These Tacos al Carbon are a smoky, grilled classic that bring the bold, charbroiled flavor of Mexican street food right to your table. Made with tender grilled meat, warm tortillas, and simple toppings, they’re a no-frills, flavor-packed favorite.
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You guys know I LOVE tacos. I’ve shared so many easy tacos recipes over the last few years that when I started making these, I knew you all would love them too.
Why This Recipe Works:
- Grilled Over Flame: Cooking the meat over an open flame or hot grill gives these tacos their signature smoky depth.
- Simple, Authentic Ingredients: With just marinated meat, tortillas, and a few toppings, the flavors stay clean and traditional.
- Quick and Satisfying: Minimal prep and fast grilling make these tacos perfect for weeknights or backyard cookouts.
- Customizable: Use beef, chicken, or pork—whatever suits your taste and grill setup.
What You Need for This Recipe:
- Steak- I recommend a flank or thin skirt steak.
- Corn Tortillas- I used Red Tortillas in the pictures, but regular corn or flour tortillas work well.
- Toppings- I like to keep these tacos simple with a little chopped cilantro (learn how to chop cilantro here!), diced onion, and a squeeze of lime juice.
- Favorite Salsa- try my roasted tomatillo salsa, or this easy pico de gallo!
How to Make Tacos al Carbon?
- Step 1: Season both sides of your meat with salt and pepper.
- Step 2: Grill in a preheated gas or charcoal grill for 4-5 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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- Step 3: Slice into small pieces.
- Step 4: Lightly fry your taco shells.
- Step 5: Assemble tacos with meat, chopped cilantro, and onion. Top with your favorite salsa, and some lime juice!
Pair these tasty tacos with a cold soda, sweet peach tea, lemonade, or a tasty margarita. Add in a side of guacamole and some chips, and you have a party waiting to happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
It really is any steak that is grilled over charcoal. I recommend a thin skirt or flank steak, but you could use smoked tri tip, round, or any other steak you want.
Al Carbon is typically a lightly charred steak grilled over charcoal where whereas carne asada street tacos are typically seared in a pan.
I recommend corn tortillas. You can get about 12 tacos using regular-sized corn tortillas from this recipe, or up to 20 using the mini corn tortillas.
Al Carbon means cooked over charcoal, or specifically, a charred steak taco. It can be served with fresh onions and cilantro like a street taco, or with other toppings like caramelized onions and bell peppers, like a fajita taco.
They are served on corn or flour tortillas, and can really be customized to whatever you like. I even cooked mine over a gas grill- not charcoal- but I still got that delicious charred flavor.
More Related Recipes
If you like this recipe, make sure to check out my Grilled Chicken Street Tacos, Blackened Shrimp Tacos, Chile Relleno Burrito, and Sour Cream Enchiladas.
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Video
Tacos Al Carbon
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs Thin steak like skirt steak
- Salt
- Pepper
- 12 Corn Tortillas
- ¼ cup Cilantro chopped
- ½ White Onion chopped
- Limes
- 1-2 tbs Oil for frying tortillas
- Salsa of choice
Instructions
- Preheat grill.*
- Sprinkle both sides of the steak with salt and pepper. Place on grill and cook for 2 minutes, then flip and cook for 2-4 more minutes, until done.1 ½ lbs Thin steak, Salt, Pepper
- While the meat is cooking, chop the onion and cilantro, and cut the limes into wedges.¼ cup Cilantro, ½ White Onion chopped, Limes
- Remove cooked streak from the grill and slice into small pieces.
- Heat 2 tsps oil in a small fry pan; once hot, add a corn tortilla. Fry* for 20-30 seconds, flip and repeat, then remove from the fry pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding 1-2 more teaspoons of oil when needed.12 Corn Tortillas, 1-2 tbs Oil for frying tortillas
- Assemble tacos with meat, cilantro, onion, jalapenos and your favorite salsa.Salsa of choice
Notes
- Traditional tacos al carbon are made over charcoal, but cooked on a gas grill worked great too.
- I like these tacos with a softer shell, which is lightly browned and warm from frying, but if you want a crisper shell, fry the tortilla until crisp.
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