About 10 years ago we took a trip to the West Coast, where we visited Portland and I had one of the best authentic beef tacos I've ever had. I have been meaning to recreate this recipe for years and I finally did it! If you crave authentic beef tacos, you'll love these Healthy Air Fryer Steak Tacos, marinated in an oil-free simple marinade, and loaded with fresh ingredients like cilantro, tamed jalapenos, red onion, Pico de Gallo, feta cheese, and corn! Or add your own favorite toppings.
Air Fryer Tacos (with beef) are popular during Cinco de Mayo, but are great any time of year! This was inspired by my Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas and pairs well with my Pico de Gallo Salsa and Avocado Cream Sauce! They are not only healthy, they are WW friendly and perfect for Taco Tuesday!
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Air Fryers are a great way to cook healthy food using less oil. If you don't have an air fryer and are looking for one or want to replace your air fryer or upgrade, check out this article I wrote on What to look for in an air fryer when I was researching and looking to purchase mine. I ended up buying a Ninja Foodi and I LOVE it (see link in recipe card!)
And if you love using your air fryer for easy Tex-Mex dinners, you’ll also enjoy these quick and flavorful Ninja Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas—perfect for a weeknight meal with minimal cleanup.
🥘Ingredient Notes
These are the ingredients you'll need to make these Air Fryer Steak Tacos. The toppings are optional.
- Sirloin steak, flank steak, or skirt steak. You can use a budget cut of meat for this recipe because marinades help improve tenderness and flavor in tougher cuts of meat.
Marinade:
I use an oil-free marinade with this recipe because oil is not a critical component of a marinade, especially when it comes to red meat. Red meat generally contains enough fat that it's not necessary to use oil to moisten the meat and add flavor.
- Juice from 3 small to medium limes and the zest from 1 lime. I use citrus (in the form of lime) because it's an acid and can help soften tough cuts of meats.
- Cilantro. Lends a fresh Mexican flavor!
- White sugar. Balances the tangy citrus in this recipe.
Optional Taco Toppings (not shown):
- Red onion (shown)
- Cilantro
- Corn
- Cotija cheese or mild goat or feta cheese. If you want to keep it light and ww friendlier, use light or fat-free feta cheese.
- Jalapenos
- Aavocado cream sauce
- Pico de gallo
- Sour cream
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Steak - you can use sirloin steak, skirt steak, or flank steak
- Oil spray- use an aerosol spray with no propellants or oil in a pump spray bottle (non-aerosol). Avocado, olive, or canola are the best, as they have a higher smoking point
- Toppings - you can use my recommended fillings/toppings or use whatever toppings you prefer
- Tortillas- you can use white instead of whole wheat tortillas, soft taco shells or use hard crispy taco shells
- Gluten-free - you can use corn tortillas for a gluten-free meal
- Lime Juice - you can substitute lime juice from concentrate for fresh lime juice
🔪How to Make Air Fryer Steak Tacos
Whisk marinade ingredients together in large bowl.
Pour marinade over steak in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag and marinate for 6-8 hours. Turn at half the time, if possible.
*You can marinate for a shorter period of time (1 hour) if you are in a rush, but you'll need to cut the meat thinner (⅛ inch).
Spray a few pumps of oil (make sure it's non -propellant) in air fryer drawers (or air fryer basket), depending on the type of air fryer you own.
Remove from marinade and place steak in air fryer. Spray the top with a little oil (you can use olive oil, canola oil or avocado oil (about 4 pumps)
Air fry steak at 400 degrees F/ 204 degrees C for about 12 minutes. to an internal temperature of about 150 degrees F/66 degrees C.
You can flip it halfway through (at 6 minutes, but you don't have to)
*This will be medium rare, but if you like your steak more well done, you'll need to cook it for a little more time (until you reach the desired level of doneness). Medium - medium well will be about 15 minutes.
Cut off any fat and slice steak (against the grain - SEE VIDEO) into thin strips (⅛ inch to ¼ inch thick).
