6 Underrated Cuts Of Meat You Should Be Using For Street Tacos

The best street food is often an exercise in taking whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand and turning them into something magical. This is true of street tacos. The finest are forged in fire on sizzling planchas where the very best taco chefs turn even the cheapest, most overlooked cuts of meat into a delicious treat. While it's crucial to always cook with the best ingredients you can get your hands on to ensure a great-tasting meal, these ingredients don't always have to be the most expensive — or the most popular. Some of our favorite cuts to use for street tacos, for example, are far less popular and much more affordable than prized options, such as ribeye or chateaubriand. Nobody wants a wagyu taco, after all.

Tacos are all about big flavors, whether they're created by a smoky char on the grill or a long, slow braise in a delicious cooking liquid. In the case of our first cut, it's actually a bit of both. Suadero probably isn't on your radar if you aren't Mexican, but it's at the core of the quintessential Mexican street taco. A thin cut of beef taken from between the sirloin and the lower flank, it has almost no visible grain and is prized for its silky smooth texture. When you confit or slowly braise it before finishing it on a ripping hot plancha or grill, it's juicy, tender, and full of smoky flavor. Serve it simply with salt, plenty of lime, bright salsa verde, and a touch of chopped onion and cilantro for a crunchy contrast to the super-tender beef.

Another brilliantly flavorful cut of beef that offers real bang for your bank is beef cheek. Often overlooked when it comes to braising cuts (more expensive cuts, such as short ribs and osso bucco, tend to hog the spotlight; even the previously cheap oxtail is now creeping up in price as it becomes more and more popular), beef cheek is a star in its own right — especially when it comes to making street tacos. High in collagen and with lots of connective tissue, which breaks down when cooked low and slow into a deliciously rich texture, it's the perfect cut for braising and stuffing into a fresh tortilla.

A great alternative to steaks, it delivers on deep beefy flavor and a glossy, gelatinous mouthfeel that's ideal for tacos when paired with a nice, crunchy salsa to bring a bit of freshness and contrast. Braise it for a few hours with aromatics, such as onion, garlic, bay, and chiles; once meltingly tender, finish it off in a hot skillet to re-crisp its edges. This brings a lovely mix of soft meat and crunchy char. Make sure to build layers of flavor over time in that braising liquid with herbs, such as oregano, and spices, such as cumin, which pair wonderfully with bright pickled onion to top things off.

While a wonderfully soft bit of braised meat is an excellent taco filling, sometimes only a steak will do. But there's no need to break the bank on an expensive cut, such as a ribeye or sirloin. Hanger steak, for example, is a delicious alternative that's often underrated. Also known as onglet, hanger steak is a favorite of chefs and butchers alike. It's a flavorful and tender cut taken from the diaphragm of the cow. It has a distinctly beefy flavor, almost close to liver in its aroma. With a quick marinade and a flash on a ripping hot grill, this overlooked cut of meat can be transformed into a classic taco filling that delivers flavor, texture, and value.

To prepare it, quickly marinate in lime, salt, and oil before grilling it over a super-hot charcoal grill. You can also butterfly it and fry it on a plancha. This helps you achieve a fantastic caramelized crust; the Maillard reaction does its thing and imparts a delicious flavor and crisp texture on the outside of the steak. Like bavette, hanger steak is best cooked on the rare side of medium-rare (though the level of doneness is, of course, up to personal preference) before slicing against the grain to keep things nice and tender. Serve with a bright, zesty steak sauce, such as chimichurri or salsa verde, and nestle it in a warm corn tortilla with a final squeeze of lime to cut through the rich, savory beef flavor.

If you can't find hanger steak at your local butcher or grocery store, you might be able to get your hands on its cousin, skirt steak. Skirt steak is also taken from the diaphragm of the cow, but is a little thinner than onglet. Also known as bavette on the menu of many a Parisian bistro (and served with fresh frites), or arrachera when served on the streets of Mexico City, this is another delicious, intensely beefy cut that doesn't break the bank. It has a loose grain, intense, savory flavor, and a wider surface area that helps you get lots of that lovely char that really elevates any grilled meat. It's ideal for thinly sliced carne asada-style tacos, but many cooks don't know how to get the absolute best out of it.

Much like onglet, it's best cooked over a super-high heat to get a lovely sear (or char if you're cooking over coals). Serve it medium-rare and sliced thin across the grain to keep it tender. Because the diaphragm is used pretty much constantly throughout the cow's life, it's full of flavor, but has a tendency to be pretty tough. Marination solves this problem; a quick bath in ingredients such as lime juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, or even beer (make sure to save a cerveza to drink with your taco) does wonders when it comes to improving the flavor and texture of your steak. When properly treated, you have a taco filling that's both delicious and tender.

You might be thinking, "Hang on, beef is hardly the only thing you can put in a taco." You're right, but don't worry; we've not forgotten. Pork belly and shoulder are often go-to fillings when it comes to a pork taco. The former is often roasted or fried until super-crunchy on the outside and tender within while the latter is typically baked or braised until meltingly soft — or sliced and stacked on a spit to make classic al pastor tacos. While both are undeniably delicious, there's a criminally underrated cut of pork that makes for an equally delicious result: pork collar (or pork neck). It's a fatty, well-marbled cut from (perhaps a little obviously) the neck of the pig that, when rendered properly, becomes extremely tender and packed full of flavor.

Collar can often deliver significantly richer, juicier, carnitas-style tacos than shoulder or butt. To achieve this, cook it low and slow, or even confit it in pork fat for a super-unctuous mouthfeel. When sliced into steaks, it can make for a great alternative to al pastor. For a proper riff on the latter, marinate your pork collar in citrus and cumin or keep things simple with a classic combination of garlic and oregano. Either way, you've got a great taco filling on your hands.

Our final pick might initially sound off-putting to you if you're not used to eating it, but have a little faith. Beef tongue, known in Mexico as lengua, can be a fabulous filling for your next taco night when treated properly. Muscular and with a dense structure, tongue transforms into an extremely tender meat after slow cooking. It's a classic taco filling that's popular all across Mexico. While it's less popular in the United States, it's a muscle just like any other cut of beef. Though it can be intimidating to home cooks because of the preparation involved, it offers a silky smooth texture and a rich flavor when finished that makes it truly unique among taco fillings. It's a long process but well worth it. It's also a great way to practice a bit of technique if you're a keen home cook.

Simmer the tongue for two to three hours with classic aromatics, such as onions, garlic, hard herbs, and chiles. Then, let it cool, peel the outer layer off, and chop it up. Once that's done, fry it until nicely browned and crispy on the outside. It's a nice textural contrast that's perfect for throwing into a taco. Add some spicy salsa rojo and a sprinkling of pickled onions for brightness and heat to complete a pretty perfect meal using a truly underrated cut of meat.