#FoodTok: Taco Recipes To Try This National Taco Day

Did you know that it was National Taco Day this week on Tuesday 4th October?! Tacos are the perfect vehicle for delicious food, and we LOVE the #FoodTok trend of some of the finest content creators on TikTok.

What better way to celebrate the day than by bringing the two together with some TikTok taco recipes? 

Mexican food is always great, a party full of flavour explosions. Tacos are fun, simple to make, and a great crowd pleaser to wow your friends.  

Tips To Make The Perfect Taco

Before we get into the recipes, let’s discuss some tips on how to make the perfect taco for all you foodies out there!  

The humble taco is the perfect vehicle to deliver a punch of flavour and a memorable food experience every single time.  

Small enough to hold in your hand, remember to always ‘bow’ to the taco when eating.  

Eating Tacos 

You can pinch the end and even bend over the side of the tortilla nearest your hand to hold in all the ingredients as you move your head down to bite into the middle of the taco.  

This makes sure that all the goodness and the tasty bits of food end up in your mouth and not all over your top or the floor! 

Taco Ingredients

In its most basic form, a taco is perfect. A dry griddled corn tortilla, protein of choice, a salsa, and away you go.  

It’s all about packing each bite with massive flavour, a crunch of texture, and that sumptuous choice of protein, whether it is beef, pork, chicken, seafood, or plant based.  

The tortilla will always be at least 50% of your taco. So, you need to make sure that your choice of taco is as enjoyable to eat as the filling you choose to put within it. It is a vehicle for the filling, but it can be more than that.  

Cooking Tacos

You can buy good tortilla for tacos, warming them through on the griddle before packing with filling. Even better if you warm them through in the juices of the protein you’ve cooked.  

If you are cooking meat, pork, beef, or chicken, make sure it is griddled until it is juicy, tender, and falling apart. Ideally you would shave the meat directly onto the tortilla as you make up the taco.

If cooking mushrooms, other vegetables, or seafood as the filling, make sure they are bright, ‘meaty’ and look fresh.  

The addition of a red or green salsa makes for variation and that textural element that you need to make any great dish. Red salsa is a combination of cooked tomatoes and chillies, whilst green salsa is a fresh, tart mixture of jalapeno, tomatillos, and coriander.  

A squeeze of lime on top of any taco provides that burst of flavour and crispness to add another element to impress. 

Taco Recipes From #FoodTok

There are some incredible recipes on TikTok for National Taco Day – we’re getting hungry just thinking about them!

Take a look at the following tag #nationaltacoday on TikTok for the best taco recipes around or carry on reading to get the low-down right here. 

1. Pulled Chicken Tacos 

This glorious pulled chicken taco recipe from Kaus (@kausloves) has had 10.2 million views on TikTok, and with good reason!

There’s also a handy recipe to follow below for 10-12 tacos: 

• 500g chicken breast 

• 2 bell peppers 
• 1 red onion 
• 3 Tbsp oil 
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper  
• 2 tsp ground paprika 

• 2 tsp Adobo seasoning 
• 2 tsp Cajun seasoning 
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes 
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs 
• 1/2 tsp salt 

• 1/2 can chopped tomatoes 
• 1 cup water 
• 10-12 corn tortillas 
• Grated cheese of choice 
• Coriander and diced red onion 

2. Birria Tacos 

This delicious birria taco dish from Jalisco is a traditional stew or soup that includes goat meat adobo, garlic, cumin, bay leaves, thyme, and chilli pepper, all cooked low and slow.

As a taco filling it is sensational! For this recipe from @mxriyum uses braised beef for the meat.  

 Here’s everything you’ll need: 

• 5lbs braising steak 
• 1 large onion 
• 8 garlic cloves 
• 5 bay leaves 
• 1 cinnamon stick 

• 1tbsp pepper corn 
• 1tbsp toasted coriander 
• 6 guajillo chillies 
• 3 chillies de arbol 
• 5 ancho chillies 

Once the above has boiled, the following ingredients are needed: 

• All the boiled chillies 
• Onion, garlic, cinnamon stick from broth 

• 3 bay leaves 
• 5 garlic cloves 
• 4 whole cloves 
• Chunk of peeled ginger 
• 1 tsp pepper corns 

• 2 tsp oregano 
• 2tsp cumin 
• 2tsp thyme 
• 1/3 cup vinegar 
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika 

• Salt to taste 

We’re salivating just looking at those tacos being dipped. 10.6 million views on this video and we think we’ll end up watching it a million times more today. Give us all the tacos! 

3. Healthy Chicken Tacos

If you are looking to lose some weight as part of a health kick or you just want some low-calorie options in your diet, this recipe is for you.  

There are over 70k views on this healthy, low calorie chicken taco recipe from @jalalsamfit.

It is the perfect example of how you can still eat a tasty chicken taco with all the delicious fillings and some oozy cheese, whilst staying healthy. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• Chicken breasts (cut into halves) 
• Salt 

• Pepper 
• Paprika 
• Garlic powder 
• Dried chilli flakes 
• Onion powder 

• Bell peppers 
• Chopped onions 
• Chopped tomatoes 
• Grated cheese of your choice 

Add the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, chilli flakes and onion powder to the chicken and cook through. Shred the chicken and set to one side.  

Cook the veggies in the same pan as the chicken was cooked in, adding more salt and pepper.  

 After a minute, add in chopped tomatoes, water, and the shredded chicken. Have the tortilla ready, place the shredded chicken, add the salsa on top, cheese, and then fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime to finish. 

 You can see the recipe video for this low-calorie chicken taco here. 

4. Prawn Tacos

 A simple 15-minute prawn taco recipe? Yes please! This simple meal from @tamingtwins is the easiest dish you’ll make on this list.  

Quick to make and with a punchy lime dressing and crunchy coleslaw to bring everything together, you’ll be adding this to your regular Taco night menu! 

Use the following ingredients:  

• 360g frozen prawns 
• 2 tbsp oil 
• 4tsp Cajun spice 
• ½ white cabbage 
• Red onion 

• 250g Greek yoghurt 
• Juice and zest of 2 limes 
• 2 tsp honey 
• 2 tap mint sauce 
• 1 small avocado 

• 8 small tortillas 

Taco Tuesdays 

National taco day might have been and gone but remember that Taco Tuesdays are every single week.

You don’t need much excuse to eat delicious tacos, there are so many different recipes to try that taco Tuesdays are the perfect chance to perfect your Mexican cuisine.  

If you do fancy going out to buy a taco for lunch or dinner as you’re on your uni lunch break, why not try the Taco Bell student offer.

They give a student discount on meals of 15% in some locations. So, go check your local Taco Bell out, it doesn’t even have to be a Tuesday that you go there either! 

Let us know what you think about our taco recipes and if you have any of your own that you pull out of your hat to wow your mates.  

Why not try and bring Taco Tuesday to your student accommodation every single week. Tacos are for life, not just for National Taco Day. 

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