Name: Carne Asada Tacos with Chipotle Adobo Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs. Skirt Steak; 1 Bag Corn or Flour Taco Tortillas; 1 large Red Bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks; 1 Red Onion, sliced; 3 tsp. Chipotle in Adobo Sauce; 4 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped; 2 tsp. Cumin; 2 tsp. Smoked Paprika; 1 tsp. Coriander Powder; 1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. Olive Oil; ½ cup Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped; Juice of 1 Lemon; Zest of 1 Lemon; 1 Lime, cut into wedges; Salt

One of the absolute classic Mexican staple dishes are Carne Asada Tacos with a Chipotle Adobo Sauce. An unbelievably tasty marinade consisting of classic Mexican spices and a rich, sweet, and smoky flavored sauce. This is a recipe to completely amp up your taco game for Taco Tuesdays

The cut of meat we are using is Skirt Steak, which is a very typical cut of Beef for Carne Asada. Skirt Steak is a wonderful cut of meat from the Belly of the Cow. It has so much flavor, it simply LOVES absorbing marinade, and is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef to purchase

Prepared properly, the Carne Asada Tacos are guaranteed to become a household favorite for the whole family. What’s more, like all our dishes – you can cook it all in just one pot!

Preparing the Skirt Steak properly before cooking will ensure the best result

Skirt steak can be a challenging cut of meat to work with. It is absolutely delicious to eat, but prepared in the incorrect way it can get quite tough, almost inedible. There are a few secrets to ensuring you get the best result when cooking a Skirt Steak

Carne Asada Tacos with Chipotle Adobo close up — Preparing the Skirt Steak properly is the key to getting a perfectly tender, tasty Skirt Steak

1. Remove excess fat and silver skin from the Meat

An unfortunate consistency with Skirt Steak is the presence of silver skin. That unpleasant slippery thin layer that covers the delicious meat. When cooked it is extremely unpleasant to eat. Extremely chewy, and can really ruin a meal

So, while we are huge fans of Skirt Steak for its amazing flavor and ease on the wallet. It does require more prep work than other cuts of meat to really shine. Spend a bit of time with a very sharp knife carefully cutting away as much silver skin and excess fat that you can from the Steak. Just be careful when cutting the silver skin, always cut away from yourself to avoid any cuts

2. Always cut Skirt Steak against the grain

There are elements in cooking you simply cannot change or compete with. The best you can do is adjust. This rings true when it comes to the structure of Skirt Steak. Running all the way down the cut of Steak are natural fibers, which you can see as literal lines / divots in the meat. If you cut the steak along those lines, the steak will be super tough to eat

So, what you want to do is make cuts into the steak 90 degrees against those lines / divots. So instead of trying to chew on one large piece of meat that naturally does not want to separate, you will be chewing on smaller, individual portions that naturally want to separate. Cutting against the grain in this fashion makes a world of difference to the tenderness of the steak

Carne Asada Tacos with Chipotle Adobo steak close up — Give your Steak a minimum of 3 hours, preferably an overnight marinade to get the deepest flavor in your Carne Asada Tacos

3. Marinade the Steak for a minimum of 3 hours, preferably overnight before cooking

Most good marinades for Skirt Steak, including the one in this recipe, have elements of acid in them. Eg: Vinegar, or in our case Lemon Juice. The natural acid of the Lemons helps to break down elements of the Steak over time

The process does take a while however, so we recommend marinating the steak for a minimum of 3 hours to allow the acid in the marinade to start really breaking down the steak. We recommend 24 hour for an optimal marinade time, so if you can plan your meal planning a day in advance this would be the best result

Not only will your steak be super tender, but you’ve also allowed 24 hours for all those beautiful ingredients to seep deep into the steak. So, it’ll taste better too!

4. Don’t overcook Skirt Steak

This goes without saying for any piece of beef really, however it rings particularly true for Skirt Steak. If you overcook Skirt Steak it becomes incredibly tough to eat. Pretty much inedible. So, the key to cooking Skirt Steak is to cook it on a very high heat, for not a long time

2-3 minutes maximum cooking time is perfect for Skirt steak. This will ensure a beautiful medium-rare result, which will be lovely and tender to eat

Produce an amazing depth of flavor with this phenomenal Carne Asada Tacos Marinade

To create a beautiful authentic marinade for your Carne Asada Tacos is quite simple. Just use good quality ingredients that carry those unmistakable flavors of Mexican Cuisine. The holy trinity of Mexican Spices – Cumin, Smoked Paprika, and Coriander Powder set the baseline for a phenomenal marinade

Combine an amazing acid hit to the marinade care of both Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest, the former being a huge punch in delicious Lemon flavor. Add Garlic of course, because in our opinion no marinade is complete without Garlic!

Finally, finish with a generous helping of vibrant Chipotle in Adobo Sauce. This ingredient brings such an amazing depth of flavor. Sweetness and Smokiness are the flavor profiles and will instantly transport you to Mexico

The Skirt Steak simply loves this marinade, so let it sit for a few hours and you’ll be rewarded with truly phenomenal tasting Carne Asada Tacos, we guarantee it!

Carne Asada Tacos with Chipotle Adobo toppings — Add your favorite toppings to make the Carne Asada Tacos perfect to your flavor preference!

This recipe produces a brilliant baseline Carne Asada Tacos dish. Add whatever your favorite toppings are to personalize your Tacos!

We understand Tacos are a personal thing. There are simply so many different choices of toppings to choose from when it comes to making Tacos. That is why this recipe sticks to the baseline – creating a delicious Carne Asada filling for the perfect Mexican Taco feast

Choose whatever fillings you want to add to your tacos. A few personal favorites of ours, which you’ve likely noticed in the photos on this recipe are Green Chili Sauce, and Sour Cream. The one-two combination of spicy / creamy is such a perfect combination, and pairs beautifully with the Carne Asada

Of course, cheese is the other option. We’ve gone with a simple Shredded Cheddar Cheese for these Tacos. Not too much, just a little bit to add some lovely texture and sharpness. For truly authentic Mexican tacos we would recommend adding Cotija Cheese, which is a beautiful Mexican Cheese with a Feta-like texture. Delicious!