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Queso Steak and Elote Tacos. These spicy Mexican-style tacos incorporate all the flavors of elote (also known as street corn) into grilled steak tacos. Homemade two-ingredient queso is spooned over each taco. There’s just the right amount of melty cheese and a CRUNCH with every bite. A quintessential summer taco, they’re always delicious.
I was so close to sharing another summer salad today. While the salad is coming (I’m so excited to share it), tacos felt like the right move for a Tuesday. I’ve been holding onto this recipe for far too long.
I made these tacos before my trip to France and have been waiting to share them with you! But honestly, I’ve been waiting longer than a few weeks! I’ve had this taco in my head for over a year now. It was my friend Benny who first gave me the idea to use queso as a taco topping. Ever since Benny showed me the light, I’ve been wanting to share this recipe.
I knew I wanted to keep the tacos simple yet still very summery. I’ve been grilling so much steak, chicken, and salmon, but I’ve never shared a grilled steak taco. And the flavors with the corn and queso sounded delicious.
I rubbed the steak with my homemade taco seasoning and grilled it. Then, I made a two-ingredient queso with pepper jack and a can of Rotel. I then mixed up the simplest street corn salad with a couple of cups of grilled corn.
These have a lot going on, and oh my gosh, they are so good. My brothers are obsessed.
These are the details
Step 1: make the street corn
This is a simplified street corn. I mixed a couple cups of grilled corn kernels with a few spoonfuls of mayo, a jalapeño, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and then lots and lots of crumbled feta cheese.
It’s traditional to use cotijia cheese, but I usually prefer feta, which I find to be much less dry and easier to crumble into recipes.
Step 2: grill the steak
Start by rubbing the steak down with taco seasoning. I used my homemade mix of chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and then an extra pinch of cayenne for some kick.
Grill the steak until it’s cooked to your liking. Let the steak rest to lock in the yummy juices, then very thinly slice.
Step 3: make the shells
For this taco, I decided to double the shells: one flour tortilla and one hard shell. I sandwiched the two together with some melted cheese—my favorite combination.
Lay the flour tortillas flat on a baking sheet, then top them with a good amount of the three-cheese blend (cheddar, Monterey Jack, and mozzarella).
Place the pan in the oven to let the cheese melt. Once the cheese is melty, I add the hard-shell tacos. Then, I press the melty cheese into the hard shells. The cheese sticks to the shell and holds everything together. I then throw the shells back into the oven to warm through again.
Step 4: the queso
This is a two-step queso: Cubes of melty cheese mixed with one can of Rotel. Make sure to use a very melty cheese. I love pepper jack, but a block of Velveta will melt the nicest and smoothest.
Melt the cheese and tomatoes over low heat until the cheese sauce forms. If you want a spicy queso, add some jalepeños.
Step 5: assemble each taco
Take the shells and layer them with slices of steak and then the street corn. Spoon the hot queso over the corn.
I then add lettuce and avocado. You must serve while the queso is warm. These tacos are BEST this way.
Add extra cilantro and maybe another dip into the queso, which makes them even better! So fun!
Looking for other fun Mexican dinners to try, here are my favorites:
Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos with Honey Lime Avocado Crema
Crockpot Carne Asada Tacos with Cilantro Lime Garlic Sauce.
Lastly, if you make these Queso Steak and Elote Tacos, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Queso Steak and Elote Tacos
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 587 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Elote
- 2 cups grilled or roasted corn
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 1 jalapeño, seeded if desired, and chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese
- salt
Tacos
- 2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning (homemade in notes)
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 8 mini taco-size flour tortillas
- 8 hard taco shells
- shredded lettuce, avocado, and limes, for serving
Queso
- 1 can RO*TEL
- 2 cups cubed pepper jack or Velveeta, melted (see note)
Instructions
- 1. To make the street corn: mix all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt. 2. To make the tacos: rub the steak all over with taco seasoning and oil. Set your grill or skillet to medium-high heat. Grill the steak until lightly charred, 5-8 minutes for medium-rare, per side. Remove the steak and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then slice.3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400° F. Lay the flour tortillas flat onto two baking sheets. Evenly divide the cheese blend between each tortilla. Bake 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Add the hard shells to the center of each tortilla, pressing one side of the shell into the cheese. Bake another 2-3 minutes. Fold the remaining cheesy side onto the hard shell, pressing the shell into the cheese.4. To make the queso: In a small skillet set over low heat, melt together the cubes of cheese with the can of RO*TEL, stirring often until melted, about 5 minutes. If the sauce needs to be thinned, add a splash of water. 5. Arrange the sliced steak evenly into each shell. Top with street corn, then spoon over the queso. Serve immediately with any amount of desired toppings, use whatever you love!
