What’s better for dinner than steak fajitas! Flank steak that has been marinated in lime juice, oil, and a few spices. Then grilled on a hot fire until charred and tender. Along with sauteed onions, bell peppers, and all of the other toppings you enjoy!
What’s the Best Steak for Fajitas?
You don’t have to worry too much about which type of steak you should use to make your fajitas. Because honestly just about any cut of beef will work. Ok maybe something really fatty like chuck steak wouldn’t work, but pretty much anything else can. That being said if you want to make sure you are using the best steak in your fajitas you will want to stick with either one of two traditional cuts of beef.
- Flank Steak
- Skirt Steak
Both of these two cuts will result in extremely delicious fajitas. However, keep in mind that these two cuts can be a bit tough if not worked with properly. But don’t fret because as long as you follow two simple techniques I guarantee you’ll end up with super tender beef.
It’s All in the Marinade
The first key to getting tender steak is making sure to use a marinade that not only flavors the meat but also tenderizes it. And today’s marinade is sure to do that thanks to a generous amount of lime juice. Which if you didn’t already know is full of citric acids that will help to tenderize the beef by breaking down the long and tough protein chains in the meat.
So how long should you marinate your meat?
Well if you’re short on time then at least 1 hour should be long enough for the acids to tenderize the meat. However, if you got the time I have found that the sweet spot is generally around 4 to 6 hours. Whatever you choose just make sure to not go over 24 hours. Or else the meat might become too tenderized and have a mushy consistency.
Cutting Against the Grain
The second key for getting super tender flank/skirt steak is making sure to cut it against the grain. You see cuts of beef like flank steak or skirt steak feature long muscle fibers that are aligned in a straight line. And if you cut the beef with the grain you will end up with pieces consisting of these long tough muscle fibers. But if you cut the meat against the grain you are breaking up these muscle fibers which ultimately makes the meat much easier to chew.
So how do you find the grain? Well, let’s check out the flank steak I’m using today to see if you can figure it out.
Can you find the grain?
If you guessed that it’s going from left to right then you are correct! And that means we will want to slice the beef perpendicular to this grain when it’s all cooked. In fact, when it comes to flank steaks I like to cut the beef into three strips along the grain.
That way when I take them off I can easily slice the beef into small pieces against the grain. But that’s totally optional, as long as you cut your meat against the grain it should be tender.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Not a big fan of Steak?: No worries as you can easily make this recipe with either chicken or shrimp. Just follow the same instructions, however, only marinate the meats for no more than 30 minutes. Or else the lime juice will overcook the chicken/shrimp.
- Warm your tortillas: While it’s not necessary, I always recommend that you heat up your flour tortillas before serving them. And there are generally two ways to do this. The first is to simply heat them in a dry pan/skillet for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. The other option is to stack a few (roughly 5) tortillas on a plate. Then cover them with a damp paper towel and microwave them at 30 second intervals until heated through.
- Make them fresh: Or if you are feeling super fancy then you should check out our recipe for making flour tortillas from scratch. Trust me they are so good!
- Sauce it up: Also check out some of our delicious salsa recipes that you can serve with these fajitas like Guacamole, Salsa Molcajete, Salsa Roja, Salsa Verde, Pico de Gallo, and Table Salsa.
Steak Fajitas Recipe
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the Steak:
1½ to 2 Lbs of Flank steak or skirt steak
1 Tablespoon of oil
Juice from 2 limes
1 Tablespoon of chili powder
1 Teaspoon of salt
1 Teaspoon of ground cumin
1 Teaspoon of oregano
½ Teaspoon of garlic powder
½ Teaspoon of onion powder
Remaining Ingredients:
1 Large onion, cut into strips
2 Bell peppers of any color, deseeded and cut into strips
1 Jalapeno pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips (optional)
12 Flour Tortillas, warmed
Optional Toppings:
Shredded lettuce
Pico de gallo
Salsa
Guacamole
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Instructions
- Marinate the steak: Add the oil, lime juice, chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, to a large plastic bag. Use your hands to agitate the bag until all of these ingredients are mixed together. Add the steak to the bag and mix it with the marinade. Let this marinate in your fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Grill the steak: Preheat your grill to high. Once hot take the steak out of the marinade and place each piece on the grill. Let the steaks grill on one side for roughly 3 to 5 minutes, then flip them over and let them grill for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.
This should get you a steak in the medium-rare to medium range. If you would like your steak to be a little more well done then simply cook for an additional minute or two on each side. Once cooked take the steaks off of the grill, tent them with aluminum foil, and let them rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Cook onions and bell peppers: While the steak is resting let’s cook the onion and bell peppers. Get out a large skillet or pan (preferably cast iron) and pour 1 tablespoon of oil into it. Place this over high heat and once hot toss in the sliced onion and peppers. Sautee these in the oil for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are softened, golden in color, and have slight char marks.
- Cut Steak: Once the steak has rested it’s time to cut it. But you want to make sure that you cut against the grain. So first find the way that the lines are going in each steak. Then cut perpendicular to those lines in thin strips.
If you want to you can place the cut steak in with the bell peppers and onion for serving in the pan/skillet.
- Let everyone assemble their own steak fajitas by placing some steak, onion, bell peppers, and whatever additional ingredients they like on some warm flour tortillas. Enjoy!
Steak Fajitas Recipe
Ingredients
For the Steak:
- 1½ to 2 Lbs of Flank steak or skirt steak
- 1 Tablespoon of oil
- Juice from 2 limes
- 1 Tablespoon of chili powder
- 1 Teaspoon of salt
- 1 Teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 Teaspoon of oregano
- ½ Teaspoon of garlic powder
- ½ Teaspoon of onion powder
Remaining Ingredients:
- 1 Large onion cut into strips
- 2 Bell peppers of any color deseeded and cut into strips
- 1 Jalapeno pepper deseeded and cut into thin strips (optional)
- 12 Flour Tortillas warmed
Optional Toppings:
- Shredded lettuce
- Pico de gallo
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Shredded cheese
- Sour Cream
Instructions
- Marinate the steak: Add the oil, lime juice, chili powder, salt, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, to a large plastic bag. Use your hands to agitate the bag until all of these ingredients are mixed together. Add the steak to the bag and mix it with the marinade. Let this marinate in your fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Grill the steak: Preheat your grill to high. Once hot take the steak out of the marinade and place each piece on the grill. Let the steaks grill on one side for roughly 3 to 5 minutes, then flip them over and let them grill for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. This should get you a steak in the medium-rare to medium range. If you would like your steak to be a little more well done then simply cook for an additional minute or two on each side. Once cooked take the steaks off of the grill, tent them with aluminum foil, and let them rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Cook onions and bell peppers: While the steak is resting let’s cook the onion and bell peppers. Get out a large skillet or pan (preferably cast iron) and pour 1 tablespoon of oil into it. Place this over high heat and once hot toss in the sliced onion and peppers. Sautee these in the oil for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are softened, golden in color, and have slight char marks.
- Cut Steak: Once the steak has rested it’s time to cut it. But you want to make sure that you cut against the grain. So first find the way that the lines are going in each steak. Then cut perpendicular to those lines in thin strips. If you want to you can place the cut steak in with the bell peppers and onion for serving in the pan/skillet.
- Let everyone assemble their own steak fajitas by placing some steak, onion, bell peppers, and whatever additional ingredients they like on some warm flour tortillas. Enjoy!
