A taqueria classic, Mexican Carne Asada Tacos takes the humble flank steak to a whole new level of greatness. This classic Mexican and Southwestern recipe features a bold marinade that adds flavor, moisturizes and tenderizes the meat. A Mexican steak recipe that will become one of your Summertime favorites.
What is Carne Asada?
Carne asada literally means grilled meat. The meat is marinated, sliced thin and used in tacos, burritos, or quesadillas. Carne asada is often served with fresh guacamole, grilled onions, black beans or frijoles charros, and fresh salsa. And actually, When describing an event in Mexico and the American Southwest, the phrase “carne asada” is the equivalent of describing the backyard barbecue.
Have you ever grilled marinated Mexican steak, alongside whole jalapeno peppers (tops trimmed for serving) and rolled it all up in a warm fresh flour tortilla to make Carne Asaada Tacos?
If not, you don’t know what you’re missing. A good solid carne asada marinade for flank steak is a must have recipe for your data base.
Where Did I Learn To Make Carne Asada Tacos?
This is recipe I learned from our next door neighbor Miguel. Born in Mexico Miguel knows his grilled Carne Asada. And whenever he was making it, he’d climb up on the privacy fence and offer us a grilled flour tortilla topped with a chunk of the most tender and flavorful grilled meat with a grilled jalapeno..
That’s all – and it was simple, fresh with Mexican flavor and totally delicious. After some intensive interrogation sessions with Miguel, I’m thrilled to have this recipe for Carne Asada Tacos and to share it with you.
This is where my Carne Asada addiction sprouted, grew and bloomed into a full time obsession. It’s just simply a bob WOW with flavor.
The whole process is quick and easy, you just need to plan ahead for an over-night, then an all day marinade. After a few minutes on the grill you’ll be standing on your back patio with rolled carne asada tacos in hands, just like enjoying street food in Mexico.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flank Steak
- Limes: You’ll need one lime for juicing for the marinade and several more for serving.
- Olive Oil
- Soy Sauce
- Cider Vinegar
- Sugar
- New Mexico Red Chile Powder: a single blend, preferably Chimayo Chile Powder. Don’t confuse chile powder with chili seasoning. Chili seasoning is a blend of spices used to season Tex-Mex style Chili Soup. To learn more about Southwestern Chile peppers, check out my post Chili vs. Chile..
- Spices: Garlic, Cumin, Mexican Oregano
Ingredient Substitutions
- Steak for Carne Asada: Flank Steak is our choice for Carne Asada tacos, but you can also use skirt steak or flat-iron steak.
- Soy Sauce: To make this a gluten free carne asada marinade, substitute Tamari for the Soy Sauce.
- Vinegar: We prefer the fruity nature of cider vinegar, but you can also use white vinegar or even red wine vinegar.
- Mexican Oregano: Mexican oregano is preferred for this recipe, it's peppery, grassy, earthy flavor is a good compliment for Mexican Food. If you don't have Mexican Oregano, substitute Marjoram. Known for its aroma and delicate flavor, its related to oregano and will bring a sweet undertone to any recipe.
- Chile Powder: A New Mexico Chile Powder is recommended for this recipe. If you don’t have it, substitute Ancho Chile Powder.
- Garlic: Substitute two cloves fresh chopped garlic for granulated or garlic powder.
Step by Step Instructions – It’s Easy
- Step 1: Place the flank steak in a gallon sized sealable plastic bag. Add all of the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag, pressing out the air and then squish and turn the bag in all directions to mix the ingredients well. Place in the refrigerator over night and all day the next day.
- Step 2: Heat a grill to 500 degrees to get those grates nice and hot. Reduce heat to 350 – 400 degrees. Grill the flank steak for about 6 minutes per side, basting frequently with reserved marinade.
What To Serve It With
Tip: I like to use my grill pan to grill vegetables along side the steak. For this meal, I’ve par-boiled new Yukon gold potatoes. They’ll brown and cook through in the amount of time it takes for the steak to cook. I’m also grilling knob onions and jalapeno peppers.