Add about 4-5 strips of beef to warm tortillas
Then add your choice of toppings I used corn, salsa, light feta, additional cilantro, tamed jalapenos ,and salsa. Squeeze some fresh lime juice on top.
🥗 What to serve with Air Fryer Steak Tacos
I recommend serving this Easy Spanish Rice, Homemade Pico de Gallo, and Chile Con Queso dip with these Air Fryer Steak Tacos. This Coconut Lime Tres Leches cake for dessert would top off a great meal!
🌡️Storage
Store the leftover beef separately from the toppings in the fridge for up to 4 days. The tortillas can be stored at room temperature.
The beef can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container before or after cooking. If you freeze the beef before cooking, let it thaw in the fridge overnight before you marinate it.
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly @ 6 WW points using a regular whole wheat tortilla and 4 weight watchers points with a low-carb tortilla and 5 with a corn tortilla, including the toppings, IF you use corn, red onion, jalapeno, additional cilantro, salsa (or pico de Gallo) and fat-free feta cheese as your toppings!
❔ Recipe FAQ's
No, it works best if you cut the steak AFTER you air fry it.
Refried beans, Mexican street corn, avocado, cilantro lime rice, or Spanish rice all go well with Steak Tacos!
Yes, this steak can be grilled at the same temperature (400 degrees F) for the same amount of time (6-7 minutes on each side). You'll want to use an instant-read thermometer to indicate doneness.
You can marinate for a shorter period of time (1 hour) but you'll need to cut the meat thinner (⅛ inch) and it won't be quite as tender.
These flavorful Steak Tacos are healthy and ideal for taco night!
📋More Healthy Air Fryer Recipes
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📋 Air Fryer Steak Tacos recipe
Ingredients
Tacos
- 1 ½ pounds sirloin steak or flank or skirt steak
- 8 small tortillas
Marinade
- juice from 3 small to medium limes or sub from concentrate
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- lime zest from 1 lime
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Toppings
- additional cilantro
- red onion
- corn
- cojita or mild goat or feta cheese
- jalapenos
- Avocado sauce
Instructions
Heads up: There is a 6-8 hour marinating time with this recipe!
- Whisk marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl
- Add steak and marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight
- Spray a little bit of oil (make sure it's non -propellant) in air fryer drawrers.
- Place marinated steak in air fryer drawers or baket and spray the top with a little oil.
- Air fry steak on 400 degrees F/ 204 C for about 12 minutes. to an internal temperature of aobut 150 degrees F / 66 degrees CYou can flip it half way through (at 6 minutes), but you don't have to*This will be medium rare, but if you like your steak more well done, you'll need to cook it for a little more time (until you reach the desired level of doneness).
- Cut of any fat and slice steak (against the grain - SEE VIDEO) ⅛ inch to ¼ inch thick,
- Add about 4-5 strips of beef to the tortilla
- Then add your choice of toppings I used corn, salsa, light feta, additional cilantro, tamed jalapenos and salsa. Squeeze some fresh lime juice on top.
- Serve with salsa, sour cream and additional limes wedges.
Notes
-
- Steak - you can use sirloin steak, skirt steak, or flank steak
-
- Oil spray- use an aerosol spray with no propellants or oil in a pump spray bottle (non-aerosol). Avocado, olive, or canola are the best, as they have a higher smoking point
-
- Toppings - you can use my recommended fillings/toppings or use whatever toppings you prefer
-
- Tortillas- you can use white instead of whole wheat tortillas, soft taco shells or use hard crispy taco shells
-
- Gluten-free - you can use corn tortillas for a gluten-free meal
-
- Lime Juice - you can substitute lime juice from concentrate for fresh lime juice
Terri Gilson
I finally recreated those amazing authentic beef tacos I had in Portland years ago! These Air Fryer Steak Tacos are marinated in a simple, oil-free blend that packs so much flavor. I love loading them up with fresh cilantro, tamed jalapeños, and Pico de Gallo. The best thing is you can use budget-friendly cuts of meat - the marinade does wonders for tenderness.