Easy Carne Asada

Notes

This is a really simple method I use often to cook steak— it’s sort of a riff on carne asada, but designed to get food on the table quickly and easily.

A proper carne asada requires some time to marinate and is usually best cooked over charcoal. This method makes a few changes:

I swap out a marinade for a simple seasoning blend.
I cook down some chiles and onions beforehand to build up extra flavor.
I dice up the steak to make it really quick to cook.
I sear + saute it in a skillet to make the cooking process easier than it is on a grill.

This method makes things a lot easier— because the pieces are so small you don’t have to worry so much about whether or not the steak is at the right temp. It’s easy to see and test them, so it’s basically foolproof. Plus it’s quick and doesn’t require the finesse that more advanced steak methods might.

I also love this method because it’s so versatile. As you can see from the photos below, I’ve used this in just about every configuration possible— tortas, tacos, nachos, burritos, rice bowls, quesadillas, and more.

This works great with almost any steak cut— Denver, underblade, flatiron, ribeye, and NY strip are some of my favorites. The key here is to use a tender cut that you’d use for steak. It won’t work nearly as well with tougher cuts meant for slow cooking.

In addition to your steak, you’ll need some onion, jalapeño or serrano peppers, and some simple seasonings. I use a blend of chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and cumin most of the time, but you can make this work with just a good chile powder. Hopefully these are all staples you already have in your pantry, which makes this dish especially easy to whip up on any given night.

Ingredients

any good steak cut
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1-2 jalapeño or serrano chiles
seasoning blend (or just use a good chile powder)
- 1 tbsp chile powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- a few cracks of black pepper
beef tallow, ghee, or olive oil
salt

Process

Thinly slice 1/2 of a yellow onion and one jalapeño or serrano chile.

Place a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add in a bit of olive oil, beef tallow, or ghee.

Add in the onions and chiles and cook, moving occasionally, until they’re soft. Add some salt, and continue cooking until they’re starting to turn golden-brown.

You can also add in some minced garlic here, if you’d like. Just add it in at the end, since it will cook much faster than the onions and chiles.

Once they’re ready, pull them off the heat and set them aside in a bowl.

While your onions are cooking, you can dice up and season your steak. I like to cut it into medium-sized cubes.

Season the steak cubes all over with salt. Then season with your spice blend. I’ve made this with just chile powder and it’s great. If I have them all, I’ll do a mix of about 1tbsp chile powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, a pinch of cumin, and a few cracks of black pepper.

This dish will be extra delicious if you buy a high-quality chile powder from a good source like Burlap & Barrel. I particularly love their Cobanero chile, paprika, and smoked chipotle, but I have recommendations for lots of chile powders here.

Place the pan back on the burner, this time over medium-high heat.

Once it’s hot, add in a bit of oil (I like to use tallow or ghee here) and allow that to heat up. When the oil is hot, add in the steak cubes, and allow them to brown on one side.

Once they’re starting to brown, give them a toss and brown the other side.

Optional step: at this point you can pour in a small splash of beef bone broth— just enough to coat the pan in a thin layer. This will deglaze the pan, the steam will finish cooking the steak through, and the broth will quickly reduce to a nice glaze that covers the steak. But you can also skip this step if you don’t want to complicate things. I like to do it both ways.

Continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until the cubes are mostly cooked through. This should only take a few minutes.