Make it a meal and serve Carne Asada with my Southwestern Salad Recipe, or this Summery Mexican Corn Salad.
Pro Tip: Always slice the grilled flank steak thin and against the grain. Slicing the steak this way will cut through the tough fibers, shortening them, so you’ll have a tender bite sized piece of meat.
How To Make Carne Asada Tacos
- Warm flour tortillas are used for wrapping your favorite carne asada ingredients into a street-style carne asada taco. This is even better if you purchase fresh made flour tortillas from your local Mexican Market. Can you spell d-i-v-i-n-e? Or better yet, make your own flour tortillas.
- In my books, grilled jalapeno peppers are a must when serving carne asada. Just chop the tops off and place a piece of the grilled steak and grilled jalapenos on a warm tortilla. Scrape out the seeds and veins if you want to remove some of the heat.
- Molcajete Guacamole is always a traditional choice as is a Simple Homemade Salsa.
- Pico de Gallo is a wonderful compliment or try Pickled Red Onions.
- Sliced Avocado for a creamy touch.
- Cilantro. Rough chopped.
- Lime Wedges: A squeeze of lime will brighten any Mexican main course protein.
For A Quick Carne Asada Marinade
I’ve also discovered a great little bottle of spice mix called, Don Sazon Meat Seasoning. A quick carne asada marinade ready in about 30 minutes. It’s a dry spice mix that you add to orange juice and you’ve got a great seasoned piece of meat to throw on the grill for Carne Asada. Directions are on the bottle.
Recipe for Grilled Carne Asada Tacos (Marinated Mexican Steak)
With all that said, I’m hoping you give this reliable and tasty recipe for Authentic Carne Asada Tacos a try.
Explore More Southwestern Steak Recipes
Love homemade Mexican flavors? Don’t miss this favorite for Chile Rubbed Braised Beef Tacos, and my Mexican-Southwest Category.
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Grilled Carne Asada Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds flank or skirt steak
- Olive oil
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- Marinade:
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 limes juiced (about 2 Tbsp)
- 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sugar or processed granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic pressed through a garlic press, or fine minced
- 1 teaspoon New Mexico Red Chile Powder or Ancho
- 1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
- Serve With
- avocado sliced or chopped
- Lime wedges
- Corn or flour tortillas warmed
- radishes thin sliced
- Pico de gallo salsa
Instructions
- Place the flank steak in a gallon sized sealable plastic bag. Add all of the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag, pressing out the air and then squish and turn the bag in all directions to mix the ingredients well. Place in the refrigerator over night and all day the next day. I repeat the squish and turn step every time I open the refrigerator door.
- Preheat your gas grill by turning the heat up to 550. Turn heat down to 400.
- Remove steak from marinade. Pour the marinade into a small bowl and use for basting. Turn the middle burner off and add the flank steak to the hotter part of the grill.
- Use a grill pan to grill any vegetables you'd like to serve with the steak. Jalapeno peppers are a must, knob onions are also nice here.
- Grill the steak for 6 minutes, basting with the sauce every 2 minutes. The steak should be well seared before turning.
- Move steak to middle and continue basting and searing. Cook for only about 3 – 4 minutes more. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature to read 120 – 125 degrees.
- Remove the steak from the grill, place on a cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Slice the flank steak across the grain and slice it as thin as you can.
- Serving suggestions: grilled jalapenos, warmed tortillas, avocados, pico de gallo, chopped cilantro, grilled onions, or wedges of lime.
Notes
If you want, before adding the steak to the marinade, reserve a couple tablespoons of the marinade to drizzle over the finished carne asada to serve. Pro Tip: Always slice the grilled flank steak against the grain. Slicing the steak this way will cut through the tough fibers, shortening them, so you’ll have a tender bite sized piece of meat.
Nutrition
Grilled Carne Asada Tacos … It’s What’s For Dinner
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Yum!! I love the idea of grilling Jalapeno’s and I will have to try them….possibly tonight! I also love your new feature and the fact that you are donating to the Max Fund. They are a wonderful shelter and took in quite a few animals from Katrina.
