You need to make these. As soon as possible.
These chipotle steak tacos are topped with a simple mixture of cilantro and onion, with a drizzle of the pan sauce leftover from cooking the steak. They are perfection. The flavor of the meat is spicy and smoky from a simple chipotle pepper marinade, which pairs perfectly with the bright and crunchy cilantro onion mixture and a squeeze of fresh lime juice on top. I just ate four of these (yes, FOUR), and I strongly believe that I would continue to eat more if I hadn’t run out. Do you think there’s still time to go to the store and get more ingredients??? (she said with a desperate tone) Well, even though I can’t have any more of these tacos right now, I am happy because Zach and I made a sacred oath tonight that we will have tacos once a week from this point on until… well, probably forever. And probably on Tuesdays. Because, alliteration. This recipe uses small pieces of fajita-cut steak (I bought mine from the store already cut up, but you can use any cut of beef you want and thinly slice it yourself), which makes the cooking time very fast. The steak is marinated in a simple mixture of two chopped chipotle peppers (or one, or three… depending on your spice preference!), minced garlic, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I left mine marinating for about an hour- you can do this step the night before and leave them marinating overnight for even deeper flavor.
Fun fact time. Did you know that chipotle peppers are just jalapeno peppers that have been smoked? And did you ALSO know that including something acidic in marinades (such as the lime juice in this recipe) makes meat more tender? That’s why chicken is sometimes soaked in buttermilk before breading and frying- the acidity of the buttermilk makes the chicken super juicy. Oh, the things you learn from binge-watching the Food Network on weekends :-) Once you’re ready to make the tacos, brown the steak in a skillet for about 5 minutes, or until cooked through (it will take very little time, since it’s cut into such small pieces). Once the meat is cooked, remove from the pan so it doesn’t continue to cook. You will be left with some sauce left in the pan- DO NOT THROW THIS OUT. You will be drizzling each taco with these delicious juices, making them extra tasty.
While the meat is cooking, chop up equal parts of cilantro and onion (I used yellow onion, but you can use red for a milder onion taste). Toast up the corn tortillas over your gas burner on your stovetop or in the oven, or just microwave them for a few seconds to soften them up (cold corn tortillas will crumble when you try and fold them- warm or toasted ones will be malleable enough to fold over to create your tacos). Top each corn tortilla with steak, cilantro and onion, and drizzle with the pan juices. Squeeze a bit of fresh lime juice on there, too. Eat immediately, and try not to be too sad when they are all gone. Recipe below. Enjoy!
