Grilled skirt steak tacos topped with Mexican street corn is a match made in heaven for an easy summer dinner idea!
Skirt Steak Tacos
Taco tuesday just got a little more exciting! Summer is my favorite season. With the warmer weather, we use the grill all summer. If you need some dinner ideas to whip up on the grill, these Mexican-inspired grilled skirt steak tacos topped with charred corn, cotija cheese and lime is just the thing! Nothing beats that smoky, char-grilled flavor―especially when eaten al fresco! If you want some sides to go with this, why not make some Cilantro Lime Rice and Quick Black Beans. More of my favorite grilled steak recipes are Grilled Steak Fajitas, Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri, or try these low-carb, Lettuce Wrap Grilled Steak Tacos.
Steak Tacos Are Always A Winner for Dinner
Taco nights are definitely a favorite in my house, and these Mexican-inspired street tacos are a great way to take advantage of sweet summer corn. In my home, tacos are the easiest solution for satisfying a house full of picky family members with varying tastes. They’re also great for family members with food allergies because you can make one dish that makes everyone happy with a few simple tweaks.
- Quick! No need to marinade the steaks, the simple rub is perfect.
- High Protein: Each serving has over 30 grams of protein.
- Flavorful: The tender steak pairs perfectly with the sweet, smoky corn for a Mexican-inspired feast.
- Great for Dietary Restrictions: These tacos are high protein, gluten-free, and Weight Watchers friendly. It can also be made dairy-free by skipping the cheese, if needed.
- Perfect for Entertaining: These skirt steak tacos are a crowd-pleaser and simple to prepare, making them an excellent choice for your next gathering, such as Father’s Day, Memorial Day or the Fourth of July.
If you make this skirt steak taco recipe, I would love to see it. Tag me in your photos on Instagram or Facebook!
Grilled Steak Taco Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this grilled steak taco recipe. (See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.)
- For the Elote: Corn, light mayo, cilantro, ancho chili powder, lime juice, salt.
- Skirt Steak: Skirt steak is a delicious cut of beef, perfect for making steak tacos.
- Steak Seasoning: Cumin adds a smoky flavor.
- Corn Tortillas are a healthy gluten-free tortilla option.
- Skirt Steak Taco Toppings: Cheese (Cotija, queso fresco, or feta), cilantro, lime wedges finish the dish.
How to Make Skirt Steak Tacos
Here’s the step-by-step photos for these grilled steak tacos. Find the complete instructions in recipe card below.
- Season the steak on both sides with salt and cumin.
- Prepare a gas grill or charcoal grill. When hot, clean and oil the grates.
- Grill the corn on medium-high heat, turning occasionally until slightly charged.
- Make the Elote: Place the corn in a bowl and cut off the kernels with a large knife. Stir in the remaining elote ingredients and set aside.
- How to Grill Steak: Increase the grill’s heat to high. Cook the steak for 1½ to 2 minutes on each side for medium rare, or cook longer for your desired temperature.
- Warm corn tortillas on the grill for 30 to 60 seconds on each side.
- How to Cut Skirt Steak for Street Tacos: Let the meat rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Thinly slice the meat across the grain. That means you want to cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers.
- Assemble Tacos: Place the steak in the tortillas, top with elote, cheese, and cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.
What’s the Best Charcoal Grill to Buy
If you love the smokey taste of a charcoal grill, I recommend my Kamado Joe Classic Joe II! You can get it from Amazon and Home Depot. It’s the best charcoal grill I’ve ever used, and it works great with all my favorite grill tools.
Variations
- Tortillas: My daughter loves corn tortillas, but if your kids don’t care for them, you can use crispy taco shells, flour tortillas, or even lettuce wraps.
- You can swap the steak for chicken or shrimp (or make a combo) and grill some plain corn on the side for finicky palates. For serving, I set out lots of taco toppings—cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado—and then let everyone build their own.
- Mayo: Replace mayonnaise with Greek yogurt or light sour cream, or leave it out.
- Not a cilantro fan? Omit it or serve it on the side as a topping for other guests.
- Cut of Beef: Substitute flank steak.
- Can’t eat cheese? Skip it.
- Corn Cooking Tip: If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can char the corn directly over the burner of a gas stove over low heat, turning often until charred all over. The tortillas can be heated the same way. And, if you don’t have a gas stove, cook them in a grill pan.
What to Serve with Steak Tacos
Below are some good side dish ideas for steak tacos:
- Rice and Beans
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Skillet Mexican Zucchini
- Green Salad with avocado and red onion
- Chips with guacamole and salsa
Storage
Refrigerate the leftover steak and corn in separate containers for 4 days.
Microwave the steak until warm, and assemble your tacos before eating. You can also freeze the steak for 3 months.
More Taco Recipes You’ll Love
- Beef Tacos
- Ground Turkey Tacos
- Grilled Chicken Tacos with Lettuce Slaw
- Healthy Cod Fish Tacos
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Grilled Skirt Steak and Elote Tacos
Ingredients
For the corn (elotes):
- 2 medium ears corn, husks removed
- 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1/2 lime, juice of
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the steak:
- 1 pound skirt steak, trimmed of fat
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
For the tacos:
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup finely crumbled Cotija, queso fresco or feta cheese
- 1 lime, cut into wedges for serving
Instructions
- Season the steaks on both sides with salt and cumin.
- Heat the grill over medium-high heat, when hot clean and oil the grates, then grill the corn, turning occasionally until slightly charred, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a cutting board, when cool enough to handle, cut the corn off the cob and place in a medium bowl, mix with mayo, cilantro, chili powder, lime juice and salt. Set aside.
- Increase the flame to high heat, add the steaks and cook about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side for medium rare, or longer to your desired likeness.
