Tacos are so loved they have their own special day of the week! Who doesn’t look forward to taco Tuesday??? Our keto Mexican steak (carne) street tacos will have you making tacos every Tuesday! For me, Mexican food trucks ignited a renewed taste for tacos. I grew up on the American taco… seasoned ground beef in a hard-shell taco. Toppings included shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce and sour cream. To me the American taco is good and something that sounded good occasionally. But a Mexican street taco is something that sounds delicious every day, not just on Tuesdays.
American Tacos vs Mexican Street Tacos
1. Meat
The American taco is made with seasoned ground beef. The seasoning is typically a mix of cumin, chili powder, paprika and red pepper chili flakes.
The Mexican street taco, on the other hand, utilizes grilled marinated sliced or shredded meat/protein (steak not ground beef, tripe, chicken, pork, etc…)
2. Tortilla
A hard-yellow corn taco shell or a soft flour tortilla is classically used for the American taco. Popular brands of the crispy shells are Ortega and Old El Paso.
Street tacos are made with two small sized soft corn tortillas that are either grilled or pan fried. Two tortillas are used to help prevent tearing while you are on the go.
3. Toppings
American tacos are known for its heaping pile of toppings. Diced tomatoes, a glob of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce are the staples with optional guacamole, diced onions or sliced black olives.
The Mexican taco doesn’t want to overpower the delicious marinated meat and is simply topped with diced raw white onions, cilantro and a squirt of juice from a lime wedge. If you want a little spice added salsas and hot sauce can be used.
Marinated Beef
Delicious Mexican tacos are all about fresh ingredients, flavorful marinade, and good beef. The primary ingredient in our tacos is the marinated steak. Flank steak or skirt steak are used for Mexican steak tacos. I am fortunate that my local grocery stores sell thinly sliced flank steak used for carne asada. That saves me some time of not having to slice my own steak. But don’t worry if your grocery store doesn’t sell thinly sliced flank steak. It’s easy to slice on your own.
The marinade I use for the steak tacos is different than the marinade I use for my carne asada. However, my carne asada recipe definitely works for these street tacos.
How to Calculate Nutrients Used of Marinade:
For recipes with marinade, I weigh the amount of marinade I started with. Once my meat absorbs the marinade, I weigh the remaining amount of marinade. I subtract the remaining amount of marinade from the starting weight and use that as my marinade used in the recipe.
Keto and Low Carb Tortilla Options
Obviously for a taco we need something to wrap our delicious marinated steak. Corn tortillas are not an option for keto or low carb diets but we do have some very tasty alternatives for you.
1. Cassava flour or almond flour tortillas. My favorite brand is Siete tortillas sold online with retailers like Amazon. A lot of natural grocery stores also sell these tortillas.
2. Make your own “corn” tortilla. I found a very tasty recipe for keto “corn” tortillas. They are easy to make and require only a few ingredients. I make my own tortillas for tacos and follow this recipe:
3. Romain lettuce or cabbage wrap. Take a large leaf of cabbage or lettuce and fill like normal taco
4. Cactus- I always saw cactus leaves, called nopales in Spanish, in the produce section of my grocery store but had no idea what people did with them. So, I finally asked my Mexican friends how they cook and eat cactus. Leaves of the prickly pear cactus are used in Latin and Mexican dishes in a variety of ways. One way the leaves are cooked is by grilling the leaf, after removing the thorns of course. The size, texture and taste of the cactus leaf makes a great tortilla substitute. Just grill the leaf until cooked and fill like a taco.
Keto Mexican Steak (Carne) Street Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 lb skirt steak or flank steak thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/4 cup tamari sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 juice of limes or juice of 1 meyer lemon
- 1/2 tsp cumin ground
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
- 1/2 tsp white pepper ground
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp avocado oil to cook meat
Optional Toppings
- 2 limes cut into wedges, squeeze juice on tacos
- 1/2 cup cotija cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion chopped
- 1 jalapeno finely chopped
Instructions
Carne Asada Marinade
- Place all ingredients into a mixing bow. Use the whisk attachment on a kitchen aide mixer or hand whisk to thoroughly mix all ingredients together
- Slice meat into thin strips or chunks
Marinate Meat
- Lay sliced steak into a glass dish or in a gallon size ziploc bag.
- Pour marinade over meat. Flip the steaks in the marinade to make sure fully coated.
- If using a glass dish cover with plastic wrap. For the ziploc bag, remove as much air as possible.
- Place meat with marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs but no longer than 24 hrs. I flip the meat in the marinade halfway through.
Cook Meat
- Remove meat from ziploc bag or glass container
- Discard remaining marinade
- Heat avocado oil in skillet over medium high heat
- Add sliced steak to skillet and stir until cooked and majority of liquid is evaporated
- Warm tortillas in a skillet with a little butter or avocado oil. I warm my tortillas in bacon grease; tastes amazing. Warm each side for 30 sec to 1 min
- Lay a tortilla onto a plate. Place steak onto the tortilla
- Top with optional toppings and enjoy
- Nutritional information: