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My Carne Asada Tacos recipe is a guaranteed family favorite! Flank steak marinated in a zesty citrus marinade makes for the best carne asada. It is so flavorful and easy to make, using simple ingredients and just 10 minutes cook time after marinating. Try carne asada beef for your next taco night: it's the best!
Jump to:
- Best Carne Asada Tacos
- Carne Asada Marinade
- How to Season Carne Asada Tacos
- How to Make Carne Asada Tacos
- Steak Taco Recipe Tips
- How to Serve Steak Tacos
- Carne Asada Taco Toppings
- Steak Tacos Recipe FAQs
- Sauce for Carne Asada Street Tacos
- Cheese for Carne Asada Tacos
- Gluten-Free Instructions
- Keto Instructions
- Leftover Steak Recipes
- Best Beef Taco Recipes
- 📌 Pin it for later!
- 📋 Recipe
Best Carne Asada Tacos
When it comes to tacos, you really cannot get any better than Mexican street tacos. Any opportunity my family and I have to enjoy street tacos, we do! That's where these Mexican-inspired carne asada street tacos come in. They are absolutely delicious, packed with classic flavors inspired by Mexican cuisine!
Complete with a citrus marinade using lime and orange, and simple seasoning, the flank steak in this recipe for carne asada is perfectly tender and easy to slice thinly for the best tacos. And, because the meat marinates for 2 hours and cooks in just 10 minutes, carne asada tacos are an easy choice for family taco night!
Serve these easy beef tacos up with a side of Mexican-inspired corn and all your favorite taco toppings, and you are in for a real treat. It's truly a toss-up at our house as to which tacos are our favorite, this recipe or my recipe for birria tacos! You have to try both recipes and decide for yourself.
Carne Asada Marinade
- Lime juice
- Orange juice
- Minced garlic
- Carne asada seasoning
The best marinade for carne asada beef is a citrus marinade of lime and orange juice with minced garlic and simple seasoning. This creates perfectly tender steak you can easily slice thinly to serve in tacos.
How to Season Carne Asada Tacos
- Cumin
- Salt and pepper
Aside from the carne asada marinade using garlic plus lime and orange juice, all you need to season the beef is cumin and salt and pepper. My simple Carne Asada Seasoning is close to traditional Mexican recipes, with a flavor profile complementing the beef rather than overpowering it.
How to Make Carne Asada Tacos
- Trim excess fat from steak. If you prefer, cut the steak into slightly smaller lengths to make it easier to grill. Add orange juice, lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper to a resealable plastic bag large enough to fit steak. You can also use a large air-tight container as long as the meat is submerged in the liquid. Add the meat to the marinade and toss to coat, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but less than 8.
- When ready to cook, remove the steak from the refrigerator a few minutes early and bring it to room temperature while you preheat your grill (about 30 minutes). Grill for a few minutes on each side until cooked through according to your preferred degree of doneness as read on a meat thermometer.
- Let your steak rest for about 5-10 minutes, then serve in thin slices by cutting against the grain using a sharp knife.
- Serve in tortillas and top with your preferred taco toppings, such as radishes, cilantro, spring onions, and avocado slices.
Use any leftover carne asada beef for Steak Nachos!
Steak Taco Recipe Tips
- For perfectly cooked steak, pull your beef off of the heat 5 degrees below your preferred degree of doneness and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Take a look at my Steak Temperature Chart for more info.
- Always use a meat thermometer when checking if your beef is done.
- You don't need a grill to make this recipe. You can also use a cast iron skillet on the stove.
How to Serve Steak Tacos
Serve carne asada tacos in ready-made tacos by filling tortillas with the beef, then topping with taco toppings, or serve as part of a tacos bar by placing the meat at the center of the table surrounded by toppings choices in bowls or on plates. This way, guests and family can prepare the tacos to their liking.
Carne Asada Taco Toppings
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Grilled spring onions
- Cilantro
- Avocado slices or guacamole
- Sour cream or Mexican crema
- Mexican cheese
- Lettuce
Pair these easy grilled beef tacos with all your usual favorite taco toppings, or try something new! Carne asada beef pairs amazingly well with radishes and grilled spring onions. While I'm cooking the beef, I like to add the spring onions to the pan and let them char a little before removing them to slice for topping.
