Carne Asada Tacos with Cheese – The Tacodilla

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We call this dish the Tacodilla. Is it a taco? Is it a quesadilla? Does it matter? No, not at all because it’s damn delicious whatever you want to call it! These tacos are a bit of a trend at the moment, this is our play on this delicious Mexican street food staple. Beautiful Carne Asada Tacos: Crispy, beautiful and packed full of flavor. As we advocate across many of our recipes, this can be totally adaptable to your taste. Want to replace the beef with chicken or pork? Go nuts! A fan of pineapple in your tacos (we are!) then by all means throw it in there

What is the best cut of Beef for Carne Asada

For the beef this recipe uses Skirt Steak however you could substitute for Flank or Hanger or even Chuck Steak if you like. I like Skirt as it’s got a fantastic texture, marinades exceptionally well and has a good level of fat for added flavor

Of course, this dish wouldn’t be complete without a staple of Mexican cuisine, the Tomatillo Salsa Verde. Honestly, you could just make this Salsa Verde by itself and eat it with a bunch of crispy tortilla and you’ll be a happy person!


This is such a fun dish to make although it is a little bit messy, which is totally ok! The secret to the Carne Asada Cheesy Taco is to melt that beautiful cheese straight onto the pan, then lay a Tortilla on top to soak it all up. It’s perhaps not the dish you want to be eating every night, but as a tasty treat it is perfect!

How to make Carne Asada Tacos

To make the perfect Carne Asada Tacos you need to nail these two main components of the dish. The first, a perfectly marinated and cooked Steak. The second, a bright, acidic, and flavorful Salsa Verde. Everything else will fall into place from the Tortillas to the toppings. Prioritize the Meat and the Salsa Verde for the best result

A good marinade goes a long way in this dish

As most of you already know, marinating meat is the best way to get the most flavor into a dish. The marinade will flavor the meat, and the longer you marinade, the more intense the flavor will become. There is such a thing as too much marinating, however. The sweet spot for a perfect marinade in our opinion is 24 hours. Any less time, the flavor won’t be as concentrated. More than 24 hours, the meat will lose its desirable texture. So, for our perfect Carne Asada Tacos, give the Skirt Steak a good 24 hours in the marinade

Our preferred Method for marinating Meat is to place it into a Ziploc Bag and refrigerate. No air or anything will escape from the bag, so all that the marinade can do is be absorbed into the meat. It’s also by far the cleanest way of doing things. No washing up required, just discard the Ziploc bag once your done and there’s no mess. It’s so easy!

The perfect marinade for Carne Asada Tacos

Keep the marinade simple, with classic Mexican flavors of Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Corinader Powder, Garlic, Olive Oil, Lime Juice and Salt. For this marinade we use the Juice of 2 Limes, enough to get the spices all turned into a thick(ish) paste that can easily coat the Steak

An optional addition to the marinade is to add about 1 tbsp. of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce. They add an intense sweet and smoky flavor to the dish. It doesn’t really need it, as the spices in the dish will be flavorful enough. However, if you really want to push things over the edge in terms of flavor then Chipotles are always a welcome addition

Cut the Steak meat up into bite-sized pieces and place it into a Ziploc bag along with the Vegetables

This is a lovely little trick that we use for making this Taco dish. First, cut up the Skirt Steak before it gets marinated. This method will get more intense flavor into the meat than simply leaving the Steak whole when marinating

We also add the chopped Onions and Bell Peppers into the same bag as the meat and give them a good marinade too. This technique is very common and is a great way to get even more of those delicious spices from the marinade into the dish. The Onion and Peppers will soak up the flavor of the marinade too, so when it comes to frying everything up, you’re going to have an intensely flavored filling for your Tacos

Getting that perfect Salsa Verde for pouring all over the top of your Cheesy Carne Asada Tacos

Salsa Verde is such an essential ingredient in Mexican cuisine. As far as we’re concerned, if there’s any kind of meat going into a Tortilla, there should be an amply supply of tasty Salsa Verde to pour all over it

Making our Salsa Verde is so easy. Simply combine Tomatillos, an Onion, Jalapenos, Cilantro, Lime Juice, and Salt into the blender. Give it all a good blitz and check for seasoning and consistency. That’s all there is to it. If the Sauce is coming out a little bit thick you can always add some more Lime Juice, or even a splash of Olive Oil to get to the right consistency

Serve the delicious Salsa Verde on the side in an easily pourable container. That way you can hold the Carne Asada Taco in one hand and use the other hand to pour sauce all over it right. Oh, definitely serve this dish along with a bunch of napkins!

Carne Asada Tacos with Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Skirt Steak, Sliced into bite sized pieces
• ½ Brown Onion, thinly sliced
• ½ red onion, finely diced
• ½ Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 4 tbsp. Olive Oil
• Juice from 2 Limes
• 1 tbsp. Salt
• 2 cups Queso de Oaxaca or Queso Asadero Cheese (melting cheese)
• 2 Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 8 medium sized Tortillas
  
  

For the Salsa Verde

• 8 Tomatillos, Halved
• 1 Brown / White Onion, Halved
• 2 Jalapeno Pepper or Serrano Pepper
• ½ cup Cilantro, Chopped
• Juice from 1 Lime
• 1 tsp Salt
  
  

Instructions

For the Salsa Verde

1. Place the Tomatillos, Onion and Jalapeno in a large pan on high heat and cook until the vegetables are charred on all sides, about 6-7 minutes should do the trick
2. Place charred vegetables, Cilantro, Lime Juice and Salt into a blender and blitz until smooth. Set aside in a bowl until ready to serve!
   

For the Carne Asada

1. In a small bowl mix together the Paprika, Cumin, Corinader Powder, Garlic, Olive Oil, Lime Juice and Salt. Place spice mixture into a sealable Ziplock back with the Steak, Brown Onion and Bell Pepper. Seal and leave to marinade in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Remove steak from refrigerator and leave to get to room temperature 1 hour before cooking. This will ensure an even cook throughout
3. On your stovetop or BBQ, heat a cast-iron hot plate or large skillet to a very high temperature. When the hot plate is smoking, Fry the steak mixture for 4-5 minutes, turning a few times. We want the Steak a beautiful medium rare and the vegetables cooked but still crunchy. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Mix together the Tomatoes, Red Onion, Salt and remaining Lime Juice in a small bowl. Reduce heat to medium, then place small handfuls of cheese the size of the Tortillas on the hot plate, then place tortilla’s on top of the cheese. Add a thin layer of Steak filling and tomato mixture to each of the Tortillas, wait about 1-2 minutes then fold the Tortilla in half
5. Cook on each side for 1 minute until the Cheese on the outside of the tortilla is a lovely golden brown
6. Serve immediately with Salsa Verde. It’s a messy dish so go nuts spooning the Salsa Verde into the Tacodilla’s or smother it on top! Enjoy!
   
   

Also check out our sides page for some brilliant side dishes to serve alongside the Carne Asada Cheesy Tacos. One brilliant side dish to add into the Tacodilla are our Pickled Onions which add some lovely acidity to cut through the richness of the dish. Happy cooking!