Carne Asada

CITRUS FLANK STEAK CARNE ASADA TACOS WITH MANGO AVOCADO PICO DE GALLO

If there’s one thing I miss eating, it’s flank steak. We don’t do beef often, but when we do, we like to do marinades. This falls perfectly in line with a citrus marinated flank steak for tacos.

Let’s start with the meat. Carne Asada in Mexican cooking, means beef that has been marinated and grilled, typically sliced in thin strip as a main course or a filling for tacos, burritos, etc. In our case, we chose a citrus marinade with a little spice to really tenderize the flank steak. Heinens flank steak selection is some of the best I have seen locally, and so many sizes to choose from!

Marinate the meat for 6-8 hours, or overnight to get that flavor and tenderness.

Grill for 8-10 minutes on each side, for a little pink medium center. If you want grill marks, you gotta grill it!

Chop up into thin strips for a traditional taco filling, but I do like bigger chunks to enhance that steak texture.

I cut up the mango pico de gallo ingredients while the steak is grilling.

I bought pre-sliced mango to not deal with so much mess. So save you some time!

There’s that mango y’all. Pairs perfectly with the citrus marinade.

INGREDIENTS & INSTRUCTIONS

Main Taco Ingredients

• flank steak strip

• corn tortillas

Citrus Marinade Ingredients

• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit or orange juice

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

• juice of 1 lime

• palm full of whole black peppercorns

Pico de Gallo Ingredients

• 1 small red onion, diced

• 2 avocados, diced

• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

• juice of 2 limes

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup mango, chopped

• 1 large tomato, diced

• 3 green onion stalks, chopped

Additional Taco Toppings

• red cabbage, sliced thin

• queso fresco cheese, crumbled

• lime wedges

Instructions

With a large ziplock, gather all marinade ingredients to combine with flank steak slab and marinade 6-8 hours, or overnight.

Light grill to medium because the grill gets super hot and will produce a lot of smoke. When it’s ready, slap on the steak and be careful for any spitting oil. Grill on each side for 8-10 minutes depending on your preference.

While the steak is grilling, chop up your pico de gallo. Mix all ingredients together and let sit for the tacos because this whole process doesn’t take long.

Once meat is ready, remove from grill and let it sit for 15-20 minutes to continue cooking internally a bit and so the juices don’t come spilling out.

Chop how you like, usually in thin strips. But first, I like to cut in half so that the strips aren’t massively long.

Start to construct your tacos!

I like to grill the corn tortillas a bit for warmth and softness to hold the taco filling better.

Place your chopped beef, top with the pico de gallo, then the cabbage and cheese.