Steak Tacos Recipe FAQs
Flank steak or skirt steak is the best cuts of meat to use for carne asada. They are thin steaks perfect for slicing for tacos or enjoying in fajitas, quesadillas, over rice, and more. Slow-cooked chuck roast, such as Smoked Chuck Roast, also works well for making carne asada beef.
Carne asada tacos use thin steak, lime and orange juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper to make the marinated carne asada beef. Then, enjoy the beef in flour or corn tortillas with your preferred taco toppings, such as tomatoes, avocado, spring onions, cilantro, and even radishes.
Simple cumin, salt, and pepper are all you need for seasoning carne asada. I do not recommend using taco seasoning for carne asada, as it includes many seasoning ingredients that may overpower the natural flavor of the steak and the marinade. Simple is best for carne asada.
Pair carne asada tacos with taco toppings like salsa, Mexican crema or sour cream, radishes, chiles, and crumbled Mexican cheeses like cotija or queso fresco. My family loves these easy street tacos with fresh slices of avocado.
Sauce for Carne Asada Street Tacos
The best sauce for steak tacos is my Avocado Crema recipe. The garlic and lime flavors in this tangy crema make it a perfect pair with Mexican-inspired taco recipes like this one. For a more simple sauce, simply pair it with sour cream or crème fraîche.
Cheese for Carne Asada Tacos
Pick a cheese you know you will like with your tacos; otherwise, use queso fresco or cotija! These crumbly Mexican cheeses are the perfect choice for pairing with carne asada beef and have just the right amount of creaminess to complement the tangy and bright flavors from the citrus.
Gluten-Free Instructions
To make these gluten-free beef tacos, simply use corn tortillas rather than flour, and avoid any taco toppings that may contain gluten.
Keto Instructions
The best way to enjoy tacos on a keto meal plan is to pair them with low-carb tortilla shells. You can either buy these or make your own, as with these Cheddar Cheese Taco Shells.
Alternatively, serve carne asada in lettuce cups in the same way I make my Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps. Carne asada tacos in lettuce cups are so so delicious!
Leftover Steak Recipes
This is one of my favorite recipes to make using leftover steak! Try making more of our best Leftover Steak Recipes. For another amazing Mexican-inspired steak recipe, try our Milanesa!
Best Beef Taco Recipes
- Taco Soup
- Tacos de Birria
- Beef Taco Seasoning
- Crockpot Taco Meat
- Use the leftovers to make Beef Quesadillas or Taco Bowls!
Try more of the best beef cuts according to your needs and budget by following my guide on the Best Cuts of Beef and our Popular Beef Dishes!
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📋 Recipe
Best Carne Asada Tacos Recipe
Equipment
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 lb. skirt steak or flank steak, or top sirloin
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice from 1 whole fresh lime
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 3 cloves garlic minced large cloves; use 3 if they're small
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Trim any excess fat from the steak and, if you prefer, cut into slightly smaller lengths to make it easier to grill.
- Put the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in a freezer bag big enough to hold the meat, or container that allows the meat to lay coated in the marinade. Add the meat and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate to marinate at least 2 hours, but less than 8.
- When ready to cook, remove from refrigerator a few minutes early to come to room temperature and preheat grill. Grill for a few minutes on each side until cooked through.
- Let your steak rest for about 5-10 minutes, then serve in thin slices by cutting against the grain using a sharp knife.
- Serve in tortillas and top with your preferred taco toppings, such as radishes, cilantro, spring onions, and avocado slices.
Notes
- Note: Nutrition calculation does not include tortillas.
- For perfectly cooked steak, pull your beef off of the heat 5 degrees below your preferred degree of doneness and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Take a look at my Steak Temperature Chart for more info.
- Always use a meat thermometer when checking if your beef is done.
- Grill on high for best results (around 500°F). You don't need a grill to make this recipe. You can also use a cast iron skillet on the stove or in the oven under the broiler.
- You can marinate the beef in a large plastic bag for easy clean up or in a bowl.
- Cooking time is an estimate and depends on the thickness of your cut of beef. Use a meat thermometer for best results.
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