Chipotle Carne Asada Marinade

5 from 9 votes

This Chipotle Carne Asada Marinade is made with fresh ingredients and is flavorful. It's easy to make and is authentic and restaurant quality

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Marinate1

Total Time1 55

Course: Entrees, Sauces

Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Calories: 216.46kcal

Salt the Steak. Pat the thin cut steaks with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Then, season the surface of both sides of the steak with salt. Set aside to prepare the marinade.
Make the Marinade. Add the orange juice, lime juice, white onion, garlic cloves, jalapeno (seeded or deseeded), the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and the spices to a blender, and blend until fully pureed.
Marinate the Steak. Add the salted steak to a zip lock bag or an airtight container and pour 3/4 of the marinade over the steak, ensuring the steak is covered completely.
Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or up to 24 hours. The longer you marinate the steaks, the more flavor there will be.
Reserve the remaining marinade in a separate container.
Cook the Steak. Remove the marinated steaks from the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking to bring them to room temperature. This allows the steaks to cook evenly.
Bring a pan or cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Once hot, remove any excess marinade from the steak and place it on the hot pan.
Sear the steaks for 3-5 minutes, then flip to sear on the other side. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 145°F on an instant-read meat thermometer.
Enjoy. At this time, you can cut up the steak into pieces to serve.
We like to add the cut-up pieces back to the pan, add some of the marinade, and give everything a toss to add extra flavor, but this is optional.

Using an instant-read thermometer, a rare steak will be 120-125°F, medium-rare at 130-140°F, and medium at 145°F. Anything hotter will be well done, and the steak could be chewy and tough.

If you have leftover cooked carne asada, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Any unused marinade can be stored for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 3-4 months. We don’t recommend freezing thawed steak or cooked steak.