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This Mexican Street Tacos recipe is a modern twist on street tacos made with a kale slaw, cubed chicken breast and corn. It packs in so much flavor from the seasoning and the kale slaw dressing. These street tacos are meant to be smaller than regular tacos and typically served on corn tortillas, although they still work with regular sized flour tortillas.
This recipe is adapted from the Cook Once, Eat all Week cookbook by Cassie Joy Garcia from Fed and Fit. This has been my favorite cookbook ever for meal prepping. Cassie lays out 26 meal prepping weeks. Each week revolves around three ingredients: a protein, a vegetable and a starch, which then become transformed into three completely different meals!
These tacos are perfect for meal prep
The bottom line is you prep all the components on one day and then simply assemble the dishes the day you’re eating them. This Mexican street tacos recipe came from week 9, which uses chicken, kale and corn in three creative ways. I love how with little creativity, the same ingredients, when assembled differently, result in a lot of variety. So it’s a really non-boring way of meal prepping!
How to make Mexican street tacos
The advance prep for this recipe is threefold:
- Bake chicken breast in the oven, and cut into cubes.
- De-stem kale, wash and dry.
- Cook corn and cut the corn kernels off the cob.
You’ll have those ingredients already completed and then it’s all about assembly for these Mexican street tacos:
Make the kale slaw
Start by making the dressing, which is made up of avocado mayonnaise, lime juice and paprika. It’s a tangy creamy dressing that you can actually double or triple to have on hand for other salads during the week.
Next, add the chopped kale on top of the dressing, and give it a good toss to completely coat the kale with the dressing.
Prepare the chicken filling
Next, heat some olive oil in a skillet. Then, add the cubed chicken, sliced corn along with chili powder, paprika, garlic powder and lime juice. Sauté the mixture until you incorporate the spices into the chicken and corn, and warm everything.
Assemble the Mexican street tacos
Now it just comes down to assembly – the fun part! Warm the tortillas on the same skillet you used to cook the chicken. Add the kale slaw on top, and then the chicken filling.
To add a touch of Mexican street tacos authenticity, throw on some cotija cheese on top, and serve them with some lime wedges. They are packed with protein, very flavorful and gluten-free if you use corn tortillas.
Meal prep tips for making Mexican street tacos
These tips all come from the Cook Once, Eat all Week cookbook and they’re so useful when thinking about prepping for this recipe and meal prepping and storage in general.
- Allow cooked chicken to come to room temperature before transferring to the fridge. This will help keep the fridge at a constant temperature.
- Store extra dressing in ice cube trays. If you make extra dressing that you don’t end up using, freeze them in ice cube trays. When frozen solid, transfer to a freezer bag and then use as many of the individual portions as you want when necessary. This really helps to minimize waste.
- Mark the stored meals and prepped components with dates you made them. This will really help you prioritize which meals to make first and which leftovers to consume first.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead can you make the filling for these tacos?
You can store the individual components of the tacos separately in the fridge, and then assemble for an easy weeknight dinner. The components will keep well in air tight containers for around 3 days.
What do you serve with chicken tacos?
These tacos are a really well balanced meal on their own, with protein and veggies. If you want a fuller meal, you can serve it with Spicy Black Bean Tomato Avocado Salsa, Mediterranean Chopped Salad or grilled veggies.
For more Tex Mex recipes:
- Grilled Fish Tacos
- Fried Tempeh Tacos
- Tex Mex Breakfast Bowl
- Baked Chicken Tacos
- Ground Beef Taco
- Zucchini Enchiladas
- Beef Taco Burritos
I love how quickly and easily these Mexican street tacos come together with three basic ingredients. It’s a modern take on the popular street food that’s nutritious and delicious. They are a great way to use up leftover chicken, corn and greens in a fun, flavorful recipe!
If you’ve tried this healthy’ish feel good Mexican Street Tacos recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Mexican Street Tacos
Ingredients
For the Kale Slaw
- 1 cup kale chopped
- ¼ cup avocado oil mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
For the Chicken Filling
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups cooked and cubed chicken breast
- 1½ cups corn kernels cooked fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
For assembly
- 12 corn tortillas miniature, or 8 regular-size corn tortillas
- ¼ cup Cotija cheese crumbled
- 4 lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Make the slaw: In a small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil mayo, lime juice, and chipotle chili powder, then toss the kale with the chipotle lime dressing until it is fully coated.
- Make the chicken filling: Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the chicken and corn and cook for 2 minutes to warm through.
- Add the lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, and salt and toss to coat the chicken. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, until the chicken is slightly browned.
- Place a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, put one tortilla in the pan at a time and warm for 30 seconds per side, until the tortilla is pliable and begins to brown slightly. To keep the tortillas warm while you are heating the remaining ones, you can wrap them in a kitchen towel.
- To assemble the tacos, add the chicken and kale slaw to a warmed tortilla and garnish with Cotija cheese. Serve with lime wedges.
Notes
- Instead of the tortillas, you can use lettuce (bibb lettuce is ideal) or thinly sliced jicama as veggie-based tortillas. You can also find grain-free tortillas.
- Instead of kale, you could use any other greens of choice.
- Instead of avocado mayonnaise, use regular mayonnaise or sour cream.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
this is not authentic mexican street tacos. this should be called chicken, corn and kale wrapped in a flour tortilla. the ingredients are completely different. this is not a mexican recipe.
This is a modern twist on street tacos!
too funny! this has been verified by ana
Love this recipe and it is so easy to make. I typically dice chicken and fry in a pan before making but I have also used a rotisserie chicken as well. The flavor is great and I am looking forward to trying it with other cuts of meat as well. Since the flavor is so great we have used it on nachos, in different types of tortillas as well as just with a bowl and spoon. It’s soooo good!!!
OH yay!! That’s so great to hear! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