A delicious carne asada recipe made from marinated flank steak or skirt steak and grilled until tender and juicy. A great addition to any Mexican meal, this authentic recipe is made with olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, oregano and other simple ingredients.
Juicy, melt in your mouth Carne Asada was always such a treat when I was growing up!
I remember my brother or dad would pick up some carne preparada (already marinated steak) at our local Mexican meat market on Sunday and they’d grill it in the backyard while my Mom and sisters finished making the side dishes.
When it was time to eat, they’d serve the meat on big platters family-style alongside things like Mexican rice, some Mexican salsas and homemade corn tortillas. It’s always been one of my favorite Sunday lunches with the family because the meat is just so good!
What is carne asada?
Carne asada is beef that has been marinated and grilled. When translated from Spanish, carne asada literally means “grilled meat.” Pretty simple, right?
The most common type of meat used to make carne asada is skirt steak or flank steak. Skirt steak is usually thinner and a bit more fatty, whereas flank steak is often a thicker and leaner cut. As long as they’re both sliced thinly after grilling, they both make great options for carne asada.
Carne asada marinade Ingredients
In addition to the cut of beef, one important component is the marinade.
The marinade for carne asada varies greatly from region to region in Latin America and there is no real one “authentic” marinade. Some marinades are as simple as oil, salt, pepper, garlic and lime juice, and others are a longer list of ingredients and spices.
For this carne asada marinade, I leaned towards the latter and tried to get in as much flavor as possible by using some of the following:
- chopped cilantro
- olive oil
- orange juice
- lime juice
- white wine vinegar
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- dried oregano
- garlic
- a finely chopped jalapeno
- salt and black pepper
Once the marinade is mixed together, simply pour it over the steak in a large baking dish, bowl or large zip-top bag and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
How to make carne asada
Once the meat has been marinated, remove it from the marinade and pat it dry. Then drizzle both sides with a little bit of olive oil so it doesn’t stick on the grill and season it lightly with coarse salt and black pepper.
Place it on the grill over medium-high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat and then let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain.
At what temperature is it done?
To get the most tender and juicy carne asada, the meat should be cooked to medium-rare. To do so, take the steak off the grill once it has reached 130°F and let it rest for 5 minutes. If you prefer your meat at a medium temperature, remove it from the heat when it reaches 140°F.
My husband likes to use the finger test to check for doneness, but I’m not very good at it so I always use a meat thermometer.
Here’s a great instant read thermometer that’s easy to use. It’s a kitchen tool that I use almost every single day!
No grill? No problem!
If you don’t have an outdoor grill or the weather isn’t suitable for grilling outside, you can cook carne asada indoors!
Simply heat a large skillet over high heat. A cast iron or grill pan are the best options. Then cook the meat for 6-8 per side, until your desired level of doneness is reached.
Make sure to turn on your stove top’s vent hood to get rid of any excess smoke that can happen when cooking at high heat.
What to serve with carne asada
Two of my favorite dishes to make with carne asada are carne asada fries and carne asada tacos! But just in case you’re looking for more ideas, here are some dishes that pair perfectly with this recipe:
tips and tricks
- Make sure to slice the steak against the grain for the most tender carne asada. To slice against the grain, make note of which way the muscle fibers of the meat are running, then slice perpendicular to those lines.
- Cook time will vary depending on the thickness of the meat. Grilling time for skirt steak will be closer to 4 minutes per side and flank steak will be closer to 6-8 minutes per side. You can also use a meat thermometer for accuracy.
Ingredients
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup of juice)
- 1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons of juice)
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (white or apple cider vinegar also work)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for grilling
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for grilling
- 2 pounds flank steak or skirt steak, excess fat removed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the steak.
- Place the steak in a large baking dish or gallon size ziplock bag and pour the marinade on top. Turn the steak a few times until it's completely coated with the marinade and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Do not marinate for longer than 8 hours because the meat will start to break down and get mushy.
- Remove steak from marinade and discard any excess marinade. Pat steak dry with paper towels and drizzle with a touch of olive oil, enough to coat each side. Season lightly with coarse salt and black pepper on both sides.
- Preheat grill for direct heat grilling at high heat (450-500°F). Grill steaks with the lid closed for 4-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Skirt steak will be closer to 4 minutes per side and flank steak will be closer to 6-8 minutes per side.
- Remove steaks and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain and serve.
Video
Nutrition Information
Will it make a large difference if I only use chili powder and no ancho chili powder? The ancho chili powder is just difficult to find at my store 🙂
Hello! Sorry to hear that. It won’t make a huge difference but the flavor of the dish will be a little different. I recommend just substituting regular chili powder if you can’t find the ancho variety.
