18 Easy Taco Recipes | Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas


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Turn every night into taco night with these easy taco recipes! I’ve rounded up my favorite healthy taco ideas featuring fresh, flavorful ingredients whether you’re craving chicken tacos, fish tacos, vegetarian tacos, and more.

Easy Taco Recipes
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Healthy Taco Recipes for Any Night of the Week

We have taco night at least once a week in our house. It’s such a regular occurrence, I just had to round up some of my favorite easy taco recipes! If your family is anything like mine, you’re going to love them, too.

Tacos are often associated with fast food. However, I’m officially busting that relationship with these healthy taco recipes. Yes, tacos can be loaded with healthy protein and veggies, full of flavor, AND satisfying. These taco night recipes are here to prove it! Plus, I’m sharing delicious taco topping ideas along with Mexican-inspired side dishes for your next meal.

What Should I Put In My Tacos?

The beauty of homemade tacos is in how versatile the ingredients are. Fill your hard-shell or soft corn tortillas with everything from ground beef to salsa verde chicken, pork carnitas to seafood, like fish and shrimp tacos. Of course, there are plenty of ways to skip meat when it comes to vegetarian tacos, too. Try tofu tacos, or recipes made with black beans or your preferred meatless mince. I’ve included all my favorite ideas in the round-up below.

No matter what you fill your tacos with, every household needs a recipe for homemade taco seasoning! Mine is easy to make and easy to adapt.

Taco Topping Ideas

Once your tortillas are loaded with your favorite taco filling, it’s time to pile on the toppings. We love our homemade tacos with a squeeze of fresh lime. But we rarely stop there.

  • Slaw – Many of the taco recipes below come with slaw recipes included (one of my favorites is this quick cabbage slaw). 
  • Veggies – Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and chopped red onions are all classic taco toppings. Other good options are radishes, and fresh herbs like cilantro.
  • Avocado – Try my homemade guacamole recipe or sliced avocado.
  • Salsa – Top your tacos with Pico de gallo or restaurant-style salsa or use your favorite hot sauce.
  • Pickled Red Onions – Delicious on all tacos, but especially fish tacos!
  • Cheese – Try different cheese variations like cheddar, Monterey Jack, cotija or queso blanco.
  • Cream – Like sour cream or crema for a creamy finish.

What to Serve with Tacos

Looking to turn your favorite tacos into a Cinco de Mayo fiesta or weeknight family feast? Try these easy side dishes to pair with homemade tacos:

18 Easy Homemade Taco Recipes

From the classics, like easy beef tacos, to something more creative, these meal ideas have you covered.

This easy, healthy fish taco recipe is made with cod seasoned with a chili-lime cumin rub topped with slaw – no breading, no frying!

Cod Fish Tacos

Skip the breading and deep-frying, these easy and healthy fish tacos have tons of flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture without it! Made from cod that’s rubbed with a delicious chili and lime seasoning blend, seared in a skillet, and served over soft tortillas.

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shrimp tacos

Shrimp Tacos

Juicy shrimp is packed with healthy vitamins and minerals, and tastes delicious in these spicy shrimp tacos! The shrimp cooks up succulent and full of flavor in the air fryer or a saute pan.

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Tofu Potato Tacos
Korean-Inspired Salmon Tacos with Spicy Slaw
Grilled Chicken Tacos with Lettuce Slaw

Grilled Chicken Tacos

Zesty grilled chicken tacos are a family favorite weeknight dinner. We load ours up with a juicy tomato and crunchy lettuce coleslaw, topped with avocado and cotija cheese. Serve them in a char-grilled tortilla for even more flavor.

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Cauliflower Tacos
vegetarian black bean tacos in crispy shells

Vegetarian Black Bean Tacos

When it comes to classic recipes, these vegetarian black bean tacos are a must-try! We serve ours in crunchy hard-shell tortillas for the perfect combination of flavors and texture.

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These easy Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos made in the crock pot with chicken breast, salsa, and spices are on repeat in my house!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos Recipe

Enjoy flavor-filled slow cooker chicken loaded into soft flour tortillas with this easy crockpot recipe! These salsa chicken tacos are bursting with spices and totally mouthwatering.

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Turkey Tacos
Tzatziki Fish Tacos have a Greek twist! Crisp breaded fish fillets served on tortillas topped with tzatziki sauce made with Greek yogurt, cucumbers and fresh herbs.

Tzatziki Fish Tacos

Give your fish tacos a Mediterranean spin with this recipe for breaded fish filets topped with a fresh homemade mint tzatziki sauce.

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These easy Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos are made with flaky white fish, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro and lime topped with avocado.

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos

One more fish taco recipe you won’t want to miss! This is a quick and easy taco dinner for a busy weeknight, made with flaky fish, spicy jalapeños, cilantro, and lime. Top your flavorful fish tacos with avocado for the ultimate Mexican night meal.

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Taco night happens once a week in my house, these are the BEST ground beef tacos made from scratch! This taco recipe is also great with ground turkey!
Green Scallop Tacos with a spicy green herb cucumber and avocado salsa and a squeeze of lime juice on top, so good!

Green Scallop Tacos

Juicy scallops, spicy cucumbers, and creamy avocado salsa come together in this creative and easy seafood taco recipe. Don’t forget to squeeze over some fresh lime!

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Instant Pot carnitas tacos on a plate topped with avocado slices, cilantro, and cheese.

Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos

Turn saucy and succulent Instant Pot Mexican pulled pork into the most delicious tacos! This recipe is quick to make in the pressure cooker and super versatile.

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These lobster tacos are made with steamed chunks of lobster meat, avocado and pico de gallo, topped with a spicy poblano crema. If you want to step up your fish taco game, you need these in your life!

Union Cantina Lobster Tacos

I make these seafood tacos with fresh, steamed lobster meat seasoned with Old Bay, topped with creamy avocado, pico de gallo, and a to-die-for poblano crema. It takes fish tacos to a whole ‘nother level!

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Shrimp Scampi Tacos with Caesar Salad Slaw, a unique twist on a shrimp taco and ready in under 20 minutes!
Blackened cod fish seasoned with a spicy rub and cooked in a cast iron skillet. The mango-cabbage slaw is the perfect balance of sweet and sour which compliments the fish perfectly.
Not your ordinary tacos – these Thai chicken lettuce tacos are spicy and exotic, made with my light peanut sauce which I make with PB2 (powdered peanut butter) sriracha, ginger and spices. To balance out the spice, I chose to serve these in crisp cool lettuce wraps but tortillas would work great too!

Thai Chicken Peanut Lettuce Tacos

These low-carb Thai chicken tacos trade the tortillas for crisp lettuce in a light, easy dinner that’s filled with Asian-style flavors. The taco filling is made from spicy ground chicken, ginger, and spices with Thai peanut sauce.

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More Taco Night Ideas

Looking for more fun and healthy recipes for taco night or your next Cinco de Mayo celebration? Check out the recipe finder for tons of inspiration, from chicken enchiladas to loaded turkey nachos, and more fiesta-worthy ideas.

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