Enjoy the smoky, savory goodness of homemade carne asada that you marinate yourself. With this carne asada recipe, you can avoid commercial marinades and focus on real food flavor.
Serve this carne asada with Quick Seasoned Rice or Homemade Corn Tortillas for a delicious dinner.
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you budget recipes and money-saving tips every week!
If you’ve got a decent taqueria or Mexican food restaurant near you, then you’re probably with familiar with carne asada.
Grilled and sliced beef, it’s marinated in an orange-infused marinade and grilled, with bits of char to enhance the smoky flavor.
This marinade recipe, made from simple, real ingredients beats the commercial marinades flat.
Make up a few batches of this carne asada recipe: one to cook and a few to freeze for later. It’s perfect for a barbecue or lazy weekend breakfast.
Yes, Carne Asada is fantastic in Breakfast Burritos!
What kind of meat do you use in Carne Asada?
Carne asada calls for a certain cut of meat, typically labeled flap meat, flap steak, or skirt steak.
Over the months, I’ve started watching the prices on the meat. The lowest I’ve found it recently has been $3.99/pound. Kinda pricey, but you don’t need a lot.
You’ll be chopping it up to use in tacos, lettuce wraps, or breakfast burritos, so it can stretch pretty easily.
What is in Carne Asada Marinade?
You can buy commercial marinades, like this one, buy marinated meats at Mexican markets or grocery store butcher counters. Some folks use Sunny Delight to create their own marinades.
This carne asada recipe gets a lot of its flavor from my Basic Spice Blend. I keep a jar on hand at all times. It’s particularly good on beef, but goes well with chicken also.
Carne Asada Marinade contains:
- orange juice
- red wine vinegar
- Basic Spice Blend: salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, and smoked paprika
- olive oil
How do you make Carne Asada?
Carne Asada is super simple to make!
- Blend together the marinade and add it to a container or ziptop freezer bag with the skirt steak.
- Allow the meat to marinate for several hours.
- Cook the meat on a hot grill.
- Slice to serve in tacos, burritos, rice bowls, and wraps.
How long is Carne Asada good for?
Carne asada is good in the refrigerator for up to four days. Promptly refrigerate leftovers and consume within this time frame.
Can you freeze Carne Asada?
Carne Asada freezes beautifully, making it a great addition to your “frozen assets”!
To freeze cooked meat: Cool and slice the meat. Place it in an airtight container. Chill completely before storing in the freezer. To serve: thaw and reheat.
To freeze the meat prior to cooking: Place the meat in the marinade in an airtight container or ziptop freezer bag. Store the meat in the freezer, for up to 6 weeks. To serve: thaw in the refrigerator before grilling as directed.
Carne Asada Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 lb carne asada
- ½ cup orange juice , freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Basic Spice Blend
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Place the meat pieces in a large ziptop plastic bag. In a small bowl whisk together the orange juice, red wine vinegar, spice blend, and olive oil. Pour the marinade over the meat. Massage the marinade around the meat pieces. Place on a tray in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 2 to 24 hours or place it directly in the freezer.
- If freezing, remove the meat from the freezer the night before serving and allow to thaw on a tray in the refrigerator.
- Heat a medium-hot fire in an outdoor grill. Cook the meat until no longer pink, flipping once. Remove from the heat to a cutting board. Chop the meat finely and serve in tacos, wraps, or burritos.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Kelly Cook
I made just the marinade to freeze for the next time I want to make asada. I didn’t have plain olive oil, but I did have lemon. I could eat this with a spoon!
Kelly
YUM! I didn’t take a picture and hashtag it though. It was gone before I could even think to do it. We had steaks last night and used the leftovers for this, my husband sliced the cooked steak meat very thin and then I marinated it overnight and reheated on the stovetop grill. I got thumbs up from everyone, including one of my kid’s friends who is staying the night.
Adrienne
I let it marinate overnight and grilled on high heat on my gas grill. It was a huge hit!
Cate
Wish me luck-No OJ so I subbed juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup + water to make 1/2 cup) I’ll keep you posted. Looks so good… I wanted to try.
Jessica Fisher
How did it turn out?
Cate
Think the OJ would have added more flavor! Next time… lol
Amber
Can this be made indoors?
Jessica Fisher
Sure. It won’t have the smoky char from a grill, but it will still be delicious cooked in the broiler or a grill pan.
Kristy MeYeR
Yum yum yum! This is so good and so simple! What a great combo. Wait…AND it’s freezer friendly?! Craziness, I tell you! Thanks for everything you do to keep our bellies and our pocketbooks full.
In related news, I am loving the new videos. Clean, simple, informative…dare I say elegant?
Blessings from my crew to yours,
Mama K
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much. That’s all my husband’s doing. He’s a video pro!
Raquel
As someone whose family is from Oaxaca and grew up in Los Angeles I can tell you that your variation on carne asada was great and you nearly nailed the original recipe
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to have that confirmation. Thanks so much!
Rachel
I made this and was skeptical because there were so few ingredients and thought they seemed a little random, but it was AMAZING! will definitely be using again! thanks!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad it won you over. I am finding that you really don’t need a lot to make amazing things. Try the Spaghetti Squash Jambalaya next. It’s so good!
Rebekah
Can you tell me what that yummy saucy stuff is on your meat? Thanks!
Jessica Fisher
This salsa: https://goodcheapeats.com/2016/05/super-easy-salsa/
christy
I work at our local ymca in the fitness center for early mornings. There is one member who is so opinionated and picky. I had your cookbook sitting on the desk (the thirty minute one) and he asked me why I had it. I said that I really enjoyed all of the recipes in it. To my utter amazement he said he had as many of your recipes as he could find on pinterest pinned to his food board. He said he loved your recipes and cooked often with them.
Believe me when I say that is a HUGE endorsement from him because he is never ever happy with anything. Thought you might enjoy that little story. Thanks for having such a great sight!
Jessica Fisher
I love this story! I think the male Good Cheap Eaters are really quiet. Need to get them to comment more. 😉
Trish
yea, would love your secret for the perfect quesadilla. and I know it will depend on lots of things, but can u estimate how long you grill each side? I read up on flap steak and apparently it is awful if undercooked. How did the tenting of the house go?
Jessica Fisher
The tenting hasn’t happened! We’re looking at mid to late March. Sigh. But, the bright side is we can make it a spring break vacation.
Yes, flap steak is pretty tough. Definitely cook it through.
Sarah
Thank you so much for this recipe! I am excited to try. I love carne Asada…and I am going to brave the grill here in Alaska since it is a mild winter=)
Sarah
Jessica Fisher
Yay for winter grilling!
Roberta
Oh, yum!
Erin
What’s the right way to make a quesadilla? Help a girl who grew up in Ohio out 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Haha! Well, Laura made hers with jack cheese and corn tortillas and fried them in oil. They are super yummy.
Donna
Can you share a link to your basic spice blend again? Thanks!
Jessica Fisher
I linked it above. Sorry for forgetting that earlier. Thanks for the reminder!
Kelly
Per the discussions in the club, and the delicious carne asada burritos we just got from a local restaurant, I’m going to expand my Mexican food repertoire. This looks super simple and very yummy. Now to find the right cut of beef from my freezer. ?