Beef Carne Asada Tacos

These tacos are an easy weeknight meal for your family and they double as perfect party food.

I am a big lover of Mexican food and an ever bigger fan of tacos.

What I love about these carne asada tacos are the fresh ingredients, bold flavor and simple spices.

All you need is a handful of ingredients for this recipe and ideally a hot outdoor grill. Although an indoor grill pan works just fine too.

Carne asada literally translates to “grilled meat” so that can be anything from top round steak to flank or skirt steak. Flank steak seems to be the most common in recipes but because you’ll be thinly slicing and chopping it up into small bite-sized pieces for these tacos, no need to splurge on the fancier cuts.

But what makes these carne asada tacos so flavorful are two things-the marinade and the fire grilled char on the outside.

So here we go…

ingredients:

Marinade-

  • 1 1/2 lbs Nourished With Nature thin cut top round steak (skirt steak or flank steak are great too)

  • 1/3 cup olive oil

  • 3 limes juiced (about 6 Tablespoons)

  • 6 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

  • salt and pepper to taste

Tacos-

  • Corn or flour tortillas

  • Avocado

  • Cilantro

  • Cotija cheese

  • White Onion, diced (red or yellow onion would work too)

Lime Crema Sauce-

  • 8 oz sour cream or plain yogurt

  • 1 lime, juiced and zested

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • 1/4 tsp salt

instructions:

  1. Whisk the oil, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

  2. Add the steak to a glass dish and pour the marinade on top. Make sure both sides of the steak are well coated. Cover and marinate for 1-4 hours in the fridge. You could also use a plastic bag to marinate.

  3. Heat your grill or pan to medium-high heat. If using a pan, coat with a little olive oil. Add the steak and cook for 3 minutes on each side. When it’s still pink inside, remove steak from heat and cover. Let rest for 5 minutes. Steak will continue to cook while resting.

4. Using a sharp knife, slice the steak at an angle against the grain. From there you can chop into small pieces if you like.

5. Load up your tortillas by smashing plain avocado into your tortilla, then add these juicy steak bites, sprinkled with onion, cotija cheese, fresh squeezed lime juice and cilantro.

taco topping ideas:

Beside the essentials listed above there’s always room to jazz up your tacos. Here are a few ways you can do it!

Fresh Sauces: Dollop some chunky pico de gallo or drizzle a little homemade salsa verde over top.

Lime Crema: A mix of 1 lime zested and juiced, 1 garlic clove and a couple dashes of salt added to a cup of creme fraiche, sour cream or plain yogurt.

Cheeses: I love to use cotija cheese for anything Mexican but queso fresco, monterey jack or pepper jack will work too.

Fresh Veggies: Thinly slice some colorful bell peppers or a radish for an extra fresh crunch.

I can’t wait for you to try these Mexican-inspired carne asada tacos!

They are bursting with citrus-y flavor and are perfect for your next summer BBQ or even your next Taco Tuesday!

Meet us at the Corvallis or Albany Farmer’s Market this Saturday 9am-1pm or swing by our Farm Store in Lebanon on Fridays 10am-12pm to grab some carne asada steaks!