Carne Asada Tacos

5 from 12 votes

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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!

3 carne asada tacos on a white platter


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.

Mexican steak taco dinner on table with corn tortillas and refried beans

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.

overhead: Mexican marinated steak in corn tortilla shells on platter next to bowls of refried beans, lime wedges and crumbled cojita

Steak Taco Toppings

To keep the tacos de asada as authentic as possible, I limit the toppings. This way, the flavor of the meat will be the star. Reserve the guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes for traditional ground beef tacos.

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.

overhead: platter of flank steak tacos garnished with cojita cheese and cilantro

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, make my Mexican horchata recipe to go along with the meal. It’s really refreshing on a hot day!

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This recipe, first published on Kevin Is Cooking in October 16, 2015, was last updated with new content on May 11, 2021.

side view close up: carne asada tacos on white platter

Carne Asada Tacos + How-To Video

5 from 12 votes
Carne asada tacos are the best ever! Fire up your grill for tender marinated skirt steak to make an authentic Mexican taco dinner!
Servings: 6 servings
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 6 minutes
Marinating Time: 5 hours
Total: 5 hours 21 minutes

Ingredients 

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.
    pouring olive oil into container with carne asada meat
  • 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.
    overhead: carne asada meat in square container of carne asada marinade
  • 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.
    side view: steak on gas grill with flames in background
  • 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.
    side view close up: carne asada tacos on white platter

Video

Notes

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

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

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.

Course: Dinners
Cuisine: Mexican
Have You Made This Recipe? Let Me Know on InstagramTag @keviniscooking or tag me #keviniscooking!
titled image (and shown) Carne Asada Tacos

Kevin

Whether in the kitchen or on the grill, you’ll find me cooking American favorites with a love for BBQ, Mexican and Tex Mex. I’m passionate about making tasty food because life’s too short to be bland!

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43 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    That marinade is the stuff dreams are made of. I LOVE using ground up chiles to marinate meat- it tames the spiciness a bit but adds SO much flavor. These look amazing, can’t wait to try!

  2. 5 stars
    Hello, hello, hello I am in love! Kevin, you are killing me here, now I want like a dozen of these beauties!

  3. 5 stars
    I’m drooling all over my computer Kevin! These look amazing! Can never get enuf tacos!

    1. Appreciate the kind words Mary Ann, now go wipe down that keyboard and marinate some flank for tacos tonight! 😉

  4. 5 stars
    I’ve been looking for a Carne asada recipe and this one with the beer marinade has an incredible, complex flavor with little effort.

    We skipped the tacos and just used the carne to top homemade nachos. Amazing!

    1. Now you have me thinking nachos and it’s only 9 AM here! Thanks for the update Eva! These are a go to fav for me too. If you like this check out my Tacos Al Pastor. 🙂

  5. 5 stars
    You had me at mojo … one of my favorite sauces! And marinating the steak in beer? Genius! Totally doing that this weekend!

    1. Thanks Kimberly, appreciate your kind words. Hope you enjoy them and thanks for stopping by my little corner of the food blog universe. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    These look great! Good tip on not marinating the beef too long. I made that mistake once and it wasn’t pretty. 🙂

  7. 5 stars
    Kevin this looks delicious! Here in Florida, we use mojo seasoning a lot, and I love it! The citrus flavor works so well with chicken and pork 🙂 Awesome recipe!

    1. Thanks Paige, I do love this mojo on grilled chicken, too! I’m sure basting a nice pork shoulder on the BBQ would be heaven as well. Thanks for stopping by the site. 🙂

  8. 5 stars
    These tacos look perfect, Kevin! Good advice about not overdoing it on the marinade time – I’ve made that mistake before.