We have yet to meet a taco we didn’t love. But the key to the best flank steak tacos is the marinade and then a hot grill for great flavor. Pair with grilled onions and peppers in soft tortillas to take Taco Tuesday—or any day, up a notch!
Table of Contents
In this recipe:
Flank steak is one of those cuts of beef that loves a marinade and hot and fast cook over a grill. And when it comes to steak taco recipes, it doesn’t get more classic than thinly sliced grilled steak folded into warmed tortillas. We could stop there and be happy, but add your favorite taco toppings, and taco night – or any night – gets better.
Flank is a tough, lean cut from the flanken area of the animal, behind the belly. It’s got long muscle fibers that run the length of the steak. It’s a great choice for easy steak tacos, roulades, and healthy eating, over salads. But, paired with a flame kiss from charcoal, or any outdoor grill and shaved into thin slices may be our favorite way to dish up this steak cut.
Flank Steak Tacos Recipe Ingredients
- Flank steak – this cut is common in most markets, but if you can’t find it near you, see our substitution note below or check out our trusted places to buy meat online for where we order ours.
- Flank steak marinade – our marinade ingredients has fresh lime juice and ground cumin to amp up the flavor.
- Olive oil – or your favorite neutral cooking oil
- Peppers – we use red and green bell peppers. When in season, poblanos are also a great addition for a richer taste.
- Onions – white onions or red onion are great for grilling
- Salt and pepper– always use kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Corn tortillas or flour tortillas
Taco Toppings:
- Fresh Lime Wedges
- Cotija Cheese
- Pico de gallo
- Fresh cilantro
- Sliced jalapeno or hot sauce
How to Make Flank Steak Tacos
1. Prep & marinate the steak
- Start by removing your steak from the package and patting it dry with paper towels. Trim the meat if needed of any stray pieces of fat hanging off.
- Then marinate the flank steak for 6 to 12 hours in the flank steak marinade. You can marinate the steak ahead of time for an easy weeknight dinner when you get home from work.
- When ready to cook, prep the grill for indirect heat by building a 2-zone fire. Do this by lighting charcoal in a charcoal chimney. When it’s 70% ashed over, carefully pour the charcoal into a pile on one side of the grill. Cover with the grate and lid and adjust the airflow as needed to get the grill to around 400 degrees F. Let the grill heat up.
- Meanwhile, remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry.
- Toss the peppers and onions in oil and season with a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.
2. Grill the flank steak tacos
- When the grill is hot, arrange the flank steak on the hot side of the grill. Due to the thickness of this cut, it will take a few minutes to cook; stand by with long tongs and rotate the steak as needed to avoid flare-ups.
- After about 7 minutes, when the steak has a good sear from edge to edge, flip the steak and continue to cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F for medium rare. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the meat at it’s the thickest point.
- Place the grilled flank steak on a clean baking sheet and tent it with aluminum foil to rest.
- While the steak rests, grill the peppers and onions, rotating from the cooler to the hot side of the grill to avoid burning them. Add the tortillas and work in a rotation as well from the cooler to the hot side to soften them and add a bit of golden brown color. Wrap the tortillas in foil to keep them warm for serving, and add the veggies to the platter with the steak.
- On a clean cutting board, slice the tender flank steak into thin strips against the grain. Then chop the flank steak into bite-sized pieces. Roughly chop the grilled onions and peppers too for these easy flank steak tacos.
- Arrange all of your favorite toppings and let everyone build their tacos (or make this recipe for taco salads) and enjoy.
Tips For Grilling Flank Steak For Tacos
Start with a clean grill grate. Cleaning your grill grates before every cook is a great way to maintain your grill and keep food from sticking. To easily clean your grill grate, let it get hot over the coals or heat source, then with a grill brush or long tongs holding an onion rubbed with a little oil, rub the grill grates clean of any built-up food or stuck on residue.
For a gas grill:
Preheat the gas grill by turning all the burners on, cleaning and oiling the grill grate, and close the lid. When the grill has reached 400 degrees F, turn off 2 of the 3 burners. Add the flank steak to the hot side of the grill over the ignited burner, and cook as instructed in the recipe card.
