What Cuts Do I Get From a 1/4 Beef
Not just another grilled beef steak fajitas recipe…..made extra juicy and extra tasty with a wicked marinade! Clocking in at just 130 calories per taco, these are super easy, healthy, and made for summer grilling. PS I've also provided my faster recipe for those days when you don't have time to marinate. 🙂
I'm going away tomorrow for a beach escape with my girlfriends and in usual form, I piped up straight away and said "bags taking care of the food!".
No one complained. Everybody wants a proper break. Me? Relaxing = cobbling around in the kitchen with many mouths to feed. 🙂
But it is, after all, a holiday, and I don't plan to spend hours upon hours making complicated fussy things. Being summer in Sydney, the instant thought that came to mind was grilling. Then second to that?
Crowd pleaser. MEXICAN.
Hello Beef Fajitas. I had to do a trial run to make sure you really are good enough for my friends. YES you are. Especially because you're so tasty and juicy from the yummy marinade. 🙂
PS Note the pink. Pink = perfectly cooked beef. 👍🏼 No pink = overcooked beef. 👎🏼
PPS Note the juices soaking into the wooden cutting board. Extra juicy from the marinade!
I don't know about you, but when it comes to anything in taco/burrito/roll form, I always overstuff.
Self control issues. I can honestly say that I have NEVER bundled up a taco and thought "Oh, there's room for more stuffing".
You too?
That photo above might look like a sensible amount, but here it is folded up.
See? I have no ability to judge the right amout.
Overstuffed taco. Again.
Maybe it doesn't LOOK overstuffed. But I can tell you that when I picked it up 2 seconds after I took that photo, it required both hands and when I took a bite, filling squirted out the other end. 😂
Slopping up taco filling from my plate with my hands (Cutlery?? What's that??) is all part of the Mexican Fiesta experience in my books.
And honestly, when it comes to a fast midweek meal or feeding a crowd? These Fajitas. SO good. So easy.
Go wild with the fixings. Don't hold back. But I promise you, even if you forgo all the fixings, the BEEF is so juicy and full of flavour, you won't miss them. – Nagi x
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Servings 4
Tap or hover to scale
Beef Fajitas made extra juicy and extra tasty with a wicked marinade that tenderises and flavours the beef! But if you don't have time to marinade, see Note 7 for a faster version. Adapted from this recipe by Tyler Florence (mine is easier and I think it is just as tasty!)
Marinated Beef
- 1 lb / 500g beef steak (rump and skirt are ideal) (Note 1)
- 4 tbsp / 1/4 cup orange juice , fresh (1 orange)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)
- 1 tsp chipotle powder (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Fajitas
- 2 - 3 tbsp oil
- 2 bell peppers/capsicum , sliced (Note 3)
- 1 large onion , halved and sliced (brown, yellow, white)
- Salt and pepper
Fixings
- 12 tortillas , small
- Avocado
- Cilantro/coriander
- Sour cream
- Lime wedges
- Tomatoes , sliced, or Pico de gallo
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Place the Marinated Beef ingredients in a ziplock bag, massage to coat then refrigerate for 2 hour to overnight.
-
Remove beef from marinade 30 minutes prior to cooking (to bring to room temperature) and pat dry with paper towels. Discard marinade.
-
Drizzle 1/2 tbsp of oil on each side of the beef (1 tbsp in total).
-
Heat the BBQ or a skillet on high heat. Cook beef to your liking. (Note 4)
-
Remove beef onto a plate and cover loosely with foil.
-
Return skillet to stove, still on high heat, and heat 1/2 tbsp oil. Add onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and charred. Remove onto serving plate.
-
Heat remaining 1/2 tbsp oil in the skillet. Add bell pepper/capsicum, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until charred. Remove onto plate.
-
Slice beef thinly against the grain (Note 5).
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Serve with warmed tortillas and fixings of choice. (Note 6)
1. You can use any cut of beef suitable for grilling. I love using rump and skirt steak. Skirt steak in Australia is "up and coming", not mainstream, and I find that many butchers/supermarkets cut them too thinly, which is why I usually make this with rump. But I love the flavour of skirt steak for fajitas. And it's an ideal cut because it's (usually) pretty good value and benefits from the tenderising from the marinade.
2. Chipotle Powder can be annoyingly hard to find in Australia...still! When I find it, I stock up. 🙂 If you can't find it, never fear! You can achieve a similar flavour with: 3/4 tsp SMOKED paprika powder (available at supermarkets) and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.
3. I like to use a mix of red, yellow and green capsicums - just for extra vibrant colour!
4. The question of how long to cook steak is like asking how long is a piece of string! 🙂 On a stinking hot skillet with a steak that is 1.5cm / 3/5" thick (per photos in this recipe), I cook each side for 1 1/2 minutes for medium rare. Remember - the beef will continue to cook while resting! It is safer to cook it under than over. If you slice it and find it is rarer than you want, it's easy to pop back into the skillet. But you can't undo overcooked steak!
5. To SLICE the beef, place it in front of you and notice the direction the fibres are going. Then cut 90 degrees THROUGH the fibres. This will yield the most tender slices of beef. This is especially important if you are using skirt steak!
6. Fixings take it to the next level but the beef is so juicy, I'm honestly happy eating this without any. But for really quick fixings, I just use slices of avocado and tomato. If I feel like making more of an effort, I make the following (shown in the photos):
- Avocado: Dice and toss with lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped cilantro/coriander, and finely chopped chilli.
- Pico de Gallo
7. If you don't have time to MARINATE, just rub the beef with a spice mix as follows then cook: 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp EACH smoked paprika, cumin and coriander powder, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, black pepper. Rub it on and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. This will yield a fairly thick spice rub crust that will add loads of flavour to compensate for not marinating. Then follow the recipe. But note: If using skirt steak, the beef will not be as tender because the OJ and lime tenderise the beef. Not as important for more tender cuts of beef like rump, scotch fillet etc, but it makes quite a difference with skirt steak!
8. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings INCLUDING flour tortillas (3 each) but excluding other optional Fixings (as listed in the recipe).
Serving: 289 g Calories: 392 cal (20%) Carbohydrates: 39.2 g (13%) Protein: 30 g (60%) Fat: 13.6 g (21%) Saturated Fat: 1.2 g (8%) Sodium: 36 mg (2%) Potassium: 314 mg (9%) Fiber: 6.6 g (28%) Sugar: 4.7 g (5%) Vitamin A: 1850 IU (37%) Vitamin C: 108.1 mg (131%) Calcium: 70 mg (7%) Iron: 1.3 mg (7%)
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