Carne Asada Tacos

Carne asada tacos may be the best steak tacos you’ll ever eat! Tender, double marinated skirt steak is tucked into corn tortillas with refried beans and Cotija cheese for a fantastic taco dinner. Watch the video in the recipe card below!

You don’t need to wait for a Cinco de Mayo celebration to enjoy a good Mexican steak. Carne asada is simple to make and it freezes well, so you can cook up a batch to give any Tuesday taco night a boost of deliciousness.

We’ve been sharing a lot of carne asada recipes lately. We started a few weeks ago, with a recipe for Carne Asada Marinade. Although the ingredient list is simple, marinating the meat creates fork tender skirt or flank steak with incredible citrus flavor!

After the marinade post, we shared a homemade version of Chipotle carne asada that is so much tastier than the restaurant’s version. Be sure to check out that post for tips on grilling the perfect steak.

After grilling the asada, there are plenty of ways to serve it. You can use it to make steak fajitas or burritos, or add it to top of a grilled cactus salad. But my favorite use for it is to make carne asada tacos!

Carne Asada Tacos

The reason the taco meat ends up so tender is because it’s marinated twice. For the first 2 hours, it marinates in beer. After that, it sits for 3 hours in a blend of chiles, garlic, oil and fresh orange juice.

Recipe Video

To see how easy the marinade comes together, be sure to watch the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Steak Taco Toppings

If you want to serve authentic Tacos de Asada, keep the toppings simple. This way, the flavor of the meat will be the star. Reserve the guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes for traditional ground beef tacos.

Here are the toppings you’ll need:

• A batch of authentic refried beans
• Chopped cilantro
• Crumbled Cotija cheese
• Fresh lime juice

When it comes to the “transportation device” (the tortillas), I keep things authentic by using corn tortillas. Honestly, I think grilled corn tortillas are best for holding the weight of the steak. Flour tortillas tend to be a bit flimsy, but If you prefer them, you can certainly use them.

Just be sure to warm them up in the microwave or toss them onto the grill for a minute. This helps to prevent them from tearing under the weight of the carne asada steak.

What to Serve with Carne Asada Tacos

You’ll already have a serving of refried beans inside the taco shells, but you could definitely serve them on the side as well.

Other than that, a batch of fresh pico de gallo or Mango Pico de Gallo and tortilla chips would be great. Another great dip for the chips is queso fundido.

If it’s summertime, serve a pitcher of homemade Mexican horchata to go along with the meal. It’s really refreshing on a hot day!

Carne Asada Tacos

Carne asada tacos may be the best steak tacos you'll ever eat! Fork tender, double marinated skirt or flank steak is tucked into corn tortillas with refried beans and Cojita for a fantastic taco dinner.

5 from 11 votes

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Course: Main

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: carne asada tacos, grilled Mexican steak, steak tacos, tacos de asada

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Marinating Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 21 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 254kcal

Author: Kevin Is Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 lbs skirt steak or flank steak
• 1 Corona beer (or your favorite beer)
• Carne asada marinade

Assembly

• 12 corn tortillas
• refried beans
• 1 cup Cotija cheese , crumbled
• 2 limes , quartered
• 1/2 cup cilantro , chopped, lightly packed

Instructions

• Marinate the steak in Corona beer for two hours, covered, in the refrigerator.
  
• Meanwhile, make the carne asada marinade and store it in the fridge until you're ready to use it. After marinating the steak in beer, transfer the steak to a clean container and pour the asada marinade over the meat.
  
• Cover the container and transfer it to the refrigerator for 3 hours.
• Start your grill. Use the highest heat possible. I mean smoking, blistering, searingly hot. For skirt steak, grill 3 minutes per side, or 5 minutes per side for flank steak (depending on the thickness and how you like it cooked). Remove carne asada from heat and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
  
• While meat is resting, grill the tortillas on each side until slightly charred.
• Slice carne asada thinly across the grain and serve with refried beans spread on grilled tortillas. Top asada tacos with crumbled cotija cheese, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
  

Notes

Nutrition information shown is for carne asada steak, without tortillas or toppings.

 

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tacos | Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.8g | Protein: 16.1g | Fat: 16.7g | Saturated Fat: 4.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9.6g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 49.1mg | Sodium: 372.9mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2.3g

Have you made this recipe? Let me know on InstagramTag @KevinIsCooking and hashtag me #keviniscooking!

This recipe post first appeared on Kevin Is Cooking in October 2015. The content was updated with new copy, photos and a video on May 11, 2022.