique of layering meat on a vertical spit and cooking it by a charcoal fire was reportedly brought to Puebla, Mexico, in the 1930s by Lebanese immigrants, who prefer lamb to pork (and put it all in pita bread and call it shawarma). About thirty years later, this brilliant method of cooking made its way to Mexico City, and taqueros started selling what is now the runaway hit called tacos al pastor.
Margarita Maine Lobster Tacos
Just in time for National Taco Day (October 4th), this recipe for Margarita Maine Lobster Tacos is guaranteed to delight with rich Maine lobster and plenty of zest!
Pulled Pork Tacos
With one recipe for slow-cooker shredded pork, you can make four delicious meals: pulled pork nachos, pulled pork tacos, BBQ pork sliders and Cuban sandwiches!
Fitness Star Kayla Itsines' Pork and Corn Tacos
Kayla Itsines
Global fitness superstar Kayla Itsines is the woman behind Bikini Body Guides and the renowned fitness app Sweat. In her second book, The Bikini Body Motivation & Habits Guide, she shows how to beat bad habits and keep positive motivation to continue living a healthy lifestyle. One of more than 200 recipes in the book, these Pork and Corn Tacos are as filling and delicious as they are beautiful.
Tandoori Chicken Tacos
Mashed butternut squash makes a creamy base for these Indian-spiced tacos from PARADE Chef Jon Ashton. Using the broiler to cook the chicken not only means they cook fast, but they develop a flavorful char.
Danny Trejo's Vegan Mushroom Tacos Will Blow Your Mind
Mark Boughton
Adapted from Trejo’s Tacos, meaty mushrooms are marinated in smoky-bright asada sauce and topped with pumpkin-seed pesto for rich, satisfying vegan tacos.
Citrus-Beer Steak Tacos with Pickled Onions and Pico de Gallo
Parade
Add south-of-the-border sizzle to your next barbecue with these tasty citrus-beer steak tacos.
Savory Tacos
Leftover turkey can turn tacos into a protein-rich fiesta that will make your tastebuds dance.
Grilled Flank Steak Tacos
What will you be grilling this upcoming Memorial Day weekend? One idea to try are these tasty, grilled flank steak tacos. You'll want to get your steak marinating well before you fire up the grill (about two hours). Then, once it's done marinating, you can throw it on the grill and get ready to create your tacos. Yum!
Aarón Sánchez's Vegetarian Potato and Cheese Tacos
Cheese is the star behind Sanchez's Potato and Queso Fresco Tacos Dorados and not only did we score his go-to vegetarian taco recipe with us, but he shared his top tips for stocking your own pantry, fridge and freezer.
Fish Tacos
We Are Not Martha
There are a few requirements for a good fish taco and these tacos pass the test. They get their pizazz from the jalapeño, mango, basil and avocado crema. They can be thrown together in no time. And when you make them at home, you'll be absolutely guaranteed a good fish taco experience.
Maneet Chauhan's Lamb Breakfast Tacos
Lamb, ginger, garlic and naan (oven-baked flatbread) put a global spin on these tacos—plus they’re topped with kachumber (a salsa-like mixture), guacamole and a lemony yogurt sauce!
Tex-Mex Breakfast Tacos
When teen chef Eitan Bernath, 19, celebrates his mom next Sunday, these zesty breakfast tacos will be on the menu. “This is a Mother’s Day favorite because it has all the flavors you want in the morning,” says the superstar whose food videos have gone viral on TikTok. “There are soft-scrambled eggs, creamy black beans, smoky salsa, tangy pickled onions, salty cheese—all layered together in one perfect bite!”
Cheesy Steak and Shrimp Vampiro Tacos
Mark Boughton Photography
If you think there’s no such thing as too much cheese on a taco, this recipe for Cheesy Steak and Shrimp Vampiro Tacos is for you. Think a quesadilla meets a taco—that's how much cheese is on these delicious steak and shrimp tacos.
Tasty Veggie Tacos
You can make the veggie filling a day ahead and refrigerate. Simply reheat 1 hours before filling the tacos.
Guy Fieri's Favorite Tacos
If anyone knows a good taco, it’s Guy Fieri. Try this sweet-and-spicy pork for Cinco de Mayo—Guy got the recipe from Roberto’s Authentic Mexican Food in Anthem, Ariz.
Lentil Tacos
This recipe, from Dawn Jackson Blatner's new cookbook, The Superfood Swap, lends Taco Tuesday a veggie-centric spin, thanks to hearty lentils standing in for ground beef. To make this go even faster, pick up steamed ready-to-eat lentils in the supermarket produce section.
Hey Grill Hey's Cilantro Lime Flank Steak Tacos
Hey Grill Hey
On this episode of Pop Kitchen, Susie Bulloch from Hey Grill Hey shows us how to grill a flank steak seasoned in a delicious cilantro-lime marinade—the perfect recipe for your next Taco Tuesday night or summer BBQ!
Bobby Flay's Kid-Friendly Fish Tacos
Fish tacos are a fun way to get your children to try a mild fillet.
Veggie Tacos
Grilled Tequila-Lime Fish Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Crema
Doubling up on tortillas is a traditional way to serve tacos that ensures they hold up to all the delicious fillings. With a little advance prep, these are an easy tailgating dish.
Austin-Style Lone Star Breakfast Tacos
Pledging allegiance to Texas, we serve these in flour tortillas, but corn tortillas would be equally good. Be sure to place a salsa picante like Tapatío or, as a nod to the South, the more vinegary Tabasco at the table.
Out-of-This-World Sous Vide Carnitas Tacos
For these tacos, you want to make your carnitas sous vide style, then threw them on a really hot grill to get a nice sear before chopping it all up.
Halibut Salsa Tacos
This tangy and sweet salsa-spiced take on tacos is a family favorite in the making.
