Arrachera Carne Asada

Authentic arrachera carne asada is our favorite summer meal! Carne asada consists of thinly sliced ranchera meat or skirt steak that’s marinated and then grilled. If my husband had his way he would make it every week. It’s so delicious. Serve it with some warm corn tortillas and fresh pico de gallo.

What is arrachera meat?

Arrachera is a cut of beef referred to as “skirt steak” that’s typically used for carne asada.

Carne asada translates to “grilled meat” in English.

Other cuts such as ranchera meat or flank steak also work great for carne asada.

If you have a Mexican meat market or “carnicería” nearby I highly recommend you get your meat there.

Your local carnicería will have a variety of cuts of meats to choose from such as diesmillo, arrachera, cecina and adobada just to name a few. These will all work fantastically for carne asada.

Arrachera marinade ingredients

We will be marinating our arrachera in a delicious marinade before grilling to give it even more flavor.

Marinade ingredients for carne asada will vary between homes. These are the ingredients we like to use to marinate our meat.

• Garlic salt (I use Lawry’s garlic salt. It’s the best garlic salt out there if you ask me)
• Onion powder
• Ground cumin
• Black pepper
• Lime juice (Freshly squeezed)

Put the arrachera meat in a large bowl.

Then stir the seasonings and lime juice together.

Pour the carne asada citrus marinade over the meat and make sure to submerge the meat into the marinade so that its all covered in it.

Cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge to marinate for about 3 hours before grilling.

I don’t recommend you skip marinating as this will really boosts its flavor and tenderize the meat.

Keep in mind that lime juice is very acidic therefore you don’t want to marinate the steak for more than a few hours.

If left in the lime juice too long the meat will start to break down.

How to grill arrachera

Preheat your grill to a medium heat for 5 minutes.

Then put the marinated arrachera meat on the grill.

Marco, my husband grills his carne asada for about 5-7 minutes on each side.

He prefers his medium well.

Cooking time will depend on how thick the meat is.

You can cook yours according to your preference.

When it’s done transfer the arrachera carne asada to a bowl and let it rest covered for about 5 minutes

What to serve with arrachera carne asada?

While you can’t forget the warm corn tortillas and pico de gallo we also like to serve it with some traditional simple sides such as rice and beans.

And you can’t go wrong with a refreshing agua fresca such as this piña colada agua fresca.

Grilled carne arrachera recipe

I really hope you enjoyed this arrachera carne asada recipe!

Carne asada is the perfect summer food!

It’s great to make for get togethers and birthday parties and everyone loves it.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below and don’t forget to leave it a rating.

Thanks for visiting, see you soon!