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Enjoy the smoky, savory goodness of homemadecarne asada that you marinate yourself. With this carne asada recipe, you can avoid commercial marinades and focus on real food flavor.
Serve this carne asada with Quick Seasoned Rice or Homemade Corn Tortillas for a delicious dinner.
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If you’ve got a decent taqueria or Mexican food restaurant near you, then you’re probably with familiar withcarne asada.
Grilled and sliced beef, it’s marinated in an orange-infused marinade and grilled, with bits of char to enhance the smoky flavor.
This marinade recipe, made from simple, real ingredients beats the commercial marinades flat.
Make up a few batches of thiscarne asada recipe: one to cook and a few to freeze for later. It’s perfect for a barbecue or lazy weekend breakfast.
Yes, Carne Asada is fantastic inBreakfast Burritos!
Carne asada calls for a certain cut of meat, typically labeled flap meat, flap steak, or skirt steak.
Over the months, I’ve started watching the prices on the meat. The lowest I’ve found it recently has been $3.99/pound. Kinda pricey, but you don’t need a lot.
You’ll be chopping it up to use in tacos, lettuce wraps, or breakfast burritos, so it can stretch pretty easily.
What is in Carne Asada Marinade?
You can buy commercial marinades, like this one,buy marinated meats at Mexican markets or grocery store butcher counters. Some folks use Sunny Delight to create their own marinades.
This carne asada recipe gets a lot of its flavor from my Basic Spice Blend. I keep a jar on hand at all times. It’s particularly good on beef, but goes well with chicken also.
Carne Asada Marinade contains:
orange juice
red wine vinegar
Basic Spice Blend: salt,pepper, garlic powder, thyme, and smoked paprika
olive oil
How do you make Carne Asada?
Carne Asada is super simple to make!
Blend together the marinade and add it to a container or ziptop freezer bag with the skirt steak.
Allow the meat to marinate for several hours.
Cook the meat on a hot grill.
Slice to serve in tacos, burritos, rice bowls, and wraps.
Check out this video:
How long isCarne Asada good for?
Carne asada is good in the refrigerator for up to four days. Promptly refrigerate leftovers and consume within this time frame.
Can you freeze Carne Asada?
Carne Asada freezes beautifully, making it a great addition to your “frozen assets”!
To freeze cooked meat: Cool and slice the meat. Place it in an airtight container. Chill completely before storing in the freezer. To serve: thaw and reheat.
To freeze the meat prior to cooking: Place the meat in the marinade in an airtight container or ziptop freezer bag. Store the meat in the freezer, for up to 6 weeks. To serve: thaw in the refrigerator before grilling as directed.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Enjoy the smoky, savory goodness of homemade carne asada that you marinate yourself. With this carne asada recipe, you can avoid the unhealthy additives of commercial marinades and focus on real food flavor.
4.88 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 2 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 25 minutesminutes
Total Time: 2 hourshours35 minutesminutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 251kcal
Author: Jessica Fisher
Ingredients
2 to 3lbcarne asada
½cuporange juice, freshly squeezed
¼cupred wine vinegar
2tablespoonBasic Spice Blend
¼cupolive oil
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Place the meat pieces in a large ziptop plastic bag. In a small bowl whisk together the orange juice, red wine vinegar, spice blend, and olive oil. Pour the marinade over the meat. Massage the marinade around the meat pieces. Place on a tray in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 2 to 24 hours or place it directly in the freezer.
If freezing, remove the meat from the freezer the night before serving and allow to thaw on a tray in the refrigerator.
Heat a medium-hot fire in an outdoor grill. Cook the meat until no longer pink, flipping once. Remove from the heat to a cutting board. Chop the meat finely and serve in tacos, wraps, or burritos.
Video
Notes
Nutritional values are approximate and are based on ⅛ of the recipe. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 4 days.