I’ve been a supporter of Max Fund for years. Thanks for the comment.
I’d be scraping and seeding like that too, but just because I’m a wimp;) This sounds fabulous, Lea Ann.
At least we admit it.
Holy Cow, Lea Ann!!! You are a better woman than I am if you can eat all those jalapenos in your taco (even without the seeds). It makes me perspire just to think about it. Looking forward to meeting the pups in your neighborhood.
Only two Cathy. I’m a gringo.
LOVE LOVE LOVE carne asada but I have never eaten it like that. Looks delicious! What a great new feature. Every dog does have a story! Ruby looks like a big sweetie. Very nice post. with fabulous photos as always. 🙂
I never had either until Miguel popped over the fence and handed me this wonderful rolled flour tortilla. I’m going to have to get him and his wife Rosa over to teach me some REAL Mexican cooking.
I adore the simplicity of this dish! I’m afraid I’d have to gringo out also and ditch the seeds 😉 Ruby is adorable, I love the furry friends too.
I love your term “gringo out”. I’ll use that one often going forward. 🙂
I love carne asada and nice to meet you Ruby, what a pretty dog.
She’s a lucky dog. Thanks Ben.
I was very impressed with that first image. I was thinking you were pretty brave to have four peppers in one taco. Then I read you took the seeds out. The marinades flank steaks are a nice convenience and we use them too. I have been creating my own marinade and prefer it now. Hi Ruby.
So two peppers deseeded doesn’t impress? 🙂 Have you blogged about your Carne Asada recipe?
Love making carne asada.. we have a great Mexican grocery that sells it perfectly seasoned too… and LOVE grilled whole jalapenos.. I could eat them all by themselves!
Great new segment on here too.. can’t wait to see more puppies you find!
I can find all kinds of puppies, it just if they’ll let me and if I can get a good photo.
This looks delicious!!
I love your new feature! I have a soft spot for animals too!
Thanks Stephanie.
You are not alone, I scrape out the seeds too. This looks delicious and Ruby is adorable.
I’m going to get me one of those core tools.
I have a jalapeno corer, too, and it works great. Delicious, delicious, delicious! Hi Ruby!
HAVE to get one of those things.
great new feature!! love the pic! love,love carne asada.
Thanks Vianney. And I’m sure you know your Carne Asada.
Love the new feature! Ruby is very pretty, and awesome that she is a Katrina rescue! That’s awesome her mom was rescued, and the puppies survived! mmmm carne asada… I can smell it over here! Yum!
Thanks Jane. I couldn’t believe my ears when I asked about her and this story was revealed. She’s a sweetie. I’ve seen her twice now since I’ve taken the photo.
As always – the dish looks great! And I love that you are branching out on the blog to include canine friends. Now you have food, birds and dogs…doesn’t get better than that!
Thanks Nancy! 🙂
They look delicious LA – Bev bought this jalapeno corer – http://www.norprowebstore.com/fruit-vegetable/norpro-grip-ez-jalapeno-pepper-corer-121-271.aspx – recently and I used it to make some ABT’s last week. I had my doubts but was surprised at how well it worked at removing everything but a little at the bottom. It allowed keeping the peppers in tact and did as good as a knife after splitting them. It was also easy to use and well worth the $6 or $7 she paid for it.
SOLD! 🙂
Oh….and lovely story about Ruby!
Bless Ruby’s little heart.
I make mean carnitas, and roll those up in a corn tortilla with a nice salsa. Never thought about slicing a Mexican-seasoned steak. Easier than carnitas actually. I’ll have to be cautious with those jalepenos..I can’t take too much heat, although I should think roasting them as you’ve done cuts down on that quite a bit. (And removing the seeds)
I’ll take anything wrapped up in any type of tortilla. As long as I remove seeds and veins, I’m ok with the flavor of jalapenos. I’m not sure how roasting affects heat. That’s a very good thing to research.