Simple 5-ingredient carne asada street tacos that deliver on maximum tenderness and flavor. These are perfect for your next Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Great meals need not be complicated. Quality ingredients + tight execution gets you to greatness in cooking and these carne asada tacos are just that. They got dope flavor, tenderness so fly, and they keep it street!
Ingredients for Carne Asada Street Tacos
How To Make Street Tacos (step by step)
Step 1: Marinate the flank steak
Mix marinade ingredients together. Place steak in a plastic ziplock bag and then add the marinade. Place in the fridge for 2 hours and let marinate.
Step 2: Grill the steak
Remove steak from the refrigerator. Rinse the steak clear of the marinade and pat dry with paper towel then set aside and allow steak to reach room temperature. Prepare grill (indoor or outdoor) for high heat including wiping the grill grates with an oiled folded napkin. Grill the steak each side 6-8 minutes depending on thickness.
Step 3: Cut the steak against the grain
To ensure tender slices, cut the steak against the grain per the image below. The grains are moving left to right, horizontally, so you want to cut perpendicular to the grain. If you don't the steak will be very chewy.
Serving Suggestions
We like our Mexican street tacos with beans, rice, and maybe a salad of some sort. As for salsa I prefer tomatillo based salsa verde, but go with your favorite. I don't believe in a lot of toppings; it's onions, cilantro, salsa verde, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Tips for making tender Carne Asada Tacos
- Let the steak rest at least 5 minutes after cooking
- Cut the steak against the grain for max tenderness
- Keep the toppings simple and let the core ingredients shine through
- Don’t marinate a frozen steak. Thaw first.
- Make enough marinade to cover the entire steak. If not, then flip as much as possible to ensure all parts of the steak gets marinated
- Beyond the marinade, season simply with salt and pepper
- Dry the marinated steak before grilling. Excess oil can/will drip into your fire and flame up burning the steak
Street Tacos Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What's the key to a great marinade?
Choose an acidic liquid like soy or lime juice or even a combo. Acid helps tenderize. Also make sure your marinade has enough salt. Salt helps the flavors in your marinade move into the interior of the meat. I like soy because it's acidic, salty, has that umami flavor, and helps with browning.
How long should I marinate the steak?
This is the great debate! I personally think it’s all marketing and schtick. The marketers boast about marinating for four score and seven years! The reality is there is actually a point of diminishing returns when after too much time the flavor has penetrated as far as it’s going to go and any longer marinating just starts to deconstruct the meat to the point it’s so far removed from what it was. Most marinades penetrate as far as they’re going to after about half a day. For deeper marinade penetration you’ll need enough salt and acid. I actually went a day and a half for this recipe, but in reality, a day could have been enough.
What are the best tortillas for street tacos?
I'm a traditionalist and like my street tacos with two layers of small corn tortillas. I like that corn flavor and that texture that's easy to bite through. Plus corn soaks up the grease and flavors of the taco ingredients. For those on a keto diet or just trying to cut down on carbs in general, just serve in a bowl sans the tortillas. Add a whole avocado on top for more filling taco bowl.
What is best alternative to flank steak?
Flank is a great choice for these tacos. If you need an alternative to flank then your best options are skirt, hanger or flat-iron. Skirt and flank are most similar and both equally likely to be available.
For similar recipes you might like, try these:
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Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 4 cloves garlic minced
Tacos
- 1 ½ lbs beef flank steak
- ½ tablespoon Kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon Black Pepper
- 12 Corn Tortillas
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves chopped well
- 1 cup Salsa verde optional
Instructions
Marinade the steak
- Mix soy, lime juice, and garlic in a medium mixing bowl.
- Place flank steak in large ziplock bag and top with marinade.
- Refrigerate at least two hours and up to a day. If steak isn’t fully submerged then flip the steak about halfway through marinating process
- Remove steak from marinade. Dry the steak and leave out until it reaches room temperature. Season with the salt and pepper
Make the tacos
- Preheat grill for high heat direct grilling.
- Dampen a folded paper towel with olive oil. Wipe down the grill grates with the oiled paper towel
- Grill the steak for 6-7 minutes. Flip and grill another 6 minutes.
- Remove steak from the grill and let rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
- Let the steak rest at least 5 minutes after cooking. Serve with fresh lime juice.
Notes
- Cut the steak against the grain for max tenderness
- Keep the toppings simple and let the core ingredients shine through
- Don’t marinate a frozen steak. Thaw first.
- Make enough marinade to cover the entire steak. If not, then flip as much as possible to ensure all parts of the steak gets marinated
- Beyond the marinade, season simply with salt and pepper
- Dry the marinated steak before grilling. Excess oil can/will drip into your fire and flame up burning the steak