- Set aside on a cutting board and grill the tortillas until the edges become charred, about 30 to 60 seconds on each side.
- Thinly slice the steak across the grain, place over the tortillas, top with elote, cheese, garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
It was very sweet tasting and bland 1st time we didn’t like a recipe
Loved these!
The corn/elote was a nice and different addition from a typical taco! I added grilled jalapeño to the mix bc we like spicy.
Flavors were delicious but the steak was really tough (and expensive!). Any tips?
Try a chuck or sirloin. Don’t over cook.
This was excellent! I added pickled onions and purchased elote seasoning, fire roasted corn, and elote dip from Trader Joe’s for a shortcut and it worked out perfectly. I also seared the steak in a pan with butter first and then put it in the air fryer. My boyfriend asked for seconds. I will make this again.
I think I’m the only one who is disappointed in the recipe. I followed the recipe but the steak was so tough and chewy none of us could eat it. I didn’t remove the silver skin on the steak because your recipe doesn’t mention it…was I suppose to? Next time I might just through it in the slow cooker. At least then I know it will be softer and chewable.
Silver skin should always be removed.
The first time I made these I used skirt steak but it was very tough (and expensive). Now I used flank steak instead. You could use any cut of beef you prefer, sliced thin.
This one was great. We used low-carb tortillas because corn tortillas are just not our thing. Also, we used low-fat mayo. Still amazing.
Great!
Made these tacos for Sunday dinner with garlic rice. 😋
Big hit!!
I was convinced the meat would be disappointing because I’m used to using so many ingredients in a marinade for tacos and fajitas. WRONG! I couldn’t believe how great this tasted with just two basic seasonings! And bonus that it was much quicker (and less expensive) than messing with the marinades. The meat was so good on it’s own, but the corn took it to another level. I can’t wait to make these again and I will definitely need to double or triple the corn recipe.
This was soooo good! The whole family devoured it. I had to use flank steak because our supermarket didn’t have skirt steak, but it still turned out delicious. I added red onions to mine but otherwise made as written. My husband thinks it’s not a taco without shredded cheese lettuce and tomato, so he had that in addition to the elote and onions – he may have put ranch and taco sauce on too, who knows. The kids had a mix-n-match of toppings on theirs. The corn tortillas were great grilled – the first time I’ve had corn tortillas that didn’t fall completely apart on me. Oh I also doubled the recipe for the four of us thinking I’d have leftovers for lunch… there *may* be enough for 2 tacos remaining. Will definitely make again!
Yummy! I love tacos. My husband enjoyed these as written, love the fresh corn. I will probably add some diced jalapeno and red onions to my elote next time, but delicious!
This may be a dumb question, but do you use inside or outside skirt steak for this recipe?
Outside skirt steak is better (more tender), but I always struggle to find it in our stores and usually get stuck with inside. Either will work though.
Sooooo good! I used freshly picked corn and grilled some carne asada. I loved the combination!
A nice departure from our staple (boring) beef tacos. So simple to make, basic and healthy – my kids/family loved this one!
Delicious! My teenage daughter had four tacos and said the recipe should make it into our regular rotation—it definitely will! I really think toasting the tortillas on the stove took these to a whole other level. The main thing I’d do differently is make more corn so there would be more as a side!
Here are my slight alterations (I don’t think they altered the core of the recipe, thus my rating):
We are out of propane so I broiled the steak and “grilled” the corn on the stove as suggested. Next time I’ll just bake the corn instead. The stove took a long time (it kept making popping noises and I was afraid I was going to get nailed by a flying kernel), and now I have to clean the grate.
I didn’t have ancho chili powder so I just used regular chili powder. The mayo mixture was a bit runny so I added some of the cotija cheese to help thicken it a bit.
We used white corn tortillas.
Thank you! Can’t wait to make these again.
What would the calorie count change to if you substituted shrimp for the steak?
I’ve made this twice now and it’s delicious! Such a delicious way to enjoy summer corn. I’m sure we’ll have it several more times this season. Thank you!
So incredibly delicious! Better than going out for steak tacos! This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks Juliette!
So good! I did add more seasoning to the steak (salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, and Hard Core Carnivore Black. I also added more cheese and mixed with the corn. But it is SO good!
We had this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I used flank steak and the simple salt and cumin seasoning were the perfect compliment to the meat. Grilling the corn for the elotes is a must, this is a great combo for a taco and I look forward to making the leftovers into either quesadillas or a salad. Yum!
Made this exactly as written other than following a suggestion to sub flour tortillas instead of corn. It was easy, quick, but it was the elote that made this recipe and put it over the top. There was no need to adjust the seasoning. It had the perfect amount of spice which produced w the ancho chili spice to produce the right amount of heat. The second day it had married overnight and all leftovers were put into a salad w the addition of avocado.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Made this last night, and have NO leftovers today! My son ate 6 tacos and justified it by saying, “they’re street tacos! They’re small!” This is a keeper for sure. Charring the corn on the grill is a must for the elote topping. Thanks for another good one!
Just made these tonight. Easy and delicious!
Oh. Em. Gee. These are amazing! My teen son and husband polished these off in one sitting. I couldn’t find skirt steak so I used a thin flat iron cut (each steak about half a pound). I was too lazy to fire up the grill so I seared the steak two minutes each side in oil in an oven safe skillet. Then threw it in the oven to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. (One steak was much thinner than the other.) Let it rest for 10 minutes and voila! Absolutely delish. Served with Gina’s latin rice and some refried beans. I also subbed in sheeps milk feta, as my husband can’t have most dairy.
Gina, Any hopes of listing the WW points for each recipe? The link no longer works.
I always do, do you see the number in the blue circle? Also, the WW points will work on your mobile app.