Notes
Taco Seasoning: Mix 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, and 2 teaspoons salt.
Queso: I use melty pepper jack, but it will not melt as nicely or as smooth as Velveeta.
So good! This has become a family favorite.
Hey Heather,
Thank you so much for making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was a winner! Happy Sunday! xT
Saw this recipe on Instagram and knew I had to try it! These tacos were SO CHEESY and extremely delicious! Very easy to make, so I will definitely be making these again. I used Pepper Jack to make my queso, which did clump up—so next time I plan to try the Velveeta but will add in my own spicy peppers to it.
Hey Katie,
Wonderful! Thanks so much for your comment, love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you giving it a try! x
Confused. It says it makes 6 servings, but you need 8 taco shells and 8 tortillas. How does that divide between 6 people?
Hi there,
So sorry about that, it should serve 4 with each person having 2 tacos. I hope you love this recipe! xT
Made these last night for a family dinner and everyone stopped talking so they could keep eating! We really enjoyed this recipe and everything turned out as described and pictured. Thank you for yummy recipes!
Hey Sally,
Happy Monday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xT
Preparing to make these. My question: why, once the cheese is melted on the soft flour tortilla, don’t you press it around the hard shell at that point? Why do you have to bake an additional minutes and THEN press the remaining side? Am I reading something incorrectly?
Thanks, they sound delicious
Hi Deb,
I just found that they stayed together best when I pressed one side in, baked, and then did the other side:) I hope this helps! I hope you love this recipe:) xT
You can. That’s what I do. As long as you work quickly, and press while the cheese is still hot. You don’t need to rebake them.
This. Looks great! Can we make it with corn tortillas for those that are gluten sensitive?
Hey Tracy,
Totally, that would work just fine for you! I hope you love this recipe, let me know if you give it a try! xT
This was delicious. I always make my queso like this, sometimes I add a splash of half and half if it isn’t coming together the way I like. All these flavors together were such a good mix. The cilantro and avocado gave some freshness to break up the richness. Another fabulous recipe!
Hey Sherry,
Fantastic! Love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! Have a great weekend:)
Just okay. Too much heaviness and richness in this dish. Needs some freshness to break up all the cheese and mayo. Wasn’t horrible but didn’t eat leftovers and wouldn’t make again.
Hi Bri,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xT
This turned out great for us! Followed the recipe exactly! Loved the flavor combinations as well as the crunch with the hard shell! Was easy to prepare ahead of time making the meal come together very easily.
Hey Ann,
Awesome! So glad to hear that this dish turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! xx
I will start by saying that the elote was really good and I will use that part of the recipe again. But the rest of this was kind of a swing and a miss. It was really hard to get the tortillas to stick together after putting the flour tortillas in the oven with cheese. But the biggest problem was the queso. I could not find a block of Velveeta in my store and so used a block of Pepper jack. I followed the directions but it turned into a glommy mess that we wound up throwing in the garbage.
Hi Martha,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I’m so sorry to hear that you had issues with the queso and tortillas! x
I only made the queso & elote’ to take to a taco party. The salad looks great but I’m worried about the queso. The texture seems gummy with a bunch of liquid like the whey separated out despite my stirring 😿
Hi Raquel,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear about the queso. What kind of cheese did you use? Was it already pre-shredded? That could be the issue if so! xx
Do you have a substitute suggestion for RO*TEL? We can’t get that in the UK!
You can probably find a can of diced tomatoes with chili peppers; Rotel is just a brand name.
Hey Amy,
Sure! You could use canned diced tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, or a chunky red salsa. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT