The History of the Taco & Taco Tuesday (Plus: Tons of Recipes!)
- February 2025
- By Lorena Santamaria
- Recipe from Mexico


Ready for a history lesson, taco lovers? Let’s dig into the backstory of one of the world’s most recognizable and reached-for foods.
Carne asada tacos, fish tacos, tacos al pastor, tacos de carnitas, barbacoa tacos, tacos de papa. The list of taco possibilities is just about endless. And humanity is the better for it. Over decades, over centuries, tacos have become a global culinary star. (And are clearly catching up to pizza as our favorite food in the U.S.)
But who filled and folded the first tortilla to make one — and where did they do it?
Read on for the history of el taco and how a certain day of the week became dedicated to it.
It’s surely no sorpresa to anyone that the taco was invented in Mexico. But did you know that it came courtesy of the Aztec? In their hands, corn was the first plant to be domesticated in Mexico around 7,000 years ago. Early Mesoamericans would grind the kernels down using a stone tool called a metate. Their hard work yielded a thin pancake-like food called tlaxcalli, later renamed by Spanish colonizers as tortilla. But this masa harina disc served as a handy food tool for the Aztec and Maya long before the Spaniards showed up. These Indigenous communities used tortillas to wrap staple ingredients in their diets like beans, fish and insects. The word taco likely comes from the Aztec Nahuatl word tlacoyo, which refers to a similar, larger tortilla also made from corn masa.
The arrival of the Spanish in 1519 did, however usher in new ingredients. Think: Beef, pork and queso. This is when the taco that we recognize today started to take shape, evolving into new forms as it traveled across Mexico, North America — and eventually the globe.
Our Top 5 Most Popular Tacos
Let’s travel across Mexico to explore how its diverse terrains and cultures shaped the taco. Let’s start in the North. Arguably the most famous taco of all, carne asada, was popularized by cattle ranchers in northern region states like Sonora and Nuevo Leon. Nuevo Leon’s city of Monterrey is considered a top consumer of carne asada in all of Mexico and holds the world record for the biggest carne asada gathering. Ranchers, who are famous for using every part of cattle, learned to marinate and grill even the toughest cuts of meat to eat with a tortilla. To make your own carne asada tacos, try this classic recipe our community loves, sent in by Anjie Villalobos, one of our favorite Familia Kitchen Mexican-food homecooks.
Over in central Mexico, in Puebla and Mexico City, al pastor tacos point to a faraway influence: the Middle East. Immigrants from Lebanon brought the technique of marinating and cooking pork on a vertical rotisserie, called a trompo in Mexico. Other New World contributions to this beloved taco include using pork instead of the traditional lamb in shwarma, and garnishing it with pineapple, a native fruit to South America.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s West Coast is the land of the fish taco. This lighter approach is traced to Indigenous and Asian influence in the Baja-California region. Early trade and fishing expeditions led Far East and European explorers to the area. Historians note that Asian seafarers introduced Mexicans to the practice of battering and frying fish. From there, wrapping the crispy pescado in a tortilla was a natural next step. Due to Baja’s proximity to California and other U.S. states, fish tacos soon made their way across the border, likely in the hands of San Diego surfers. Although it’s still debated whether fish tacos were invented in either Ensenada or San Felipe in Baja California, we definitely know that by the 1950s, street vendors were selling fish tacos in those two seaside towns. And by the 1980s, fish tacos were on their way to becoming a staple in the U.S. Today, they are a Taco Tuesday favorite.
Across the country, in Yucatan on Mexico’s east coast, cochinita pibil is the star taco. Pibil is a time-intensive cooking process that goes all the way back to the Maya. Here is the basic process: Yucatecans marinate an entire suckling pig, burying it in a pit with hot stones so it can slow-roast for hours. Annatto seeds are ground up with spices and used in the marinade, giving the pork its signature amber-orange color. In the Mayan language, “cochinita” means little pig, and “pibil” means buried.
There are dozens and dozens more types of taco, of course. Just one more reason to travel widely in Mexico, tasting the range of flavors and preparations for yourself.
How the Taco First Came to the U.S.
Sometime in the 1800s, Mexican laborers looking for work in farms, mining, and railroads traveled north. To feed themselves as they crossed the border, they brought tortilla-wrapped carne asada and other types of tacos, like lengua (that’s right: beef toungue). By the 1950s, Mexican immigrants and their Mexican American descendants were becoming more established in the U.S. and our way of eating. This led younger generations to try new, more expensive but readily available ingredients in their tacos.
Yes, this is where iceberg lettuce and shredded cheese come into the taco story.
Ingredients like those two, plus ground beef, tomatoes, and sour cream started replacing the expected Mexican toppings like cebolla and cilantro. At the same time, Americans were beginning to embrace the convenience of fast food. Tex-Mex cuisine started to take shape and while non-traditional, it played a huge role in spreading taco love across los estados unidos.
The Complicated Origins of Taco Tuesday in the U.S.
Another major contributor to tacos’ skyrocketing in popularity in the U.S. is the introduction of the term: Taco Tuesday. But did you know that TT became embroiled to a marketing feud that lasted decades — and only reached its conclusion in 2023?
It all started when a restaurant in Wyoming named Taco John’s trademarked Taco Tuesday in 1989. For decades after that, the restaurant claimed it had the exclusive right to usage of the term in 49 of our 50 states. However, sleuths uncovered multiple documented instances of Taco Tuesday being used long before Taco John’s “invented” it. The plot of this taco story thickened in 2023 when Taco Bell entered the legal battle and took on Taco John’s in order to free the trademark for everyone’s use.
Eventually, after lots of marketing stunts and legal threats, Taco John’s relinquished its hold. Taco Tuesday was finally free, and Tuesdays have never been the same since.
Some may debate the legitimacy of Taco Bell’s “Doritos Locos” taco, but no one can argue the reign of the taco in our food culture today. Its dominance in our hyper-competitive fast-food market only furthers the point that the food truly transcend borders and cultures.
The taco is here to stay and increasingly the food we reach for — especially on that second day of the week.
What Taco Will You Make Next Taco Tuesday?
Now that you know how we fell in taco love and how Taco Tuesday got started, what’s your taco plan? Cual taco will you make next martes?
This is where we come in. From carne asada to chicken tinga to al pastor to quesabirria to vegetarian options — with an equally rico range of salsas and guacamoles to pair them with — we have recipes to inspire your every taco mood. Check out our Familia Kitchen’s Taco Tuesday Ultimate Guide, featuring dozens of authentic recipes sent in by our community of family-famous Mexican homecooks for your taco-consideration.
Take a look, choose your taco, and stock up on ingredients when you next go to the store. Tuesday will be here before you know it, and it’s going to be delicioso.
Although, tbh, why wait for Tuesday?Taco love is forever, and every day is a great día to eat a taco.
Check Out Familia Kitchen’s Ultimate Guide to Taco Tuesday with Tacos, Salsas y Lots More Recipes!
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