Best Ever Marinated Carne Asada Tacos

Tender Marinated Carne Asada Tacos served on warm corn tortillas with a zesty avocado crema, fresh pico de gallo and queso fresco cheese! These are the best carne asada tacos you’ll ever have. Each bite is bursting with authentic street taco flavor! It’s the perfect dinner for taco night!

What goes with carne asada tacos? How about my Frozen Strawberry Margaritas and my favorite Classic Guacamole Recipe!

This post is sponsored by ALDI USA. All opinions and statements are 100% mine. Thank you for supporting Joyful Healthy Eats.

Marinated Carne Asada Tacos

Grilling season is officially upon us people! And I don’t know about you, but I’m taking fully advantage of it! I’ve literally been on the grill probably 4 days a week! 

Since I’m on the grill and cooking so much now, I’ve had to make sure our house is fully stocked! One of my favorite places to shop for fresh organic produce and high-quality meats is ALDI! Not only are the products fantastic, but they’re also friendly on the budget, and anything right now that meets both of those requirements is a winner in my book! If you haven’t hit them up yet, I highly recommend it. Plus, it’s where I found the inspiration for the Carne Asada recipe today! Right now, ALDI has a seasoned piece of meat perfect for carne asada tacos, and combined with my marinade it’s seriously the most EPIC taco that will ever touch your lips! However, if you don’t have carne asada meat available, you could totally sub out the protein in this recipe for chicken or even Portobello mushrooms for a vegan option

What is Carne Asada?

Carne Asada is a Mexican dish. It’s grilled beef that is marinated in a citrus based marinade, then seared on the grill to impart some char flavor and then thinly sliced. Carne Asada can be served as a main dish with rice and beans, as an ingredient in other dishes, or chopped up and served on tacos.

What is the best meat to use for Carne Asada?

The cut of beef you use should be flavorful, bottom line. Typically, Carne asada is made from skirt steak. If you can’t find skirt steak you could also use flank steak, top sirloin, ribeye or beef tenderloin. Just keep in mind that you will be marinating this beef to tenderize it even more and give it that classic carne asada flavor! My favorite cuts to use for a recipe like this are flank steak or skirt steak, but you can substitute with whatever you have on hand in the fridge or freezer. Today’s recipe I used an already seasoned beef from ALDI! It was crazy tender and the flavors they already had on the meat combined with my marinade made this carne asada addicting!

Carne Asada Marinade Ingredients:

The marinade is KEY in this recipe, the acid from the orange juice and lime juice tenderizes the meat, allows the meat to retain it’s “juiciness” and adds so much flavor. The salty citrus combo will caramelize on the grill to create a crust and blow your mind!

• Orange Juice
• Lime Juice
• Soy Sauce (or Tamari if you are gluten free)
• Garlic
• Liquid Smoke (optional)

How to Make Carne Asada Tacos

1. Add the Black Angus Thin Sliced Sirloin Tip Steak to a large plastic bag.
2. In a small bowl add orange juice, soy sauce, lime juice, liquid smoke (optional) and garlic cloves. Whisk together and pour over beef in plastic bag. Close plastic bag, place back in the fridge and marinate beef for at least 1 hour. (best if overnight)
3. Preheat grill to 375-400°F. Place carne asada on grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes per side.
4. Remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes to let juices redistribute. Roughly chop beef to prepare for tacos.
5. To heat corn tortillas: heat a skillet to medium high heat, spray both sides of tortilla with cooking spray and cook for 1-2 minutes on either side until browned.
6. Assemble Carne Asada Tacos: To one heated corn tortilla, add 2 tablespoons of avocado crema, chopped carne asada, pico de gallo and crumbled queso fresco.

How to Make Avocado Crema

To a food processor add, avocado, garlic, 1/4 cup cilantro, cumin, red pepper flakes, 1.5 tablespoons of lime juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt. Blend all the ingredients until the avocado is smooth and looks like a puree or dressing. Use right away or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Toppings Ideas for Carne Asada Tacos:

The possibilities are endless when it comes to toppings for these epic carne asada tacos. You could go classic with diced onion and cilantro or really jazz it up with grilled pineapple or something, whatever you already have on hand. Here are my favorite toppings when it comes to tacos:

• Avocado/Guacamole/Avocado Crema: This is one of my favorite things to add. I’m an avocado addict, the creaminess from the avocado usually fills that desire for sour cream.
• Fresh Pico de Gallo: A fresh vibrant pico de gallo brightens up tacos and really ties everything together.
• Chili Lime Grilled Corn Salad: This corn salad is actually a side dish, but I love to put it on tacos as well. The flavors from this salad would go great with these carne asada tacos.
• Queso Fresco: This slightly salty crumbly cheese is mandatory in our house on taco night. If you haven’t had it yet, you need to start. It’s a taco game changer!
• Cilantro & Onion: If you decide to skip the fresh pico de gallo, I’d highly recommend adding fresh cilantro and diced yellow onion. This is a classic presentation that you’ll love. Add a fresh squeeze of lime juice to brighten the meat right up!
• Fruit Salsa: Sometimes I like to change it up and bit and add a pineapple salsa or a mango salsa. The sweetness from the fruit compliments the salty carne asada so well!

Tips & Tricks for the Most Tender Carne Asada Tacos:

• Marinate Overnight: If you want the best, most tender and juicy carne asada meat ever, I’d highly recommend marinating overnight. This gives the marinade the most opportunity to flavor the meat and break down the proteins so when you do grill it, all the flavors are locked in and the juices stay in the meat.
• Don’t overcook the Meat: When I grill I literally set a timer. I put the meat I’m cooking on the grill and walk away. You don’t want to constantly check your meat, open the grill and let all the heat out or move the meat around. Put it on the grill and leave it! When it’s time to flip, flip it and walk away till your time is up. For this piece of beef, I grill each side for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness. You’ll know it’s ready to flip if the meat releases from the grill. If it’s still sticking, it’s not ready to flip yet!
• Let the Meat Rest: STOP! Don’t slice into that meat right away. After the meat comes off the grill, it is still “in shock” or tense from hitting the heat so all the juices are in the center. When you allow your meat to sit and rest for 5-10 minutes after cooking it allows the juices to redistribute through the meat again leaving you with a tender juicy piece of meat. If you cut the meat right after coming off the grill, the juices will end up all over your cutting board, not in your meat. That’s just a sad day for everyone! 
• Use Warm Corn Tortillas: Corn Tortillas are not only authentic but they don’t overpower your taco like flour tortillas do. I highly recommend warming them up before using them so they are more pliable. I like to spray both sides of mine with a cooking spray and toast them up on a skillet or the grill for 1-2 minutes per side.

What to serve with Carne Asada Tacos

• • Creamy Bacon Guacamole
  • Ultimate Classic Margarita Recipe
  • 5 Minute Restaurant Style Salsa
  • Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
  • Epic Baja Fish Tacos with Avocado Crema
  • Fresh Raspberry Mojito Recipe

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