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“Asada” means grill, so you've got to grill your “carne” to make it true “carne asada.” If you don't have a gas grill or charcoal grill, use a grill pan. Our steak is usually done after about five minutes per side, but keep an eye on it and of course, consider what level of doneness you prefer.
Combine orange juice, lemon juice, and lime juice for marinade in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add cilantro, soy sauce, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, black pepper, chipotle pepper, and oregano; stir to combine. Slowly whisk in olive oil until well combined.
Heat one tablespoon oil or butter in a skillet over medium high heat. The fat will help the carne asada stay tender; you may substitute with water. Once hot, add steak and cook undisturbed for a couple minutes, then begin to cook and stir until warmed through. Take care not to overcook or it can become dry.
Carne asada is grilled and sliced beef, usually skirt steak, flap steak, or flank steak though chuck steak (known as diezmillo in Spanish) can also be used. It is usually marinated then grilled or seared to impart a charred flavor. Carne asada can be served on its own or as an ingredient in other dishes.
The BEST cuts for the Mexican version of the dish we all know and love are either skirt steak or flank steak. Personally, I prefer skirt steak (pictured). It's more tender and flavourful than flank and can be cooked well done (for those who prefer well) without getting tough and chewy.
– Don't slice the meat raw; it's important to slice after cooking so we can keep as much of the juice in the steak as we can. It would be way too easy to overcook if you sliced it ahead of time.
Carne Asada – Asada (or asado) means “roasted” in Spanish. Carne asada is a spicy, marinated grilled steak that's cut into strips. This is the meat that goes into burritos and tacos. Pollo Asado – Pollo means “chicken” in Spanish, which means that pollo asado is grilled, marinated chicken.
Carne asada literally translates to "grilled meat." I like to describe it as deliciously grilled skirt steak marinated in lime juice, chilies, aromatics, and spices. Slice it thinly against the grain, wrap it in a tortilla, and you have a killer taco.
Guacamole, rice, corn, chips and salsa are all great sides to serve with Carne Asada Tacos. Here are a few of my favorite Mexican side dishes to try! Grilled Stuffed Peppers – toss these on the grill, right alongside the carne asada. They're so easy to make & always a crowd pleaser!
The acid in the marinade will cause the meat to break down too much. 2 to 4 hours is the ideal time. To get more of the marinade's flavor into the steak, you can use a fork and pierce the meat a bit. Before you grill the steak, bring it close to room temperature to allow for even cooking.
The Good Grips scored near-perfect scores on our tests. With both smooth and toothed surfaces and an angled head, it flattened chicken breasts and pork cutlets in less than a minute, although there was some tearing to the chicken breast.
The term carne asada in Spanish translates to roasted or grilled meat in English. That's why it's important to recognize that, in Mexico, carne asada refers to how the beef is cooked rather than a specific recipe. Think of it as like how Americans refer to chicken cooked on the grill as grilled or barbecued chicken.
and it's pretty much always beef today. carne asada is kind of a generic term. that's used very often for barbecue generally. it's the backyard barbecue along with other meats, not just beef. growing up, carne asada always meant a party.
Carne asada is typically cooked well done but I prefer mine a nice moist and tender, medium-rare. Of course carne asada can be used in a number of dishes from tacos to fajitas to burritos to salads, etc. Just look at all of that perfectly grilled medium-rare steak!
Sear for 3 to 5 minutes per side (charred on the outside but still pink on the inside, especially with flank steak). If you want to use a meat thermometer: Pull the meat off the grill at 115-120°F for rare, 125°F for medium rare and 140°F for medium. The meat will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat.
The key to a great carne asada is the charred flavor – and to achieve this the grill has to be very hot before the meat hits it. Place your carne on the grill once the temperature is around 450-500 degrees. As soon as you see the meat's juices start to rise to the surface, flip it over.
It should be buttery, rich, and juicy, with a nice charred, smoky flavor from the grill or broiler. It should also be tender enough that you can eat it in a taco or burrito, but substantial enough to be served as a steak and eaten with a knife and fork.
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