Carne asada tacos
Citrus and garlic marinated skirt steak seared until charred, chopped and piled into warm corn tortillas with onion and cilantro.
- 100 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $6.37 a serving
- 670 calories
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 orange
- 3 limes, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped, divided
- 1½ lb skirt steak
- 1 white onion
- 12 corn tortillas
- ½ cup salsa (optional)
- 1 avocado, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
Each serving has about 670 calories, 39 g protein, 50 g carbs and 37 g fat, and costs about $6.37 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Juice the orange and 2 of the limes into a large bowl, then in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, 2 tbsp of the oil and half the cilantro.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Cut the skirt steak into pieces that fit your skillet, turn them in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate 1 to 4 hours to .
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 60 min
Dolly’s tip: Not longer than 4 hours. Past that the lime starts to turn the meat mushy.the onion and mix it with the rest of the cilantro. Cut the last lime into wedges.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Heat the rest of the oil in a large over high until it just starts to smoke. Lift the steak out of the marinade and pat off the extra.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
High heat
the steak in batches, 2 to 3 minutes a side, until at the edges and the middle reads 145°F.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
High heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Skirt steak is thin, so it needs a really hot pan to brown before the inside overcooks.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
the steak 5 minutes, then slice it thin across the grain and the into bite-size pieces.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Timer: 5 min
Wipe out the skillet and warm the tortillas over medium heat, 30 seconds a side, stacking them in a clean towel.
Medium heat
Fill each tortilla with steak and top with the onion and cilantro, salsa, avocado and a squeeze of lime.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
