Authentic Carne Asada Tacos are easier to make than you’d think! Steak gets marinated to perfection in a delicious zesty marinade, then cooked to your desired doneness on the grill or stove top. Everything you need to know about making the best carne asada tacos is right here!
When I was in Mexico last September, I thrived on no less than 6 authentic carne asada street tacos and 6 al pastor tacos per day. Street tacos all day everyday, no one can stop me now.
Don’t worry. There were also generous helpings of Mexican rice, vats of guacamole, and street tamales for dessert.
Suffice it to say, your girl is certifiably taco obsessed, and if I was pressed to choose, the carne asada may just be my favorite taco.
If you love meaty tacos, you’ll get a kick out of this homemade carne asada recipe. It’s actually quite easy to make!
As long as you have some time set aside to marinate the meat, you are guaranteed success!
The most important part about making carne asada is getting the right combination of ingredients for the marinade and giving the steak plenty of time to hang out in the amazing concoction.
Beyond that, cooking the meat to your preferred doneness (medium-rare, medium, etc.) is entirely up to you!
You can go with classic carne asada taco toppings (onion and cilantro) or go wild with your favorite toppings.
Various salsas, cheeses, slaw, guacamole, and pickled onions are all fabulous upgrades.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this carne asada taco recipe
Ingredients for Carne Asada Tacos:
For the Meat and the Marinade: Flank steak or skirt steak, orange juice, lime juice, liquid aminos (or soy sauce), white vinegar, avocado oil (or olive oil or vegetable oil), fresh cilantro, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.
This combination of marinade ingredients makes for the best flavor!
The steak gets marinated in these delicious fresh ingredients, then either grilled or cooked in a skillet to your desired doneness. The simple marinade is the game changer for authentic tacos.
For the Tacos: Traditional carne asada tacos are served on warm corn tortillas and are a simple combination of finely chopped meat, white onions, fresh cilantro, and homemade or store-bought salsa.
Feel free to use any type of warm tortillas, including grain-free tortillas, low-carb tortillas, and flour tortillas.
I typically go with soft corn tortillas or grain-free tortillas. For authentic Mexican street tacos, use small corn tortillas (street taco size).
I typically eat carne asada tacos with a red chili tomato salsa, but you can get creative here.
Recipe Adaptations:
- If you’re soy-free, use coconut aminos instead of liquid aminos for the marinade.
- You can add 1 tablespoon of chili powder to the asada marinade if you’d like.
- If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, swap it out for 1 tablespoon of garlic powder.
- The lime juice can be swapped for lemon juice if you’re in a pickle and don’t have access to limes.
If you love fully loaded tacos, feel free to add cabbage slaw, pickled red onions, mango salsa, diced avocado, guacamole, cotjia cheese (or queso fresco), sour cream, hot sauce, green onions, and more.
Pick your favorite taco toppings and get crazy!
Serve these delicious tacos with any side dishes, such as refried beans, whole black beans, Mexican rice, chips and guacamole, and more.
Best Meat to Use For Carne Asada Tacos:
Flank steak or skirt steak are customary cuts of meat for making carne asada. These are both leaner cuts of meat with less fat marbling and they are also less expensive. They both have tougher cuts of meat that benefit from marinating over long periods of time.
Marinating a lean cut of beef in a delicious marinade helps to tenderize the meat and also makes it nice and flavorful for the best tacos.
Because we marinate the carne asada, cook it to perfection, then chop it up, the texture and the flavor of the meat is supreme when made into tacos.
Now that we’re familiar with the delicious ingredients for carne asada tacos, let’s make them!
How to Prepare Carne Asada Tacos:
Marinate the Steak:
Combine the ingredients for the carne asada marinade in a bowl or measuring cup (orange juice, lime juice, liquid aminos, vinegar, oil, cilantro, garlic, salt, and pepper) until well-combined.
Transfer the flank steak to a large (1-gallon) zip lock bag along with the marinade. Seal the bag tightly and gently move it around so that the full steak is exposed to the marinade.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, ideally 4 to 8 hours.
Once the meat has been thoroughly marinated and you’re ready to cook the carne asada, you can either grill it or cook it on the stove top in a skillet, grill pan, or on a griddle.
If you’re able to take the carne asada out of the refrigerator ahead of time to bring it to room temperature, this will help achieve an even cook for the best results.
Grilling Instructions:
Fire up your gas grill or charcoal grill until it reaches medium-high heat (400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit). Pat both sides of the marinated steak with a paper towel, then place it on a hot side of the grill (direct heat). Sear both sides for 6 minutes for medium-rare steak, or until the carne asada reaches your desired level of doneness.
See final cooking temperatures below.
Skillet Instructions:
Heat a large cast iron skillet (12 inches or larger) over medium-high heat and add enough high-temperature cooking oil (such as avocado oil or canola oil) to generously coat the surface, about 1 to 2 tablespoons.
Once the skillet is very hot, remove the meat from the marinade and allow any excess marinade to drip off. If you’d like, you can pat off the excess moisture with paper towels.
Carefully place the marinated carne asada steak on the hot skillet and sear for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the asada reaches your desired level of done-ness.
Use an instant-read thermometer to spot check for doneness after the meat has been cooking for 10 minutes total.
Final Cooking Temperatures for Carne Asada:
Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the carne asada for your desired level of doneness.
