31 Taco Recipes for Any Night of the Week

Crispy smashed pork, honey-chipotle shrimp, easy chicken al pastor, and more taco recipes for more than just Tuesday.

September 20, 2026

Puffy Tacos filled with ground beef shredded lettuce and pico de gallo with lime wedges and beer.

When in doubt, make tacos. The crowd-pleasing dinner can satisfy just about any craving. From carne asada and crispy pork carnitas to easy chicken tacos, flaky fish, and plenty of vegetarian options, these taco recipes cover quick weeknight dinners, easy breakfast options, and more ambitious weekend projects too.

Some come together fast—like broiled shrimp tacos and skillet-cooked fish—while birria, carnitas, and al pastor reward a little more time. Most call for store-bought corn or flour tortillas, though you can always make your own corn tortillas. Add pico de gallo, guacamole, or refried beans if you’re feeling ambitious. However you fill them, the taco recipes below give you plenty of reasons to declare any night taco night.

Jump ahead

Meat tacos
Chicken tacos
Fish and seafood tacos
Vegetarian and vegan tacos
Breakfast tacos

Photo by Alex Lau
1/31
Tacos al Pastor
You don’t need a spit to make this taco recipe. Grilling the pork over low heat gives the marinade time to caramelize and mingle with the rendering fat, producing plenty of crispy, deeply browned bits.
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Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr, Prop Styling by Alex Massillion, Food Styling by Thu Buser
2/31
Smashed Pork Tacos
Spread seasoned ground pork directly onto tortillas before they hit the broiler for these quick-dinner tacos. Packed with the sweet-savory flavors of al pastor, they’re ready in under 30 minutes.
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Photo by Linda Xiao
3/31
Pork Carnitas
Great carnitas should be juicy inside and crisp around the edges. Here pork shoulder is braised until fork-tender, then cooked again in its rendered fat until deeply browned—the ideal filling for a pile of warm tortillas.
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Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
4/31
Pork Volcánes al Pastor
Think of these volcánes as somewhere between a taco and a tostada with plenty of crunch. You’ll bake corn tortillas until crisp and curled, then load them with juicy pork al pastor and melty quesillo.
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Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Judy Kim.
5/31
Carne Asada Tacos
A citrusy marinade of orange and lime juices, apple cider vinegar, cilantro, and garlic gives the carne asada its punchy flavor. Slice it thin and pile it into warm tortillas with salsa verde.
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Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott
6/31
Tacos Norteños With Bacon-Fat Flour Tortillas
These northern Mexican–style tacos pair steak, tomato, and plenty of melted cheese with homemade flour tortillas. Enriched with bacon fat, the tender, savory tortillas take some effort but are very worth it.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Emma Ringness
7/31
Puffy Tacos With Picadillo
These San Antonio–style ground beef tacos start with packaged corn tortillas fried until they puff into crisp, airy shells. Fill them with savory beef picadillo, then add shredded lettuce, tomato, cheddar, cilantro, and salsa.
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Photograph by Heami Lee, food styling by Judy Kim, prop styling by Nicole Louie
8/31
Spiced Beef Taco Bowls
When you want tacos but also a desk lunch, may we suggest a scoop of seasoned ground beef, simple salsa, shredded romaine, and avocado over rice with tortilla chips for crunch.
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Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
9/31
Goat Birria Tacos With Cucumber Pico de Gallo
These birria tacos start with goat—or lamb—braised until fall-apart tender in a deeply spiced chile sauce. Save those rich pan juices for dipping and balance everything with a crisp cucumber pico de gallo.
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Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
10/31
Lamb Keema Tacos
These lamb tacos borrow their filling from keema, the warmly spiced South Asian ground-meat dish. Make the keema ahead for an easier weeknight dinner, then pile it into tortillas with mint, cilantro, onion, and crema.
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Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
11/31
Duck Carnitas Tacos With Radish Escabèche
Slow-roasted duck legs replace pork in these extra-luxe carnitas tacos. The meat is shredded and crisped in its own fat, while fried duck skin and tangy radish escabèche add to the crunch.
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Photograph by Peden + Munk, food styling by Shilpa Uskokovic
12/31
Easy Chicken Al Pastor
Boneless chicken thighs make this streamlined al pastor weeknight-friendly. A smoky-sweet chipotle marinade and blistered pineapple deliver many of the flavors you want from the classic without a trompo—or an all-day project.
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Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Yekatarina Boytsova
13/31
Chicken Tinga Tostadas With Bacony Black Beans
Saucy shredded chicken tinga, creamy refried beans, and queso fresco are layered over crisp tortillas in this tostada recipe. It scratches much the same itch as a chicken taco, only with substantially more crunch.
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Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero, Prop Styling by Kelsi Windmiller
14/31
Smoky Orange Chicken Thighs
Inspired by mixiotes, these adobo-marinated chicken thighs steam with orange and onion inside parchment packets until juicy and deeply seasoned. Shred the chicken and serve it with warm tortillas for an easy DIY taco dinner.
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Emma leads cooking coverage across Bon Appétit and Epicurious, focusing on service-forward content for home cooks. Depending on the hour, you might find her editing a series like Fourth Trimester or Feel-Good Food Plan, trying nine types of mayonnaise, marking up layouts for the print magazine, attending a test kitchen ... Read More

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