Easy Carne Asada

If you’re a new reader, you might not know that my family is full of picky eaters — my husband and I being the main ones. Despite growing up thousands of miles apart, and meeting in our late 20’s and early 30’s, we have surprisingly similar horror stories of being served weird food by family members in our childhood and being scarred for life.

For Jordan, it was Hot Dish (his family is from up north) and for me, it was Creamed Corn, Hot Links, and Green Spaghetti — I know, right?! WHO THE HELL MAKES GREEN SPAGHETTI? It’s hard to believe, that that’s a story for another day.

Bonding Over Skirt Steak

My tastes are pretty simple. I eat beef, chicken, and very rarely shrimp. I’m not a fan of under seasoned food, and most sauce scares me. My motto is, if you season food right before you cook it, you don’t need sauce. Can you imagine the anxiety of going to restaurants with people, when you order food with modifications like a child? When my husband and I first started dating, we pretty much stuck to restaurants with pizza, burgers, tacos, and wings. At some point, we got tired of eating the same stuff and I started cooking for him.

We both love steak tacos on fresh tortillas, so it was one of the first meals I made. With him being from Montana, I assumed he’d had skirt steak before, but to my surprise, he hadn’t. He immediately fell in love with it — and over the years it’s become a family favorite. These days we eat skirt steak at least once a week — and while we love Asian Style Crispy Beef, this go-to recipe for Carne Asada is of our top three recipes of all time.

It’s All About the Marinade

Carne Asada is traditionally made using either marinated skirt steak or flank steak, but we ALWAYS use skirt steak. This tender, grilled meat is packed with flavor, and super versatile. You can slice it and eat it with any side, make fajitas, or put it on top of a salad. You can chop it for tacos. Or, you can eat leftovers straight from the fridge for a midnight snack. Best of all, it’s picky-eater approved!

If your mouth is watering and you’re ready to take a bite out of your screen, look no further, the recipe for the perfect carne asada marinade is below!

Easy Carne Asada

• 4 lbs Skirt Steak (or Flank Steak)
• 2 tbsp Cilantro (fresh)
• 1 clove Garlic (crushed)
• 1 ½ cups Lime Juice
• 3 tbsp White Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Chili Paste
• ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Lawry’s Garlic Salt (to taste)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, crushed garlic, vinegar, cilantro, olive oil, and chili paste. Set aside.
2. Using a very sharp knife, remove the membrane from the backside of your skirt steaks. Then, divide the skirt steaks into two gallon-size freezer bags, placing whole steaks in each bag.
3. Pour half of the marinade into each bag, press out as much air as possible, then seal it up. Spread your bags on a cookie sheet, pressing to separate on the meat to expose all surfaces of the meat to the marinade.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Line large sheet pan with paper towels.Prepare your grill by heating it to a temperature of 500 degrees.
5. Remove the skirt steak from the marinade discarding excess liquid. Lay skirt steak on the paper towel-lined sheet pan, using additional paper towels to pat the surface of the meat dry.
6. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and place on grill, cooking for 8 to 10 minutes per side, turning once.Once done, remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes.
7. Slice against the grain, and serve.

1. ALWAYS slice skirt steak against the grain.
2. ALWAYS pat surface of meat dry. This step is crucial to getting good grill marks.
3. When grilling, make sure grill is at 500 degrees before putting the meat on.
4. After marinating, if grilling isn’t an option, skirt steak can be cooked in a cast-iron skillet on the stove at high heat, or under the broiler for 8-10 minutes per side.