For a pellet grill:
Preheat your Traeger grill or pellet smoker to its sear setting. Allow the grill to preheat for 20 minutes. Add a smoker box filled with wood chips to the grill grate for added flavor. When the grill has preheated, add the flank steak to the grill and cook, rotating as needed as instructed above. However, with no cooler side to maneuver the meat or veggies to, watch them carefully to avoid burning.
How to Serve The Perfect Flank Steak Taco
“More tacos” is always our answer to what to serve with tacos. But if you want a variety of side dishes to pair with this, try smoked corn on the cob, a big salad, rice or cauliflower rice, or rajas con crema.
Top these grilled flank steak tacos with poblano crema, homemade chimichurri, or a vibrant chimichurri rojo for a delicious meal.
To drink, pair these juicy flank steak tacos with an ice-cold smoked mezcal margarita, light beer, or fruity light red wine, like Pinot Noir.
Flank Steak Taco Recipe Storage and Reheating
Store leftover steak by itself in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store the remaining ingredients and tortillas separately to avoid things getting soggy.
Flank Steak Tacos Recipe FAQs
Skirt steak has a richer beef flavor than flank steak, but we love how this cut takes on the marinade and flavors for tacos. If you can’t find flank at your local market, skirt steak is a great alternative for it for tacos. Skirt tends to be longer and thinner than flank steak, so adjust your grilling time to cook it to your desired internal temperature. Because skirt steak has more fat than flank steak, we like it cooked more toward medium to help the chew.
Cut against the grain is the number one rule for great texture for any steak. But particularly so for flank steak. Because the muscle fibers run long through this cut, cutting against the grain on a bias helps shorten the fibers creating the best mouthfeel when chewing.
Cut the flank steak into thin strips against the grain and then chop the meat to fill the taco shells for an easy recipe the whole family will love. This way, no one get’s stuck trying to politely chew through a long strip of meat while biting into their flank steak taco.
No, if you are short on time, you can skip the marinated flank steak. But, the marinade does help tenderize this lean cut of beef and make the flavor pop for delicious flank steak tacos.
MORE DELICIOUS FLANK STEAK RECIPES
Beef Recipes
Grilled Flank Steak
Sauces, Mops, & Condiments
Flank Steak Marinade Recipe
Beef Recipes
Carne Asada Nachos
Flank Steak Taco Recipe
Ingredients
For the steak tacos
- 1.5 lbs Flank steak
- 1 Flank steak marinade
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Peppers seeds removed and sliced into rings
- 1 Onion sliced into rings
- Salt and Pepper
- Corn tortillas or flour tortillas
Taco Toppings:
- Lime Wedges
- Cotija Cheese
- Pico de gallo
- Fresh cilantro
- Sliced jalapeno or hot sauce
Instructions
Prep & marinate the steak
- Start by removing your steak from the package and patting it dry with paper towels. Trim the meat, if needed, of any stray pieces of fat hanging off.
- Then marinate the flank steak for 6 to 12 hours in the flank steak marinade.
Prep the Grill
- When ready to cook, prep the grill for indirect heat by building a 2-zone fire. Do this by lighting charcoal in a charcoal chimney.
- When it's 70% ashed over, carefully pour the charcoal into a pile on one side of the grill.
- Cover with the grate and lid and adjust the airflow as needed to get the grill to around 400 degrees F. Let the grill heat up.
- Meanwhile, remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry.
- Toss the peppers and onions in oil and season with a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Grill the flank steak tacos
- When the grill is hot, arrange the flank steak on the hot side of the grill.
- After about 7 minutes, when the steak has a good sear from edge to edge, flip the steak and continue to cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F for medium rare with an digital meat thermomter.
- Place the grilled flank steak on a clean baking sheet and tent it with aluminum foil to rest.
- While the steak rests, grill the peppers and onions, rotating from the cooler to the hot side of the grill to avoid burning them.
- Add the tortillas and work in a rotation as well from the cooler to the hot side to soften them and add a bit of golden brown color.
- Wrap the tortillas in foil to keep them warm for serving, and add the veggies to the platter with the steak.
Rest slice and serve
- On a clean cutting board, slice the tender flank steak into thin strips against the grain.
- Then chop the flank steak into bite-sized pieces. Roughly chop the grilled onions and peppers too for these easy flank steak tacos.
- Arrange all of your favorite toppings and let everyone build their tacos (or make this recipe for taco salads) and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
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Easy cook , great flavor, spot on. Family loved it
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