History of Tacos: Who Invented Them, and Where?
History of Tacos: Who Invented Them, and Where?
The History of the Taco
We eat 4.5 billion tacos a year. We eat them on Tuesdays, but we’ll say yes any other day of the week too. We’ve combined them with the internet’s favorite animal—cats—to come up with the world’s cutest palindrome. In other words: We can’t get enough of ’em.
But what makes a taco a taco? Who invented tacos? Where did tacos originate?
“Every taco tells a story about the land, the people that made it, migration, and immigration,” says Maite Gómez-Rejón, cultural historian and founder of ArtBites: Cooking Art History, which offers classes, recipes, and more. (She also co-curated the inaugural exhibit for LA Plaza Cocina, the first museum dedicated to Mexican food.) Read on to find out more.

What Does the Word “Taco” Mean?
“Miners in Mexico used to plug holes with dynamite sticks consisting of gunpowder wrapped in paper, called tacos,” Gómez-Rejón says. “The spicy salsa on an envuelto, or wrap, made the food feel like dynamite. So lo and behold, the taco as we know it was born.” The first tacos called so by name were tacos de minero (miners’ tacos), consisting of meat, bacon, and potatoes, she says."

The Origin of the Modern Taco
But in the years preceding the Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910, questions emerged about what it meant to be truly Mexicano—and, not coincidentally, the first taquerias opened in Mexico City. “The first taco recipes in print date to the late 1930s, when Josefina Velázquez de León, a cooking instructor and author who traveled the country collecting regional recipes from female home cooks, documented what Mexicans across the country really ate,” Gómez-Rejón says. “So we don’t see a published taco recipe until the 1930s, but people in Mexico had been eating them, and all of their regional variations, for centuries.”


Where Did Tacos Originate?


What Makes a Taco a Taco?
From there, what makes a taco a taco varies by the aficionado. Some say a taco can’t be called a taco unless the tortilla is made of corn (more on that below). Gómez-Rejón says she believes that “a taco isn’t a taco without a really good salsa.” As for what ingredients are in taco seasoning—whether made from scratch or picked up premade—look to paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, onion powder, and a few other easy-to-find flavorings.


What Different Types of Tacos Are There?
“The flour tortilla emerged post-conquest with the introduction of wheat, and today there are many tortilla variations using alternative flours,” Gómez-Rejón says. “Oat and almond tortillas are actually quite delicious.”


But this has changed. “Immigrants’ culinary traditions have been embraced in the U.S., and taco trucks and taquerias selling everything from tacos al pastor to barbacoa and carnitas—similar to what you can find anywhere in Mexico—have popped up in cities all over the country,” Gómez-Rejón says. “Today you can find tacos with Asian and Polish flavors and every flavor in between. The taco has and will continue to evolve.”

Popular Types of Tacos and Regional Differences
While taco styles and fillings are limited only to the human imagination (chocolate tacos, anyone?), there are a handful of varieties to keep your eyes open for, including:

Al Pastor
Featuring spit-grilled boneless pork, this regional Mexican taco has become popular in the U.S. “Tacos al pastor were invented by second-generation Lebanese Mexicans in the 1960s—a variation of tacos arabes made by the original wave of immigrants of the 1920s, but using pork instead of lamb, and adding pineapple,” Gómez-Rejón says. “It is essentially a variation of a shawarma with tortilla instead of pita.”

Barbacoa and Barbecue
You’ll find this all the way across the country, particularly in the South, Texas, and California. We owe its origins to the Caribbean, where Spanish conquistadors saw how Indigenous Taínos cooked food using a stick framework called a barbacoa, according to Serious Eats. In Mexico and what is now Texas, the technique came to mean cooking in a covered earthen oven to achieve a roasted, slightly smoky flavor. In other parts of the U.S., barbacoa involves using a steamer or pressure cooker.

Carne Asada
With a carne asada taco, flap steak from the short loin section of a cow is marinated in citrus juice, cumin, and other spices before being grilled, according to Thrillist. The meat is chewy and flavorful, and it’s usually cut into small chunks.

Al Pastor
Featuring spit-grilled boneless pork, this regional Mexican taco has become popular in the U.S. “Tacos al pastor were invented by second-generation Lebanese Mexicans in the 1960s—a variation of tacos arabes made by the original wave of immigrants of the 1920s, but using pork instead of lamb, and adding pineapple,” Gómez-Rejón says. “It is essentially a variation of a shawarma with tortilla instead of pita.”

Barbacoa and Barbecue
You’ll find this all the way across the country, particularly in the South, Texas, and California. We owe its origins to the Caribbean, where Spanish conquistadors saw how Indigenous Taínos cooked food using a stick framework called a barbacoa, according to Serious Eats. In Mexico and what is now Texas, the technique came to mean cooking in a covered earthen oven to achieve a roasted, slightly smoky flavor. In other parts of the U.S., barbacoa involves using a steamer or pressure cooker.

Carne Asada
With a carne asada taco, flap steak from the short loin section of a cow is marinated in citrus juice, cumin, and other spices before being grilled, according to Thrillist. The meat is chewy and flavorful, and it’s usually cut into small chunks.

Delicious Taco Recipes and Dinner Ideas From HelloFresh
Kick off your taco night by soaking up some taco-inspired art. Gómez-Rejón suggests you check out Diego Rivera’s “Market of Tlatelolco” at the National Palace in Mexico City, a mural featuring various references to tortillas. As she puts it, “The tortilla, after all, is the soul of the taco.”
From there, graze through the HelloFresh taco recipes—or jump right in with these standouts:
