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Grilled Steak Tacos


  • Author: Tania Van Pelt
  • Prep Time: 390 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 420 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
What's for dinner? Grilled Steak Tacos inspired by cookbook writer Mark Bittman
Scale

Ingredients

Grilled Vegetables and Guacamole

  • 3 avocados (halved and pitted)
  • ¼ cup of fresh cilantro (stems and leaves, finely diced)
  • 1 jalapeño (seeded, finely diced)
  • Fresh limes (2 to 3)
  • 2 ears of corn (shucked)
  • 1 large zucchini (sliced lengthwise)
  • 2 large bell peppers (cored and halved)
  • Extra-virgin live oil
  • Salt and ground black pepper

Tacos

  • Corn tortillas
  • pounds grass-fed skirt or flank steak (about an inch thick)

Marinade for the steak

  • 1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon grated orange zest plus ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for grilling)
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 1½ tablespoons fresh oregano
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a blender, combine the 
citrus zests and juice with the 
2 tablespoons of olive oil, the garlic, oregano, cumin, 1¼ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper and blend until smooth.
  2. In a glass or ceramic baking dish, pour all but ¼ cup of 
the marinade over the steak and turn to coat. Let stand for 
15 minutes, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 
up to 24 hours.
  3. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct cooking; the heat should be high on one side and medium on the other, with the rack about 4 inches from the flame. Have 2 platters handy; one so you can remove the vegetables as they begin to char, and another for the steak.
  4. Once you have the vegetables prepped, toss or rub them all with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  5. On the hottest part of the grill, put the corn, bell peppers, and/or zucchini and char lightly, turning as necessary, for no more than 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the platter as they finish cooking.
  6. Remove the steak from the marinade, letting the excess drip off. Season with salt and pepper and grill over medium/moderate heat, turning once, until lightly charred and/or an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 125°, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the steak to a carving board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the meat against the grain and transfer to a platter with lime wedges. Drizzle with the reserved marinade.
  7. While the steak rests, prepare the vegetables for serving: Strip the corn kernels off the cob. Slice the zucchini, and peppers into thin strips
  8. Dress the zucchini, peppers, and corn with a little lime juice (about half a lime).
  9. For the guacamole: Halve the avocados, scoop out the flesh and gently mash, season, to taste, with sea salt, and juice from 1 to 2 limes, gently stir in the chopped cilantro and diced jalapeño pepper,.
  10. Warm the tortillas on the grill.
  11. Serve the steak with the grilled vegetables, guacamole, corn tortillas, lime wedges, and hot sauce.

Notes

Definitely plan ahead, and marinate that beef for at least a few hours. Do it in the morning before work, and then cooking time is very quick. Use whichever vegetables you prefer. I like corn, bell peppers, and zucchini because they grill so well. And, the guacamole takes all of 5 minutes to make.