Steak Soft Tacos
By America's Test KitchenPublished on January 18, 2012
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
To make cutting the steak easier, place the whole flank in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. Serve these soft tacos with shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, pickled jalapeños, and lots of hot sauce or salsa verde (see related recipe).
Instructions
- Place sliced steak in large bowl and sprinkle evenly with chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt. Add garlic, scallions, and chiles and toss to combine. (Steak mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of steak mixture and cook, turning slices once, until just browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and steak and transfer to bowl.
- Off heat, add tomato sauce, water, brown sugar, and lime juice to skillet, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon. Meanwhile, use slotted spoon to transfer browned steak mixture to cutting board, leaving accumulated juices in bowl. Chop steak into rough 1-inch pieces.
- Add reserved juices to skillet and cook until reduced by half, about 6 to 10 minutes over medium heat. Return steak to skillet and cook until meat is glazed and just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Divide among tortillas. Serve.
Yield
Serves 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Our Steak Soft Tacos recipe uses rich-tasting, economical flank steak. We sliced it thin against the grain or else the fibrous meat was very tough. And cooking it any more than rare or medium-rare toughened the meat and made it lose its beefy flavor. Our recipe calls for slicing the steaks before cooking and essentially “stir-frying" the meat. We found it difficult to sear a full steak indoors, but it’s easy to quickly cook the sliced steak in a couple of batches in a large skillet with smoking-hot oil in it.
Before You Begin
To make cutting the steak easier, place the whole flank in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. Serve these soft tacos with shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, pickled jalapeños, and lots of hot sauce or salsa verde (see related recipe).
Instructions
- Place sliced steak in large bowl and sprinkle evenly with chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt. Add garlic, scallions, and chiles and toss to combine. (Steak mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of steak mixture and cook, turning slices once, until just browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and steak and transfer to bowl.
- Off heat, add tomato sauce, water, brown sugar, and lime juice to skillet, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon. Meanwhile, use slotted spoon to transfer browned steak mixture to cutting board, leaving accumulated juices in bowl. Chop steak into rough 1-inch pieces.
- Add reserved juices to skillet and cook until reduced by half, about 6 to 10 minutes over medium heat. Return steak to skillet and cook until meat is glazed and just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Divide among tortillas. Serve.
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