Street tacos are always a favorite of mine. Any variety – fish, chicken, steak, or pork – is fine by me. These Carne Asada Street Tacos are simple to make and never disappoint.
“Carne Asada” is simply steak (usually skirt, flank, or flap) that’s been marinated in a mixture of juice, garlic, herbs and spice, then grilled to impart a wonderful charred flavor. Once the meat is cooked, it’s sliced thin and served.
Since I’m still apartment dwelling for the next several months with no outside bar-b-que, I made the steak for these carne asada street tacos on a grill pan, in the kitchen, on an electric stove (ugh!). If that’s your only option then that’s what you have to do, but it’s not the best choice. If you have a bar-b-que, I recommend cooking the steak on the grill. It’s just so much better that way. One tip for those using a grill pan in the house – drain the meat from the marinade. It’s hard to get a good char on the steak if it’s too wet from the marinade.
I bought freshly made corn tortillas from the Mexican market where I got my carne asada steak. I prefer fresh homemade tortillas and they’re easy to make and taste so much better! Typically, carne asada street tacos, or at least the ones I’ve devoured in Baja and SoCal come with just the steak, some cilantro, a little diced onion and lime. However, I believe you should eat your tacos any way you like them and we, Americans, like to add stuff to our food. I added a little crumbled Cotija cheese and a slice of avocado. If you want them a little spicier, add some hot sauce or pico de gallo.
One last thing. Unless you’re one of those people who like their steak cooked well and can’t eat it any other way, you really should cook the steak no more than medium rare. It’s juicier that way and since you’re not putting any additional sauce on these Carne Asada Street Tacos, you’ll want them juicy. I’m still getting use to cooking on an electric stove and cooked some of these too long for my liking. They were still awesome and the marinade is delicious! I hope you’ll give them a try.
- 1 lb flank or skirt steak*
- 12 corn tortillas
- 3 limes, juiced (if your limes aren't particularly juicy, add another one)
- 1 orange, juiced
- ¼ C. oil (I used olive oil)
- 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ jalapeño, finely chopped (remove vien and seeds if you don't want it too spicy)
- 1 tsp. cumin
- ½ tsp. chile powder (I like chipotle chili powder)
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ½ tsp. salt
- several grinds of fresh black pepper
- ¾ C. chopped fresh cilantro (about a large handful)
- chopped cilantro
- diced white onions (grilled onions would be yummy too!)
- lime wedges
- avocado slices
- pico de gallo
- crumbled Cotija cheese or Queso Fresco
- Combine marinade ingredients in small bowl and mix well.
- Put steak and marinade in zip lock bag and let steak marinate for a few hours.
- Remove steak from marinade. Grill steak to desired doneness (preferably medium rare).
- Remove from grill and let steak rest a bit, then slice against grain into thin strips.
- Fill warmed corn tortillas (use two per taco) with some steak, top with additional cilantro, onions and squeeze of lime.
For a more non-traditional street taco add other toppings like avocado, cheese or pico de gallo. If you want more spice top with your favorite hot sauce.
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Love Carne Asada and your flavors look perfect for these! YUM, can’t wait to give this one a try!
Those tacos are PERFECT (electric stove or not!).
Thanks Dorothy, I sure do miss my BBQ though!
I love Tacos and this looks so superb… Easy to follow recipe and very colorful pictures.
now I’m craving street tacos 🙂 looks SO good!!
As far as I’m concerned, tacos should be one of the food groups. Is there a more perfect food? I think not. 🙂 Can’t wait to try these, and I will definitely keep the steak rare.
Tacos as a food group? Now you’re speaking my language! I couldn’t agree more 🙂
Now I want tacos for breakfast, those pictures are so enticing. When I make them at home it never seems complete without a few slices of radish on the side.
Oh yes, radish slices. Forgot about those!
We just started a meal plan where my boys have to cook a meal at least once a week. My 10 year old son loves tacos and I happened to have the perfect meat in the fridge to make carne asada. We did the marinate tonight, and plan on crockpotting this in the morning, so it’s done by the time he gets home from school. We’re both excited to see how it tastes.
Love getting the kids involved in cooking! How did it turn out? I’ve always made carne asada on the grill (love the grilled taste). Never tried it in a crockpot which I’m guessing would give it a different flavor?
what kind of cheese is in the photo?
If I remember correctly it was Cotija. I’ve used both Cotija and Queso Fresco and both are good.
Fresco… its soft yet it crumbles when you break it off..
How many does this serve?
There’s a pound of steak sliced up so my best guess would be about 6…just depends on how much meat you like in your tacos!
This recipe was amazing!!! I cut up flat iron steak before marinating for 24 hours and broiled it. I Forgot avocados today at the store but I oven roasted a yellow onion and used cojita cheese and it was the bomb!! Thank you for sharing this will be a regular menu item at our house 🙂
Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed this recipe! Love the idea of an oven roasted onion… yummy!
Oh my… This is by far the best marinade i have tried! Love it!!!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
I’VE ALWAYS LOVED ASADA TACOS, COULD YOU POST SOME CHICKEN STYLE RECIPES ( CHANGE OF DIET) HAVE TO CUT BACK ON RED MEAT. THIS LOOKS WONDERFUL AND FULL OF FLAVOR.
I’ll work on some more chicken recipes! In the meantime, check out what I have already posted here
Just made these tonight….Amazing!
So happy to hear you liked them!!!
I don’t have a Oregano, what can you used in replace of oregano.
A quick search on the internet tells me a good substitute for oregano is Marjoram or Thyme. Hope that helps!
I love Mexican food, as soon as I can make this recipe at home.
I just put the meat in the marinade and it smells delicious! I’m using a flat iron and keeping it whole. I hope that’s ok…
Hope you enjoyed it!
weird question – does the orange add any kind of a citrus-y taste to it or is it one of those counter intuitive things thats brings out another flavor rather than adding orange? i love oranges, and i love lime for my tacos like this, but I’m not a big lemon/citrus-y flavored meat person. just wondering if i should skip the orange or not. can’t wait to make it tonight! prepping the marinade now!
Sorry I didn’t respond to this sooner… what did you end up doing? It’s been a while since I’ve made this but the orange shouldn’t add too much of a citrus flavor to the meat. Let me know what you thought after you made it. Enjoy!
does the orange add an orange-y taste or does it just enhance the meat? can’t wait to try tonight!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I use elk and deer steak – such a great treat!
The marinade is sooo delicious! This is now our must have! We’ve made these for family and friends and always seem to never have enough, they go so quick!