Street Tacos are small and loaded with homemade pico de gallo, black beans and zucchini for a delicious and casual feast. A meatless and authentic Mexican street tacos recipe.

An extreme closeup of the side of street tacos showing all of the veggies and pico de gallo inside.

Street Tacos are smaller softer corn tortillas than the regular hard-sided tacos we are used to.

Tortillas come in all sizes. From the little 5" size all the way up to 12". For this recipe use one of the smaller sizes.

An authentic Mexican street tacos recipe is loaded with lots of ingredients. One of the must-haves is pico de gallo and there is a homemade recipe for that in this post too!

Fresh vegetables are prepared just right and then piled on a small taco shell. That's what street tacos are all about.

Jump to:

🌮 What are street tacos
💭 Is cinnamon used in Mexican cooking
🌶 Can a milder chili be used
🥘 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🌮 Unique taco recipes
📋 Recipe

Overhead view looking down on two vegetable filled tortillas laying partially open with cilantro on the side.

🌮 What are street tacos

Street tacos are small corn tortillas that have been lightly fried. The size makes them much easier to handle when 'traveling on the street'. Lots of flavors and textures are piled inside for a good quick meal.

Street tacos are almost universally open-faced, showing off their various contents, and are folded and consumed in a handful of bites.

Looking down at a small bowl full of pico de gallo and a plate with the prepared vegetable filling.

💭 Is cinnamon used in Mexican cooking

Mexican cooking relies heavily on cinnamon in cooking both sweet and savory recipes.

Think Mexican hot chocolate and churros. Many homemade taco seasonings have cinnamon in them too.

Mexican cuisine often uses a cinnamon that is called Ceylon cinnamon. It is actually healthier than the ground cinnamon that we typically buy in supermarkets.

Ceylon cinnamon is anti-inflammatory, and is an antioxidant, and it's claimed that it can even lower your blood sugar. You can buy it here too and can even find organic varieties.

Wide photo display for facebook showing a closeup of vegetable and spices filled into two corn tortillas.

🌶 Can a milder chili be used

Yes, you can use any chili that you like but hot ones are authentic so that is why they are in this recipe.

🥘 Ingredients

Black beans are a great contrast with the softer zucchini.
Zucchini or mixed summer squash gives a little bit of crunch with a lot of nutrition.
Red onion is sweet and gets even sweeter when sautéd.
Ground coriander
Mustard powder is the opposite of the other seasonings and adds a really nice tangy flavor.
Cayenne is hot so start with just a little bit.
Salt is the perfect seasoning.
Cinnamon has a nice undertone and you can substitute traditional Ceylon cinnamon too. It's also a bit milder but is equally delicious.
Lime juice is not as tart as lemon and lifts the flavors to more of a gourmet filling.
10-12 small corn tortillas will hold all of that delicious filling.
To fry the tortillas you need some oil and I prefer extra virgin olive oil.

🌶 Pico de Gallo:

Tomato is a bit acidic with lots of juices.
To get a flavor punch use garlic.
Jalapeno peppers (or serrano chiles) are hot and traditionally that is what street tacos call for.
Red onion is raw and adds a crunch and slightly sweet taste.
Fresh Cilantro (optional) is a great herb but does not agree with some palates. If this is the case with some of your family and friends then substitute parsley.
Salt adds taste that we all crave.
Get the tangy citrus flavor that tastes so good by using lime juice.

🔪 Instructions

Make the pico de gallo first. That will give it some time to rest and meld in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
Dice the tomato and onion small. Mince the garlic, and chop the cilantro or parsley. A lot of people don't like the taste of cilantro. It's a genetic trait and it actually tastes like soap to them.

Wide photo showing diced tomatoes and red onion on a cutting board with a knife on it's side.

You can wear kitchen gloves for this next step. You don't have to just be careful to not touch your eyes. Jalapenos and serrano chilies are very hot.
Slice the stem end of the chili and then slice down the center lengthwise. This opens up the chili so you can clearly see the seeds and ribs. Scrape out the ribs and get rid of the seeds.
The seeds are very hot so if you want to have spicier pica de gallo then leave some seeds in.
Dice very small.

Wide view of sliced chili waiting to be diced on a cutting board with tomatoes and onions behind.

Combine the tomato, onion, chili, lime juice and salt. Toss and taste to see if you'd like more lime juice or salt.
Cover and set in the fridge.

Heat tortillas

Heat a heavy pan or iron griddle on med-high heat.
Add 1 tbsp/15ml oil and spread evenly.
Cook the tortillas for only about 20-40 seconds per side. You want there to be a slight amount of browning. Add more oil as needed.

Cook zucchini

Wash and dry the zucchini and squash if using any. Cut off ends and slice lengthwise into ½" to 3-4” slices.
Cut the onion in half through the stem as seen in the photo below. Next, cut into about ½" to ¾" slices. They'll be kind of fat slivers.

Summer squash, zucchini and red onion are beinf sliced and diced on a wooden cutting board.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large, heavy pan over medium-high heat.
Add onion and cook for 30 seconds until slightly charred on one side.

Looking down into an iron skillet at slightly charred red onions and zucchini.

Add zucchini. Cook two to three minutes more. They'll be a little browning which is good but don't overcook. They cook very quickly and there is still a little bit of cooking to do.
Add beans and spices cooking 1-2 minutes more and stirring regularly to distribute spices and to get everything hot.
Remove from heat and squeeze in lime juice to taste.

Looking down into an iron skillet at slightly charred red onions, black beans, seasonings and zucchini.

Serve fresh with pico de gallo.

Filling and pico de gallo store well in sealed containers in the fridge for 1-2 days. Make tortillas fresh each time.

Front view of two street tacos filled with sauted zucchini spears, black beans, pico de gallo and spices.

🌮 Unique taco recipes

There are 7 taco recipes on my blog now and they are all completely different. Here are some to check out if you'd like.
Tacos with chipotle and from the crockpot are flavor and spicy.
Corn and Black Bean Salsa Tacos has an unusual salsa that mixes in with the veggies.
These cool Ranch Cauliflower Tacos are actually refreshing and filling!

If you take a photo of your spicy zucchini street tacos I would love to see it. Follow me over on Instagram and tag me on your photo @vegan_in_the_freezer.

📋 Recipe