This post is brought to you by Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. All opinions are my own.
Helloooooo, summer!
This is it. This is summer living. We are in the thick of it – those hot days when the sun doesn’t set until 9pm, and those breezy, warm summer nights that make you feel like you’d be a fool to not just permanently live outside – and these rockin’ chimichurri steak tacos are showing up at exactly the right time.
The charred tortilla around that juicy, flavorful beef would almost be enough in and of itself, but then we have the tangy kick from the chimichurri, the salty cotija and fresh cilantro on top, a few scattered red onions, and a creamy guac tucked into the side. Dreamy with a capital D.
We’ve talked about my dinner club, right? I have a group of 6 friends + me that get together once a month or so to talk, laugh, and cry – which, by the way, I feel like is one of those generic things that you say as a descriptor for any group of friends (“we laugh and cry”), but it is actually true for this group. Almost every time we get together, we leave with sore abs from all the laughter and clean eyes from crying it out. It’s the deepest level of therapy.
One other thing we do: EAT REALLY GOOD FOOD.
Usually dinner club nights are a night where we make and eat something that would otherwise be “too fancy” for weeknight eating at home with our families. We all land somewhere on the foodie spectrum, so trying new recipes and going totally overboard on sides, appetizers, desserts is kind of standard practice.
Which is how I got introduced to these ROCKIN’ chimichurri steak tacos.
First of all, chimichurri. Can we talk about it?
It’s so easy and so good. It’s like a more versatile pesto – just a garlicky herb, oil, and vinegar based sauce that I think traditionally uses parsley, but in this case, I went for parsley AND cilantro because this saucy wonder is destined for taco greatness.
We grilled these tacos at my friend Ang’s house! S/o to Ang and company.
A few things to note about our process:
- The steak sat in a nice lil’ marinade for a few hours before we started, which was a big deal in terms of the flavor of the meat. It was pretty solidly green because of all the yummy stuff in it: jalapeño, lime, and cilantro. It looked a little scary pre-grilling, BUT OMG SO GOOD. Do not skip the marinade.
- We tried two different cuts of meat: sirloin steak and flank steak. Both worked! But our club members (fancy people that we are) preferred the taste and texture of the flank steak. The pictures show sirloin steak on the grill, but just know that we also love and recommend flank steak.
- FYI we had an audience member named Odie who was super interested in what was going on and was compulsively licking his lips. 👇🏼 Maybe you and your furball can relate.
When the meat was grilled, we let it rest, sliced it up and served it on some charred tortillas. A drizzle of chimichurri, a sprinkle of cotija cheese and cilantro, a squeeze of lime and a thwap of guacamole if you’re ambitious…
Okay, YES. It was so good.
This is actual footage of me living my best summer life.
My appreciation for quality steak tacos is at an all-time high. These tacos were:
- Not intimidating
- Perfect for sharing with friends
- EXTREMELY TASTY. Rockin’, some might even say.
This is my wish for you: that you would find a night that you can leave work a little bit early, invite one to two to 10 friends over, and fire up the grill. That you’d bust out the chips and salsa and beers and lemonade and let people sit around and chill out in the evening summer sun while you casually grill them some juicy, flavor-loaded steak to go on their colorful, summery tacos. That you’d get to the end of summer feeling like you have lived it, maybe in part because of some rockin’ chimichurri steak tacos.
Thanks to my friend Ang for the help grilling and preparing, my dinner club friends for devouring these tacos with us, beef for being tender and juicy and delicious all tucked up into that tortilla, and SUMMER for being the happiest season ever.
Rockin’ Chimichurri Steak Tacos
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 10–12 tacos 1x
Description
Chimichurri Steak Tacos – spicy marinated grilled steak, a quick chimi sauce, and all your other favorite toppings.
Ingredients
Scale
Marinade:
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 handful cilantro
- 5 garlic cloves
- juice of 2 limes
- juice of 1 orange
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
For the Steak Tacos:
- 2–3 pounds flank steak
- corn or flour tortillas
- red onion
- cotija cheese
- cilantro
- guacamole (see notes)
- chimichurri (see notes)
Instructions
- Marinade: Blend marinade ingredients together until smooth. Place the steak in a large bowl or dish, cover with the marinade, and let rest in the fridge for 1-8 hours (4 hours is pretty ideal).
- Toppings: Prep your other toppings!
- Grilling the Steak: Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove meat from marinade and discard remaining marinade. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Place steak on grill (it should sizzle!) and grill for 7-9 minutes per side, flipping just once. When a meat thermometer reads 140-145, remove from grill and cover in foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes and boom: perfect medium rare. Grill to 155/160 for medium.
- Assembly: Slice your steak against the grain into long strips and build your tacos – steak, chimichurri, cotija, cilantro, red onion, and guacamole for good measure.
Notes
Chimichurri: 1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pulse through a food processor till somewhere between chunky and smooth. We also added a handful of fresh cilantro.
Super Quick Guac: 3 avocados, squeeze of lime, chopped cilantro, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: steak tacos, chimichurri sauce, chimichurri steak tacos
Thank you to Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner for sponsoring this recipe!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of yummy beef recipes. Check it out!