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    You are here: Home / Beef / Mexican Carne Asada

    Mexican Carne Asada

    Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

    Carne Asada Estilo Mexicano

    Carne asada means grilled beef in Spanish. The king of cuts for making carne asada is arrachera, or skirt steak. It’s the taste that comes to mind when you think carne asada. Prepared well and it’s juicy and packed with beefy flavor that stands up well to a bold salsa.

    Carne Asada with Salsa, Onions and Lime
    Mexican Style Carne Asada (Grilled Skirt Steak)

    Choose Your Cut of Meat

    Our favorite cut of meat for carne asada is skirt steak. You can substitute any cut of beef that is suitable for grilling. Thin cuts are preferable if want authentic Mexican flavor. In Mexico, it is rare to be served a cut of beef that is much thicker than about ½″ unless you are at a fancy steakhouse.

    How to Make

    Start With a Simple Marinade

    Limes, garlic and salt for marinade.
    Limes, garlic, and salt. Nothing more.

    When it comes to the carne asada marinade, keep it simple. You want to enhance the flavor of the beef not cover it up. The lime juice marinade adds a nice tang to the meat and the garlic brings out the beefy flavor.

    Squeezing the limes for the marinade.
    Squeezing the limes for the marinade.

    Squeezing limes is easy if you have a lime squeezer. If you don’t have one, stick a fork into one half of a lime and give it a good twist. This is much easier than trying to crush the lime with your fingers.

    Marinating Skirt Steak
    Marinating the skirt steak.

    Marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 2 hours before grilling. Bring to room temperature before grilling.

    Time to Grill

    You always want to cook on an outdoor grill over mesquite charcoal if you can get it.

    Serve spring onions, cebollas cambray, with carne asada. If you don’t have any spring onions, whole grilled white, not yellow, onions are an acceptable substitute. Quarter them when you are ready to serve.

    Spring Onions on the Grill
    Grilling spring onions to accompany the carne asada.

    Move the onions to the side of the grill when you are ready to cook the meat. When they are done the onions will be burned on the outside but sweet and caramelized on the inside.

    Putting the skirt steak on the grill
    Place the meat over the hottest coals.

    You want to place the meat over the hottest coals on the grill to properly cook the meat and to get the nicely charred exterior.

    Marinating Skirt Steak on the Grill
    Pour the remaining marinade over the meat.

    Pour the remaining marinade over the meat to help keep it juicy during cooking.

    Flipping skirt steak on the grill
    Turn the meat after 7 or 8 minutes.

    Turn the meat after about 7 or 8 minutes, even sooner if you have thinner cuts of meat. Be sure that the meat is nicely charred on one side before turning it.

    Wow!

    Perfectly Cooked Carne Asada
    Perfectly cooked carne asada.

    Isn’t that a great looking piece of meat? Let the meat sit for a few minutes before serving so that it reabsorbs the juices. Cut into 4 pieces if you are going to serve it like a steak and cut into thin strips if you are going to serve it in tacos.

    Carne Asada Tacos
    Carne Asada Tacos

    How to Serve

    Serve each portion of carne asada with 4 corn or flour tortillas, 2 or 3 grilled spring onions, some smokey grilled tomato salsa, pico de gallo, or salsa verde and half a lime. Serve it as a steak or as tacos. In Cuernavaca, Morelos they serve this cucumber salad on the side.

    Enjoy our best carne asada recipe.

    As they say in Mexico, provecho!

    Carne Asada with Salsa, Onions and Lime
    Print Pin
    3.80 from 15 votes

    Mexican Carne Asada Recipe

    Authentic Mexican Carne Asada –  Grilled steak, arrachera, or skirt, which has been marinated with lime and garlic and then quickly cooked over high heat served with a stack of hot tortillas and a bold salsa.
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Mexican
    Keyword Authentic Carne Asada, Carne Asada, How to Make Carne Asada
    Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 35 minutes minutes
    Total Time 50 minutes minutes
    Servings 8 servings
    Calories 939kcal
    Author Douglas Cullen

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds skirt steak
    • 10 limes
    • 4 garlic cloves
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 large bunch of spring onions 8 to 12
    • 16 corn or flour tortillas

    Instructions

    • LIME GARLIC MARINADE
    • Start with a small bowl
    • Mince the garlic and add to the bowl
    • Squeeze the juice from 8 limes into the bowl
    • Add the salt and mix with a fork
    • SKIRT STEAK
    • Trim the meat of any excess silver membrane
    • Place the skirt steak in a tray and pour half the marinade over it
    • Flip the skirt and pour the other half of the marinade over it
    • Let the meat marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator
    • Bring the meat to room temperature before grilling
    • Once the meat is marinated, start the charcoal
    • When the coals are at their hottest grill the meat for about 7 or 8 minutes on each side
    • Rest the meat for a few minutes before serving
    • SPRING ONIONS
    • Once the coals are going place the spring onions on the grill.
    • Move them to the side of the grill when you are ready to cook the meat.

    Notes

    • You can substitute any type of beef that is good for grilling. Preferably thinner cuts.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1/4 pound | Calories: 939kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 86g | Fat: 51g | Cholesterol: 309mg | Sodium: 620mg | Sugar: 2g

    More Mexican Beef Recipes

    • Bistec a la Mexicana
    • Picadillo
    • Beef Roll-Ups in Tomato Sauce
    • Beef Tenderloin in a Three Chile Sauce
    • Grilled Sirloin Cap – Picaña

    More Beef

    • Beef Birria Wrapped in Tetelas
      Birria with Consomé
    • Mexican Meatballs
      Albondigas Mexicanas
    • Sliced Grilled Sirloin Cap Roast with Baked Potato
      Grilled Sirloin Cap Roast (Picaña)
    • Rib Eye Taco with Red Onion Habanero Salsa on Corn Tortilla
      Ribeye Tacos with Habanero Salsa

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Fabiola Rodriguez says

      November 22, 2015 at 6:49 pm

      5 stars
      And some nopales asados on the side are delicious too! :)

      Reply
      • Douglas Cullen says

        November 22, 2015 at 6:52 pm

        Fabiola,

        We totally agree :)

        Reply
    2. Lindsay says

      May 03, 2018 at 9:28 am

      Can the steak be marinated overnight?

      Reply
    3. Lee says

      May 22, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      Can someone please tell me what the side dishes are that are photographed with the steak?

      Reply
    4. Wistaria says

      April 29, 2019 at 1:45 am

      5 stars
      This was simple and excellent. Thanks for a great recipe!

      Reply
    5. Diann Slade says

      April 19, 2020 at 8:41 am

      5 stars
      This was excellent, will definitely use more of your recipes.

      Reply
    6. xnx says

      June 04, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      I’m looking to spike my journalistic career and thought that a blog might be a good idea. But I also know that there are ways to set up a paypal account attached to the blog for payment to read it or donate. I guess I was inspired by the movie Julia and Julie and I want to do it on my own. Any ideas on how to get started?.

      Reply
    7. CC says

      March 11, 2021 at 11:26 pm

      5 stars
      Amazingly simple & so flavorful!

      Reply
    8. Roberto Sanchez says

      May 30, 2021 at 11:41 am

      5 stars
      This turned out insane! Thank you for a great marinade.

      Reply

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    Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

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