This marinated traeger carne asada recipe is packed with flavor and easy to make. Add a few easy sides and for the perfect weeknight meal.
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The best part of my traeger carne asada recipe is the easy preparation and quick cook time. The marinade includes easy ingredients that you probably have already. The flavors are bright and deep, but I think the secret ingredient that makes this carne asada so good is the brown sugar!
Carne Asada simply means grilled meat. In this post, you will find the ingredients and recipe for a great marinade, what types of steak are good for carne asada, and serving suggestions. Let's get to it!
Traeger carne asada marinade ingredients
| Wet | Dry |
| soy sauce | brown sugar |
| olive oil | minced garlic |
| apple cider vinegar | cumin |
| orange juice | chili powder |
| lime juice | lime zest |
| cilantro |
A great marinade needs just a few things: salt, acid, and fat. This marinade gets the salt from the soy sauce, acid from the apple cider vinegar and lime, and fat from the olive oil.
After deciding on those, we can add our spices and other flavors. The combination of cumin, chili powder, cilantro, and brown sugar create the Mexican profile I want for my carne asada. Using brown sugar in the marinade creates a caramelized char when we cook it at a high temperature on the grill.
All of that said, this steak is going to be so good it can be eaten all by itself. However, we know I wouldn't do that. Keep reading for sides and serving suggestions 🙂
What kind of meat should I use for Carne Asada?
Carne asada is a quick cooking grilled steak that is marinated. Pictured here in this recipe, I'm using flap steak. It is an inexpensive cut of steak that needs a marinade to flavor and tenderize it. For the best results, marinade for 4 hours or more.
Other options are skirt steak, flank steak, or sirloin. The benefit of the marinade having salt and quite a bit of acid is that you can use an inexpensive cut of beef. We really don't want to anything better than sirloin here.
Carne Asada Full Recipe
Traeger carne asada
Equipment
- 1 Traeger Grill
- 1 glass baking dish or gallon sized zip top bag
- knife and cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 flap steak 1-1.25”
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup oj
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 lime juiced and zested
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Prepare all of the marinade ingredients and combine to make marinade.
- Cut flap meat into 2 or 3 sections and lay in a shallow baking dish
- Pour entire marinade over the flap steak, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Cooking the carne asada
- Preheat traeger grill to 425*F
- When the traeger has reached 425*, lady each piece of the flap steak on the grill, close the lid, and cook for 10 minutes. Flip the steak one time halfway through.
- Remove the steak and allow to rest on a large cutting board for 5 minutes.
- Thinly slice the carne asada on a bias, against the grain.
- Serve with your choice of tortillas and taco fixings, Mexican rice, blacks beans, avocado salsa, or elote corn.
Did you make this recipe? Tag me on Instagram @fancy_apron 🙂 or leave a comment below.
Side dishes and ways to serve
I like to serve this carne asada a few different ways. Sometimes I just want it with rice, elote style corn, and some avocado spritzed with lime.
The other popular and more common way is to serve as tacos. Warm tortillas, shredded cheese, and a bright restaurant style salsa is my jam! Throw down a pile a charro beans I'm happy.
Lastly, dice up leftover carne asada into small pieces and fold them into a quesadilla. I always hope for leftovers so that I can make myself one of these quesadillas for lunch the next day.
Traeger supplies and tools
If you don't already have a Traeger Grill, I recommend one. It is easy to use and trustworthy when it comes to temperature and even cooking.
A large glass baking dish is nice to use for the marinade because there is so much surface are on the steak, but a large zip top bag is also a good choice. As long as every bit of steak and soaked in flavor, that's all we need.
How'd we do?
Leave a comment if you loved the recipe! Also, share questions and modifications. I love hearing from readers and fellow cooks.
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Korina says
If I don’t have a Traeger grill, how can I cook it stove top and still make it yummy?
Alexis says
You can use nonstick grill pan and cook on medium high for 7-8 minutes per side. You may want to flip it twice to prevent burning. Please let me know how it goes!