Grilled Carne Asada

The meat is cooked to perfection and then grilled for a delicious carne asada. A stunningly juicy flank steak marinated in lemon juice and rubbed with a paprika BBQ dry rub before being grilled over high heat.

Your next outdoor BBQ will be spectacular with this grilled carne asada. Our BBQ dry rub gives it juiciness, mild sweetness, and a tender, spicy bite. It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or a seasoned cook; this dish will become a fast favorite.

After marinating overnight in a rich marinade, carne asada only needs a few minutes on the grill to get the perfect sear. It’s great in tacos, salads, wraps, or all on its own.

Learn all you need to know about preparing carne asada on the grill, from the marinade to the cutting of the meat.

This Is What You Need to Know About Carne Asada

Classic carne asada is a grilled beef steak marinated in lime juice and salt. This meal is popular in Central America. It’s delicious on its own, works well in burritos and tacos, and is the main protein source in traditional Mexican dishes like alambres and huarache.

Chuck steak is called for in many classic dishes, but flank steak is more readily available where we live. If you can’t find flank, you can substitute skirt or Sierra steak (cut from the beef chuck primal).

The strong muscular fibers that run through flank steak give it a powerful meaty flavor, which is why we enjoy it so much. These fibers can make the meat tough, but a meat tenderizer and citrus marinade will break them down, allowing the meat’s incredible flavor to come through while also making it unbelievably tender.

Temperatures and Times

We’ll cook a steak over medium heat so that its taste and tenderness stay the same. Keep the grill temperature between 375 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit (191-205 degrees Celsius).

The flank steak will need around 10 minutes on the grill, or 5 minutes per side. When we grill, though, we pay attention to temperature rather than time. To make a steak that is medium-rare, grill it until the temperature inside reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius). Use a digital meat thermometer to get an exact temperature reading.

Simple Advice

Set aside some of the marinade for later. If you want to add some more flavor to your steak, after you take it off the grill to rest, pour some marinade over it.

Use a meat tenderizer mallet to help break up the beef and make sure that the steak will be tender. It should just take a few blows to kill him.

Make sure to use fresh limes in the marinade, and not lime juice from a bottle. This will give us the citric acid we need to make a flank steak tender by breaking down the connective tissue between the muscle cells.