Chili-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated March 20, 2025
20110610-156006-skirt-steak-tacos-large.jpg

Chili powders form the base of a marinade for this skirt steak, which is grilled, sliced, and piled into corn tortillas with tomatoes, cilantro, and cilantro cream for a beefy, spicy, fresh, and cool taco.

Adapted from Food & Wine

Recipe Details

Chili-Spiced Skirt Steak Tacos Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 10 mins
Active 45 mins
Marinating and Resting Time 70 mins
Total 85 mins
Serves 4 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika

  • 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon light brown sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak

  • 12 corn tortillas

  • 2 to 3 Roma tomatoes, diced

  • 3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro

  • Cilantro cream sauce

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together paprika, ancho chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, light brown sugar, chipotle chile powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepperl. Add lime juice and oil, stir to combine.

  2. Place skirt steak in a large resealable plastic bag and pour in marinade. Seal bag and toss to thoroughly coat steak. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour while preparing the grill.

  3. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Grill steak over high heat until deeply browned on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice into 3 to 4 inch portions with the grain, then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch strips.

  4. To serve, briefly warm tortillas on grill, then top with slices of steak, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and cilantro cream.

Special equipment

Grill

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
877Calories
58gFat
43gCarbs
48gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories877
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 58g74%
Saturated Fat 14g72%
Cholesterol 101mg34%
Sodium 879mg38%
Total Carbohydrate 43g16%
Dietary Fiber 6g23%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 48g
Vitamin C 19mg95%
Calcium 104mg8%
Iron 6mg36%
Potassium 962mg20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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