Upgrade Taco Night With This Crucial Ingredient From A Mexican Supermarket

Some of the worst taco-making mistakes can be fixed with nothing more than a quick trip to a Mexican supermarket, like Vallarta or Cardenas. While chili-mango candies, Jarritos, and fresh tortillas are reason enough to patronize them, their premarinated meats might have the most value of any offering.

Perfectly seasoning taco meat is a surprisingly hefty proposition. You may not have all the ingredients, time, or skills to make your protein restaurant-quality, not to mention the sheer cost of stocking your kitchen with everything you need. Fortunately, premarinated meats from Mexican supermarkets are affordable, delicious, and ready to cook the second you get home, upgrading even the most impromptu taco night. Plus, they can save you some serious cash, allowing you to buy only the exact amount of meat and ingredients you need rather than splurging on a whole chuck roast, pack of chicken, or pork chops that you may not be able to finish.

Prepared by cooks who grew up in taco culture, even the cheapest available meats are often significantly better than you could hope to make without a lot of practice. This is especially true for somewhat complicated meats, like pork or chicken al pastor, which come in so much variety that it might be hard to nail down the exact recipe you love most. While you won't find particularly rare forms of taco meat or ones made with specialty ingredients like Wagyu, just about any supermarket you patronize should have a solid selection of several meats to fit your exact cravings.

Whether you're grilling, pan frying, or roasting your protein, Mexican supermarkets often have not just a range of marinades and types of meat available, but also different cuts. Butterflied chicken breasts, chunks of al pastor, and even whole slabs of the best cut of steak for tacos, flank steak, allow you to mix and match your options for however you prefer to cook.

If you're looking for a quick and easy option, look for meats that come in smaller individual pieces. While al pastor traditionalists swear by slicing thin strips from a rotating skewer, most places that sell raw al pastor do so in small chunks or strips, letting you get a similar texture in a pan. However, the trick of pre-slicing, shredding, or chopping raw meats doesn't always yield a similar result. Some meats, like tongue and barbacoa, require long simmering times to render them into tender little shreds, so you might want to steer clear of raw, pre-cut versions at the store.

If you have the time, large slabs of grilling meat can yield some incredible charred flavor for your tacos. Pechuga, or chicken breast, or carne asada, in whole form or thick strips, are both great options that won't dry out as easily, thanks to their marinades. They come in large pieces that you won't have any issues feeding a crowd, and often come with little bits of onion and cilantro that add some incredible flavor to the end product.