Ranchera Meat

Ranchera meat, or flap steak, is the most common cut of beef used for carne asada. It is a highly marbled, thin, and tender cut, lending itself well to marinating, then grilling over high heat. This recipe will teach you how to create a flavorful carne asada using ranchera meat.

Jump to:

• What You'll Need
• How to Prepare
• Variations
• How to Store
• FAQ
• Expert Tips
• How to Serve
• More Recipes You'll Love
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

This smoky, savory, citrusy, and slightly sweet carne asada recipe was originally developed for this Carne Asada Quesadilla, but the meat turned out so well it needed a recipe all its own.

Feel free to leave out the tortillas and cheese below if you would like to use the meat in a different application.

What You'll Need

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• Ranchera Meat/Flap Meat/Flap Steak I found this at my local Mexican market. If you're unable to find flap meat, try skirt steak or flank steak. These cuts may need to cook for a minute or so longer as they are thicker.
• Orange If you don't have access to fresh oranges, try using about ⅓ cup of orange juice instead.
• Lime Fresh lime juice is preferred, but you can also use bottled lime juice. If using bottled juice, use 2 tablespoons in place of one fresh lime.
• White Onion You can use a yellow onion here as well, but white onion is more traditional.
• Jalapeño Fresno chilis would also work here.
• Fresh Garlic If needed, you can use jarred, minced garlic at roughly 1 teaspoon per clove of fresh garlic called for in a recipe.
• Fresh Cilantro
• Beer I used Modelo here, but any lager beer will work fine.
• Olive Oil A high-quality olive oil is always nice, but use whatever you have on hand. You could also use grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
• Soy Sauce I used a low sodium soy sauce. If using a regular soy sauce, be cautious with the amount of salt you add to the marinade.
• Chili Powder I used a regular chili powder, but also tried the recipe with chipotle powder, which was a smokier, slightly spicier variation.
• Cumin Cumin is an ingredient in the chili powder recommended above, but I add a bit more to this recipe for extra warmth and earthiness.
• Sugar I used cane sugar in this recipe.
• Kosher Salt My recommendation is to use the brand Diamond Crystal because it allows you to easily adjust without oversalting. It is a flake shape as opposed to a compact grain, which means it has a less concentrated salty flavor by volume.

How to Prepare

Step One Prepare the jalapeños. Place directly over the flame of a gas grill or place under the broiler in the oven until skin is blackened, turning with tongs as needed. Add to a metal bowl, cover.

After a few minutes, remove the covering. Scrape a paring knife down the exterior of the pepper to remove the skin. Cut off the stem and discard.

Split in half. Use a spoon to remove the seeds and membrane. Set aside to add to the blender with other ingredients.

Step Two Squeeze the juice of the orange and lime into into a high speed blender or food processor. Peel the garlic, peel and quarter the half onion, and add to blender with all remaining ingredients (except the meat).

Step Three Blend until smooth.

Step Four Arrange the ranchera meat in a nonreactive dish, such as a ceramic pie dish, or in a large resealable plastic bag.

Step Five Pour the marinade over the meat, cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Step Six Remove the meat from the fridge 1 to 2 hours before cooking. Drain and discard the marinade, then pat the meat as dry as possible.

Step Seven For a grill pan Place the grill pan on high. Spray or brush the pan with a bit of oil. Add the meat to the grill once hot and cook for 1 to 3 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

The meat will cook quickly. Remove when internal temp reaches 125°F.

For a traditional grill Set a charcoal or gas grill to high heat. When hot, drizzle steaks with olive oil and place on the grill (directly over the coals if using charcoal) and cook until seared, about 1 to 3 minutes per side.

Remove steak from the grill or grill pan and let rest for 10 minutes. Then cut in thin strips on a bias against the grain.

Variations

Smokier Try replacing the chili powder with chipotle powder. This will also add a bit of extra heat to the recipe.

Spicy Replace the jalapeños with chipotle peppers in adobo. Keep in mind this may dramatically increase the heat in the this dish, so use restraint when adding any additional adobo liquid.

More Citrus Add the juice of an additional lime for a more citrus-forward recipe.

How to Store

Cool and then store in an airtight container, making sure to transfer to the fridge within 2 hours of cooking for food safety reasons.

FAQ

Expert Tips

• Be sure to cut your meat against the grain for a tender dish. Instead of cutting with the direction of the longer fibers running through the steak, cutting across these fibers shortens them and makes the meat easier to chew.
• To identify the grain of the meat, look for the long striations. Once you've identified the grain, turn the cooked steak 90 degrees and cut thin slices on the bias (a slightly diagonal cut) instead of straight down.
• Patting your meat dry before cooking will ensure you get attractive grill marks and prevent the meat from boiling in the marinade.

How to Serve

This ranchera meat can be served as the star of a carne asada plate, or in any number of dishes. Here are some suggestions:

Quesadillas - Try adding the carne asada to this Carne Asada Quesadilla.

Tacos - Serve carne asada in a warmed tortilla with fresh Pineapple Pico de Gallo and whatever toppings you'd like, such as cabbage, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or roasted peppers.

Burritos, Enchiladas, Nachos - Add carne asada to any of your favorite Mexican dishes, like these cheese enchiladas.

Fries - People love carne asada fries. Top some crispy fries with carne asada, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, and drizzle with lime juice.

With Rice - This carne asada would be excellent on a bed of Mexican Rice with some sautéed vegetables.

Breakfast - Try some carne asada with a fried egg and some breakfast potatoes.

Salad Topping - Add leftover carne asada to a salad with this Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing.

More Recipes You'll Love

If you're in the mood for more spicy recipes, try these ideas:

Spicy Potato Soft Tacos with Chimichurri

Spicy Pickled Onions

Chipotle Southwest Sauce

Pineapple Habanero Sauce

📖 Recipe