Carne asada tacos with chipotle crema

Being raised in Southern California I learned to love and adore tacos. I love all the tacos! Tuesday, in my house (besides of course Sunday) is one of the best days of the week. Why? Taco Tuesday of course! My favorite tacos are, in order, carne asada tacos, fish tacos, and those super yummy Korean beef tacos from Yard House.

I would make ground beef tacos at home, with those shells you can buy at the store, and lettuce and cheese and all that goodness. But those are just ‘quick fix’ tacos really. The good stuff comes from Mexican restaurants, food trucks, or home made. Why does homemade food always taste better?! I think it is because we put love and hard work into our own food. It is quite satisfying to make something amazing. We also know exactly what is going into our meals when we cook them at home.

THAT is why I love cooking so much. Experimenting with flavors and coming up with something that I created. If you are still new to cooking, just remember the more you learn and experiment the better you become.

I have never made carne asada tacos before I made this recipe. However, I knew about Mexican flavors and spices and how to pair them to make something super yummy. I can’t say this is authentic, but I still think it is yummy regardless.

I am so glad I didn’t give up!

Marinating and slow cooking the skirt steak is the KEY to these amazing flavors in the meat. I used a Dutch oven to slow cook this, but you can totally use the Instant Pot^™ or a slow cooker. I just really liked how they turned out in my Dutch oven.

My mom made the tortillas by hand. You can always just buy your favorite tortillas in the store. But they are not that difficult to make, and they make the flavor of these tacos POP. You will not be disappointed by making your own tortillas. Plus, you will learn something new and can brag to all your friends about your culinary endeavors.

Alright, lets get started!

MAKING THE CARNE ASADA MARINADE

To make these Carne Asada tacos combine all the spices for the marinade and olive oil in a gallon sized plastic bag. I do this to keep things clean and simple.

Then put the skirt steak in and smoosh it all together. I like to smoosh the air out a little bit then close the bag.

This keeps more of the marinade on the steak and not in the air pockets. You can have your kids help with the smooshing the marinade around the steak, it’s fun, you just want to make sure the steak is well coated.

Let that sit for at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

cOOKING UP THE MEAT

Once the meat has been marinated put it in your slow cooker.

Just dump the steak and all the marinade in the pot and add 1 cup of beef broth.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for four hours.

Take the meat out, let it rest for 10 minutes, then shred!

tIME TO MAKE THOSE TORTILLAS!

Okay, so I totally fail. I completely forgot to take process shots here! I will do my best to walk you through making these, and as soon as I can I will put up process shots for these!

You really just want to follow the directions on the package of masa harina.

My mother actually made these tortillas so her big tip for creating these tortillas is to smoosh the dough between the bottom of two pie places. It isn’t technically a tortilla press, but hey you do what you gotta do.

Use a lightly oiled cast iron pan to cook the tortillas.

WHIPPING UP THE CHIPOTLE CREMA

Okay so this is not exactly a crema because I am not using Mexican crema for this, but I did not know what else to call it!

You will want to blend up the chipotles to liquify as best as you can then pour the mixture into a strainer and push to strain out the seeds.

It is a bit of work, but you can also try just cutting the seeds out of the chipotles before you blend them up.

How much chipotle you use really depends on how spicy you want it. If you want it really spicy, I would use about ½ c sour cream to 2 tbs chipotle sauce. If you want just a little flavor of chipotle, use about 1 – 2 tsp of chipotle sauce for ½ c sour cream. I cannot stress this enough, if you don’t like a lot of heat, put just a little chipotle sauce in the sour cream at a time until you get the heat you want.

Finally, add the cumin, lime juice and mix all together.

Now you have your meat, your tortillas, and your crema! Well done! All that is left is for you to add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Carne asada tacos with chipotle crema

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Lynnette
• Prep Time: 4 hours
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 8 hours
• Yield: 10 tacos 1x

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Description

These slow cooked carne asada tacos are so delicious! The cumin, garlic and lime in these tacos are the perfect pairing of Mexican flavors. To say these are easy to make is an understatement, and if you are feeling adventurous you can elevate your tacos by making your own tortillas! Fill these guys up with your favorite toppings and you have yourself an amazing summer meal!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Marinade

• ½ tsp lime zest
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 3 tsp chopped garlic
• 4 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ pepper
• 1 ½ lbs. skirt steak, trim off excess fat
• 1 cup olive oil

Tortillas

• 1 ½ cup masa harina
• 1 ¼ cup warm water
• 1 tsp salt

Chipotle crema

• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp lime juice
• Chipotle puree (to taste)

 

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Instructions

Cooking the carne asada

1. Place the steak in a one gallon storage bag.
2. Mix the spices with the olive oil and pour into storage bag with the steak.
3. Marinade the steak for 4 hours or overnight. 
4. In the morning pour the steak and marinade into a Dutch oven.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
6. Cook on low for 4 hrs. 
7. Remove the meat from the Dutch oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. Shred the meat and return to the Dutch oven with the left over liquid. If there is a lot of fat and oil at the top, remove this with a spoon.

Making the tortillas (Do this before the meat has finished cooking.)

1. Mix masa harina with enough warm water to form a soft dough, let dough rest for 15 mins.
2. Knead for 2 minutes.
3. Form balls of about 2 inches place between wax paper, then flatten with a tortilla press or use two glass pie pans.
4. Lightly oil a cast iron pan, or a regular pan if you don’t have a cast iron.
5. Cook on medium heat for 30-40 seconds flip and cook another 30-40 seconds.
6. You can keep tortillas warm in a tortilla warmer, or in the oven or microwave.

Making the chipotle crema

1. Remove seeds from the chipotles

OR

1. Blend up the chipotles with the adobo sauce, then strain the sauce through a strainer.
2. Add the cumin and lime juice to the sour cream.
3. Begin with adding 1 tsp of chipotle sauce to the sour cream, add more as needed to taste. 

 

 

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Notes

This recipe makes at least 10 tacos, but it could be more or less depending on how much meat you use per taco.

I have not made this in the instant pot yet, so I can’t provide accurate cooking times for the instant pot. You at least want to pressure cook the meat long enough for it to shred easily.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Slow Cook
• Cuisine: Mexican