Our Carne Asada Tacos with Adobo-Lime Marinade paired with fresh corn and kale slaw is the perfect combo for summertime grilling!
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Carne Asada Tacos Recipe
- Carne Asada Tacos Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Carne Asada Tacos
- Carne Asada Tacos Recipe Tips
- How to Serve Carne Asada Tacos
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Taco Recipes
- Carne Asada Tacos with Adobo-Lime Marinade Recipe
This recipe is…
If you love tacos (and who doesn’t?), you’ll want to add our Carne Asada Tacos with Adobo-Lime Marinade to your regular summer grilling repertoire. Steak gets tenderized by lime juice, seasoned with zingy adobo, then grilled until it’s charred on the outside and juicy on the inside. Next, it gets topped off with a grilled Mexican street corn and kale slaw in chili lime dressing, and wrapped in a corn tortilla. Let me tell you: it’s taco perfection!
Served with the slaw, these tacos de carne asada are a pretty complete meal. Or, you can serve them alongside one of our other veggie-packed sides, like Mexican Street Corn Salad, Black Bean and Corn Salsa, or Southwestern Quinoa Salad.
Why You’ll Love This Carne Asada Tacos Recipe
- Adobo-lime marinade yields tender, juicy, flavor-packed meat
- Made with budget-friendly skirt or flank steak
- Perfect for summer grilling!
Carne Asada Tacos Recipe Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to cook up these juicy, tender steak tacos. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
For the Adobo Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon of coarse salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of oregano
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
For the Tacos
- 1 1/2 pounds of skirt or flank steak
- 2 tablespoons of adobo seasoning
- 1/4 cup of lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons of avocado oil
- Corn tortillas, for serving
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn & Kale Slaw, for serving
- Cotija cheese, for serving
- Lime wedges, for serving
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here’s how you can customize this recipe to your liking:
- Swap the meat – while the adobo-lime marinade in this recipe is ideal for beef, you can substitute chicken instead. We don’t recommend using it for seafood, however, since the acid in the lime juice will “cook” delicate shrimp and fish.
- Choose your side – Not a fan of kale? Instead of the kale-corn slaw we made for our tacos, throw some veggies like corn and peppers on the grill with your steak instead.
How to Make Carne Asada Tacos
Now that we’ve talked about the ingredients, it’s time to get cooking!
Step 1: To make the marinade, you’ll whisk together the lime juice, coconut aminos, avocado oil, and adobo seasoning. You can either use store-bought adobo seasoning, or make your own.
Step 2: Then, you’ll pour the mixture over the beef and let it sit for at least an hour, though if you have time it’s best to marinate overnight (or up to 24 hours) so the beef has plenty of time to tenderize.
Step 3: Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, then cook the steak for 5-7 minutes, until browned, then flip it and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until it’s reached medium-rare (140 to 145 F) to medium (155 to 160 F) temperature. Remove it from the grill.
Step 4: Let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes, so the juices don’t run out when you cut into it. Then, you’ll slice it thinly, against the grain, which helps ensure that it isn’t tough or chewy. Now that you’ve got perfect carne asada, the final step is to assemble your tacos! We served ours with a delicious roasted Mexican street corn and kale slaw (bonus: you can grill the corn at the same time as the steak), corn tortillas, and a little extra cotija cheese plus some lime wedges.
Carne Asada Tacos Recipe Tips
- Resting time – while it might be tempting to slice the steak straight off the grill, the resting time is key for juicy and flavorful results! Once the meat is off the grill, give it a full 10 minutes to sit and cool slightly so the juices can redistribute before you slice it. Cutting into it too soon wastes all those flavorful juices.
- Tender meat – for the best texture, don’t cook the steak past medium, which can make it tough and chewy. Slicing the meat against the grain helps keep it tender too.
- Leftovers – if you know you’re making more meat than you’ll eat right away, just slice the amount you want for your meal, and leave the rest of the steak whole. It will stay juicier and be easier to reheat as a large piece of meat than sliced.
How to Serve Carne Asada Tacos
Serve the tacos warm with corn tortillas and our Grilled Mexican Street Corn & Kale Slaw (either on the side, or with the meat inside the tacos), along with lime wedges and cotija cheese.
If you’d like to add more veggie toppers to your tacos, sliced radishes, pickled jalapenos, avocado slices, and sprigs of cilantro are all tasty options.
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover steak, salad, and tortillas separately in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat the meat, let it come to room temperature from the fridge before giving it a quick pan sear, or broil in the oven, until just heated through to avoid overcooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
So what is carne asada, anyway? Literally translated, carne asada means “grilled beef.” While you can make carne asada with just a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, it’s most often find marinaded first to infuse it with flavor before goes on the grill. After grilling, the steak is thinly sliced and can be served on its own or in a taco, as we’ve done here.
We recommend using either skirt or flank steak for carne asada. Both cuts of beef come in long strips, taste best when allowed to sit in a slightly acidic marinade, and are best cooked quickly over high heat where they can take on a delicious char. However, skirt steak is our favorite choice for these tacos because it has a slightly beefier flavor, and its higher fat content leads to a melt-in-your-mouth texture when cooked properly. Speaking of which: one caution when cooking skirt steak is to make sure you don’t cook it past medium, or it will become tough and chewy.
For this recipe, we kept it simple with a marinade of lime juice, coconut aminos (you can also sub soy sauce), and adobo seasoning. The lime juice helps tenderize the beef, the coconut aminos give it a bit of saltiness, and the adobo seasoning packs a punch of flavor with oregano, garlic, and onion. With these few simple ingredients, you’ll have tender, flavorful beef every time.
Making the marinade is incredibly simple: you’ll just whisk the ingredients together in a bowl, then let the steak sit in the marinade for up to 24 hours.
More Favorite Taco Recipes
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Carne Asada Tacos with Adobo-Lime Marinade
Ingredients
For the adobo seasoning (or buy your own here):
- 1 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1/2 tablespoons oregano, Mexican if you can find it!
- 1 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
For the tacos
- 1 1/2 lbs skirt or flank steak
- 2 tablespoons adobo seasoning
- 1/4 cup lime juice, about 2 limes
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- Corn tortillas, for serving
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn & Kale Slaw, for serving*
- Cotija cheese, for serving
- Lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Add all of the seasoning ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Season the flank steak on both sides with the adobo seasoning, then place it in a bowl or Ziplock bag. Whisk together the lime juice, coconut aminos, and avocado oil and pour it over the steak. Let sit for at least one hour up to 24 hours.
- When you’re ready to grill the steak, preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
- Place the steak on the grill and cook for 5-7 minutes, until browned. Then flip the steak and and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the steak is browned and reaches 135 F (medium rare).
- Let the beef sit for at least 10 minutes while you warm the tortillas and prepare the remaining taco toppings, then thinly slice the steak against the grain.
- Assemble your tacos and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- If making the grilled corn and kale slaw, we recommend grilling the corn alongside the beef.
Nutrition
