SMOKED CHILI STREET TACOS

Taco Tuesday (or any day am I right?) here we come!

These smoked chili street tacos are made with lean ground turkey, lots of veggies and are absolutely loaded with flavor!

savory smoked chili street tacos!

About once a week, I’ll take a quick inventory of all of the vegetables we have in our fridge that we haven’t eaten yet and I’ll chop them up and make a big stir-fry type of meal for dinner. There’s nothing worse than when you wait too long to use up your veggies (or you forget they’re in there…oops) and they go bad in the fridge! This is why I love to use a bunch of them all at once in order not to waste any food. This is exactly what I did with this street taco recipe!

The most important part of any good taco is, of course, it’s base ingredients. This one uses lean ground turkey, fresh zucchini, bell peppers, sweet yellow onion and roasted corn as it’s base. While this particular recipe isn’t vegetarian, the turkey can easily be substituted with more zucchini or other veggies like mushrooms and squash!

Now let’s talk flavor…

There are so many pre-mixed taco seasonings out there but I am here to tell you to make your own!! Not only do those seasoning packets contain crazy levels of unnecessary sodium and preservatives, but it’s also extremely gratifying when you can mix up your own seasoning blend and make it absolutely perfect for your own homemade tacos!

Good spices are absolutely key here people! For this recipe, we’re going to use some of my favorites like fresh garlic, bold chili, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, cracked black pepper and my personal favorite, smoked paprika!

I went years of my life only ever using regular paprika until one day I came across smoked paprika and it changed the seasoning game for me! Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic… but trust me, if you love smokey and savory flavors and you haven’t been using this in your home recipes, add this to your spice cabinet ASAP!

Finally, for the best part… toppings! I topped these babies with all of my favorites like ripe avocado, spicy sriracha, black beans, cheddar cheese, red onion and my go-to homemade Zesty Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing! But here’s the thing, you really can’t go wrong here (unless maybe you try and put chocolate chips on top or something.)

So go ahead, load up your tacos with your favorites and DIG IN!

THE RECIPE

makes roughly 12 street tacos

prep time: 15 minutes // cook time: 20 minutes

total time: 30 Minutes

ingredients:

1 Pack of 12 Street Taco Tortillas
1 Lb Lean Ground Turkey (I used 93% lean / 7% fat ratio)
1 Cup Yellow Onion, diced
1 15.25 oz Can of Whole Kernal Corn
1 Medium Zucchini, chopped
1 Cup Bell Pepper, diced (I used a mix of red, yellow and green)
1 Lime, juiced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Garlic, minced
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric
Salt & Pepper to taste

method:

Over medium-high heat, add olive oil to a large pan with the ground turkey and cook fully through until the turkey is beginning to brown.
To the pan, add onion, zucchini, peppers, corn, minced garlic and lime. Cover and let simmer until the vegetables have softened a bit (roughly 5-7 minutes.)
Next, add the chili, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix together until the seasoning is fully covering the entire mixture.
Continue to simmer for a couple of minutes until vegetables are fully tender.
Serve immediately on top of your tortillas and add your favorite taco toppings such as my Zesty Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing!

recipe notes:

Want to toast up those tortillas before loading them up with all the good stuff?

If you want them toasty and a bit charred: Try placing them on the stovetop in a large pan over medium-high heat. Toast them on each side for 1-2 minutes or until desired tortilla toastiness has been reached!
If you want them warm, yet still really soft: Wrap a stack of tortillas in aluminum foil and place them in an 350F/180C degree oven for roughly 10 minutes!