I LOVE THIS RECIPE. I have made it a few times with some flank steak and once with chicken, absolutely delicious marinade.
What if you don’t have ancho chili is that a must?
Hello! If you don’t have ancho chili powder, we suggest just regular chili powder if you have it.
DEEEELICIOUS!!!! So tender and tasty! Every bite was full of flavor!
Substitute Naranja Agria vs orange juice and lime?
Hello David! While we haven’t tried this recipe with that substitution, I think it should still turn out great!
Hi, thank you for all of your awesome recipes. Do you think I can use this recipe for the flank steak let it marinade like suggested then cut it into bite size pieces and cook it in my crockpot for 6 hours? I created a recipe with flank steak but it’s sort of bland, and I know your spices would make it pop. I’d appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.
Hi Theresa. That sounds like it should work! If you try it let us know how it goes!
This turned out amazing, love the flavor!!! Thank you for the recipe!!
This was so good! I dont eat very much meat, so I also used the marinade for portobellos and those were also delicious! Paired it with elotes and roasted poblanos over some leafy greens.
Fantastic!! Made this tonight and it was so delicious! One of the most flavorful steaks I have ever made. Family loved it and we have enough for lunch tomorrow! Thank you!
We love this recipe!! It’s delicious and easy to make plus it smells fantastic as you’re putting the marinade together. We grill it over a wood fire for extra smokey flavor.
My husband and I just made this recipe last night and it was EPIC. Thanks so much for this marinade recipe, Isabel. It was the perfect thing for our “shelter in place” friday date night at home!
Very very yummy!
I used a chuck roast that we cut in half length wise so it wasn’t so thick. The roasts looked more tender than a flank when I was shopping and decided to try it. We marinaded both and froze one so it’s ready to go next time. It turned out fabulous!! It had plenty of flavor but no heat really. Next time, I might leave some in of the jalepeno seeds.
Hubby grilled it and it was medium rare which worked out well. We had it with homemade tortillas, sour cream, avocado, grilled red and yellow peppers and grilled onions, and some fresh cilantro.
Next time, I would make some extra marinade to have some to use as a sauce after it’s done grilling and for leftovers. I lightly heated the leftovers in a skillet with some water and had with a salad. This is where the extra marinade would come in handy because the water dilutes the meat seasoning.
Hey, I made the marinade and started marinating yesterday and was going to eat it in 4 hours like suggested, however plans changed and it’s now marinated for over 24 and I’m worried that the acidity in the orange and lime is going to ruin the taste (over tenderise) the steak after watching a guga goods video about marinating in pineapple. I’m going to cook it anyway as I can’t leave it any longer, will let you know how it goes.
Over-marinating in an acidic solution can change the texture of the meat and make it a little mushy. Sometimes it depends on the cut of the meat, too. Hopefully it comes out great! Definitely let me know!
Made thIs tonight and it was excellent. I used skirt steak. It came out tender and medium, not too well done and not too rare. Just perfect. Great flavor too. A winner.
Thank you so much, Shari! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Did this per the recipe. Rolled our socks up and down, then knocked them off. Delicioso! Killer recipe. Served it with corn tortillas that we made from masa that we made from fresh pozole that we made from Anson Mills dried Henry Moore Hominy corn. Long process, but well worth the effort.
This was delicious. I was home visiting my parents in NJ over the weekend made two servings of it yesterday morning – one to leave for my parents to cook later and one to bring back to the city for my boyfriend and I – everyone LOVED it. The marinade was fantastic – so much so that next time I think I am going to make a little extra to set aside for serving as well!
We have a wedding coming up and this is what they want. We would need to cook this a day ahead – how do you reheat and not be tough.
Hi! This is a tough question since I’ve never cooked for that many people before! Unfortunately, I have no expertise in reheating for such a large group of people, especially in a catering scenario. So sorry I can’t help!
I love this marinade. I double the recipe because of my large family and the leftovers are great with eggs and potatoes for breakfast! I use a variation that adds 4 tomatillos run through the blender. I also use thin sliced family pack sirloin steak and marinate it overnight as it is a bit tougher than skirt steak. However it becomes very tender this way and it is a third the price of skirt steak.
Can I cook the steak in the oven? If so at what temp and how long?
Hi there! I just made this in the oven to test it and it turned out great! Here’s what to do. Set the broiler on high and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Cover a baking sheet, drizzle both sides of the flank steak with a little olive oil and place on the sheet pan. Place in the oven and broil for 6 minutes. Turn the steak over and broil for 6 more minutes. Remove sheet pan from oven, transfer to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve. That’s it!
Oh great
Next time I’ll try it with Sirloin thanks
Do you have a recipe for pollo asada
Not yet but it’s on my list!