Authentic Carne Asada Recipes Straight from Mexico

My favorite part of summer is Sunday carne asada. I was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. Chihuahua is one of the most important cattle states in Mexico; almost all the meat produced here is exported to the United States. We’re famous for our cheeses and good meat, so believe me when I say I know what I’m talking about when it comes to authentic carne asada recipes.

There are different types of marinades for carne asada, and that also depends on the cuts of meat you’re going to use. This summer, I’ll be sharing the most delicious Mexican marinades, from the ones using beer AKA cerveza to those venturing with citrus juice such as orange juice or lime juice and garlic.

The most popular carne asada steaks are ribeye, New York, and of course, the famous arrachera (flank steak), sirloin. In southern Mexico, they use cecina, which isn’t really to my liking. I mean, between a ribeye and cecina, there’s no comparison.

When dealing with high-quality beef steaks such as ribeye, my personal preference is using a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, and crushed garlic in a mortar or molcajete is enough to marinate without interfering too much with the meat’s flavor. When it comes to cheaper carne asada meat but still very popular different cuts of beef such arrachera or flank steak, that’s when a more imaginative marinade is required, so here’s my dad’s recipe that’s always a hit:

Carne asada Marinade ingredients

For 2.5 pounds of meat:

• ¼ cup of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 spoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, olive or avocado, whichever you have.

Authentic Carne Asada recipe step-by-step

Mix the ingredients and coat the meat with them; the longer you let them marinate in the refrigerator, the more flavor they’ll absorb. Let it marinate for at least a couple of hours, but I prefer to leave it overnight.

You can use an airtight container to marinade and flip every couple of hours, although I love to do it in a freezer bag or ziplock bag as it occupies less space in the refrigerator. The plastic bag technique is my favorite for marinated beef.

For best results, I will recommend leaving it overnight, I do not think that 24-hour marinade is necessary. Overnight is more than enough to have a great flavorful carne asada.

After the marinated beef is ready, transfer the steak to the grill and cook as desired. This is all you need for a great carne asada.

Other carne asada recipes you will love!

• Grilled Flanken Style Short Ribs
• Grilled Sirloin Carne Asada
• Arrachera Mexican Marinade

If you’re unsure how to light the charcoal grill, I have a blog where I explain step-by-step how to do it. If you want your meat to be tender carne asada, here I show how to prepare a natural meat tenderizer at home. I also have the recipe for preparing short ribs for carne asada.

Carne Asada is always accompanied by:

• Guacamole
• Frijoles charros
• Corn Tortillas, or flour tortillas, or both! Learn to heat tortillas like a pro!
• Salsa Taquera
• Mexican rice
• Roasted poblanos stuffed with cheese
• lemon juice
• pico de gallo
• grilled green onions
• warm corn tortillas for your steak tacos! 
• fresh cilantro
• Salsa verde
• Aguacate Salsa aka avocado sauce
• Papas asadas with mantequilla, butter.

I know some people like to add sour cream to carne asada tacos but that is not authentic Mexican tacos, if you want a full list and recipes for Cinco de Mayo or Taco Tuesday, Authentic Mexican Taco Toppings check out this post.

I hope this carne asada steak recipe turns out delicious for you, this simple marinade recipe takes this tender carne asada to another level of riquisimo!