The goal is 125 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit for medium-rare steak, 135 to 140 degrees F for medium steak, and 145 degrees or higher for well-done.
The exact cooking time depends on the size of the steak and also its temperature before you cook it.
Transfer the carne asada to a large cutting board and allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes.
How to Make Carne Asada Tacos:
After the meat has rested for 15 minutes, use a sharp knife to cut the meat against the grain into thin slices.
Then, chop the sliced steak into smaller bite sized pieces.
For crispy carne asada, you can take it one step further to crisp up the meat in a cast iron skillet.
To do so, heat a large cast iron skillet on the stove top over high heat and add the chopped carne asada meat in a single layer (try not to overcrowd the meat).
Cook, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until the chunks of meat have a nice char on them.
Serve carne asada tacos with fresh cilantro and chopped white onion on heated corn tortillas. You can use a microwave to heat the tortillas, or heat them carefully over an open flame if you have a gas stove.
You can also get creative with your carne asada taco toppings by adding fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, green onion, red onion, guacamole, cotija cheese, healthy creamy coleslaw, etc.
Serve tacos with Spanish Rice, Instant Pot black beans, Avocado Salad, and any choice of sides you enjoy.
Store any leftover carne asada in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
And that’s it! Everything you need to know to make the best carne asada tacos for your next taco night!
Make these yummy steak tacos for Taco Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, or any time the craving for Mexican food strikes!
If you’re looking for more fantastic taco recipes, here are my most popular taco recipes.
More Taco Recipes:
- Crock Pot Birria Tacos
- Crispy Baked Ground Beef Tacos
- Crock Pot Al Pastor Tacos
- Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Lime Sauce
- Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
Perfect carne asada tacos are here to make you rowdy!
Carne Asada Tacos
Ingredients
Carne Asada Recipe:
- 2 lbs flank steak or skirt steak
- ½ cup orange juice
- 4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 3 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp white vinegar or rice vinegar
- ¼ cup avocado oil*
- 1 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the Tacos:
- Corn tortillas
- White onions chopped
- Fresh cilantro chopped
- Store-bought or homemade salsa
Instructions
Marinate the Steak:
- Combine the ingredients for the carne asada marinade in a bowl or measuring cup (orange juice, lime juice, liquid aminos, vinegar, oil, cilantro, garlic, salt, and pepper) until well-combined.
- Transfer the flank steak to a large (1-gallon) zip lock bag along with the marinade. Seal the bag tightly and gently move it around so that the full steak is exposed to the marinade.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, ideally 4 to 8 hours.
- Once the meat has been thoroughly marinated and you’re ready to cook the carne asada, you can either grill it or cook it on the stove top in a skillet, grill pan, or on a griddle. If you're able to take the carne asada out of the refrigerator ahead of time to bring it to room temperature, this will help achieve an even cook for the best results.
Grilling Instructions:
- Fire up your gas grill or charcoal grill until it reaches medium-high heat (400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit). Pat both sides of the marinated steak with a paper towel, then place it on a hot side of the grill (direct heat). Sear both sides for 6 minutes for medium-rare steak, or until the carne asada reaches your desired level of doneness.
- See final cooking temperatures below.
Skillet Instructions:
- Heat a large cast iron skillet (12 inches or larger) over medium-high heat and add enough high-temperature cooking oil (such as avocado oil or canola oil) to generously coat the surface, about 1 to 2 tablespoons.
- Once the skillet is very hot, remove the meat from the marinade and allow any excess marinade to drip off. If you’d like, you can pat off the excess moisture with paper towels. Carefully place the marinated carne asada steak on the hot skillet and sear for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the asada reaches your desired level of done-ness.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to spot check for doneness after the meat has been cooking for 10 minutes total.
Make Tacos:
- After the meat has rested for 15 minutes, use a sharp knife to cut the meat against the grain into thin slices. Then, chop the sliced steak into smaller bite sized pieces.
- For crispy carne asada, you can take it one step further to crisp up the meat in a cast iron skillet. To do so, heat a cast iron skillet on the stove top over high heat and add the chopped carne asada meat in a single layer (try not to overcrowd the meat). Cook, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until the chunks of meat have a nice char on them.
- Serve carne asada tacos with fresh cilantro and chopped white onion on heated corn tortillas. You can use a microwave to heat the tortillas, or heat them carefully over an open flame if you have a gas stove.
- You can also get creative with your carne asada taco toppings by adding fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, green onion, red onion, guacamole, cotija cheese, healthy creamy coleslaw
Notes
Final Cooking Temperatures for Beef:
- 125 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit for medium-rare carne asada
- 135 to 140 degrees F for medium steak
- 145 degrees or higher for well-done.
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I cannot have citrus fruits. What could I use to substitute for the orange and lime juices? I’m thinking 1/2 cup apple juice with some extra white vinager. What do you think? Thanks for your help.
Hi Terry! I think your idea of using apple juice and vinegar sounds great! I haven’t tested it myself but it sounds like you’d be replacing the sweetness and the tartness so I’m betting it will work great 🙂 Feel free to report back if you try it! xo
Your article on the carne asada tacos is wonderfully thorouh. My mouth was watering as I read. This is one recipe I look forward to trying & I like the different options of ingredients too. Thanks!
Aww thanks so much Nayda! This is very encouraging!! xoxo