DIY: taco bar with homemade salsas

Hi guys!

Anyone who truly knows me knows how much I love Mexican food. Whether it’s authentic or americanized, I grew up loving tacos and it is one of my favorite things to make at home as I gather with my family for a fun casual dinner. Set up like a help-yourself buffet-styled dinner, I put all the yummy toppings on the table and let everyone make their tacos just the way they like them! Make sure to scroll all the way down for my homemade salsa recipes!

This is the night where I take out whatever meat I have in my fridge. It could be leftover steak or chicken, or it could be fresh meat from the grocery market. I keep it simple, I usually season the meat with garlic salt and pepper but you can get taco seasoning at the market for $2. The only cooking that is involved is for the meat and to slightly pan-fry the tortilla. Other than that, get your cutting board and knife out and let’s start choppin’!

Ingredients:

Serving size: 4 (16 tacos)

Taco tortilla - 16 tortillas, preferably corn, lightly pan fried

Meat - 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, chicken, or ground beef. Seasoned, cooked, and chopped
Cooking oil - as needed to cook the meat and tortilla

Toppings:

Onion - ½ chopped on the side as a topping
Cilantro - ½ cup, chopped on the side as a topping
Romaine lettuce - 2 cups, chopped on the side as a topping
Avocado - One whole, sliced on the side as a topping (or guac)
Pineapple - 1 cup, chunk on the side as a topping, juice can be used for cucumber salsa

Salsa and other toppings:

Cucumber salsa - recipe provided below
Pico de gallo - recipe provided below
Spicy mayo - 2 tbsp mayo and 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
Salsa verde or avocado salsa - store bought
Salsa red spicy - store bought
Sour cream - 4 tbsp, on the side
Tapatio or other hot sauce

Let’s get started!

Seasoning the steak: season the meat with garlic salt and pepper or use taco seasoning. Let it sit for at least 10 min to soak in the flavor.
While waiting for the meat to marinate, prepare the salsas, toppings, etc.
Cooking the steak: In a medium frying pan, pour 2 tbsp of oil and lay your seasoned steak. Once it’s cooked to medium, take the steak out, cut it along the grain into 3-inch pieces, then slice each piece across the grain into 1/3-inch-thick strips.
Lightly frying the tortilla: Wipe the frying pan clean with paper towel for the tortilla. Heat the pan to medium and pour 2 tbsp of oil. Place two tortillas side by side on hot oil and cook about 1 minute per side, or until it’s crispy as desired. Place the pan-fried tortilla on a paper-towel lined plate and repeat with remaining tortillas.
Warming the tortillas in a microwave: If you are not a fan of crispy tortilla, you can heat them up in the microwave. Put five or fewer tortillas on a microwavable plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. Microwave in 30-second bursts until they are warmed through. Repeat in batches of five tortillas until all your tortillas are warm.
Set your table up like a taco bar with the steak, tortilla, and your favorite toppings and enjoy!