Crave worthy loaded nachos layered with perfectly marinated and grilled Carne Asada piled high with all the cheese and nacho chips you could possibly imagine, black beans, cilantro green sauce, fresh pico de gallo, pickled red onions and avocado.

We’re always looking for fun ways to amp up our nachos so today were introducing Carne Asada Nachos! These nachos are topped with perfectly marinated and grilled carne asada, pico de gallo, beans, a fresh cilantro green sauce and all the cheese you could possibly imagine.

This is the perfect crowd pleaser whether your entertaining friends or having a family-style grazing dinner which is usually how we serve dinner in our house. This tender Carne Asada recipe is so flavorful, the steak is juicy and tender and all you need is a few simple ingredients

Carne Asada is one of our favorite things to order at a Mexican restaurant. Simply put its marinated and prepared steak that’s grilled. The citrus is the key to getting the steak perfectly tenderized.

Carne Asada is so easy to make. Start with a simple citrus marinade for your flank steak or strip steak. We also used rib eye in the past, placed in the freezer for 5 minutes then sliced it really thin and marinade it in orange juice, olive oil, spices, lime juice and cilantro. You’ll want to grill the steak on high heat to achieve those beautiful grill marks and being mindful not to overcook the steak. If you’ve pre-sliced your meat really thin then you only need to grill for about 2 minutes per side. The key to tender juicy steak on your nachos is to slice the meat really thin into small pieces to you don’t get chewy bites.

As for the toppings we went with a cheese blend, a green sauce, black beans, pickled red onions and fresh pico de gallo but really you can top your nachos with some of your favorite nacho toppings. We piled our nachos high trash can style similar to what you would get in a restaurant. In order to achieve these layers we melted small layers at a time in the oven with just nacho chips, cheese, black beans and carne asada to ensure each layer had a generous portion of toppings and that the cheese would be melted on the bottom layer. We repeated this until we were satisfied with our pile of nachos and of course added all the toppings once the cheese was melted.

If you have leftovers you can make burritos or even tacos.

Cheers!

@thecommunalfeast

Print Recipe

CARNE ASADA NACHOS

Crave worthy loaded nachos layered with perfectly marinated and grilled Carne Asada piled high with all the cheese and nacho chips you could possibly imagine, black beans, cilantro green sauce, fresh pico de gallo, pickled red onions and avocado.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Party Foods

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 4

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs flank steak skirt steak (or you can even use a nice rib eye, freeze it for 5 mins, slice really thin layers horizontally for really thin flash grilled steak.)
• 1 cup orange juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Juices from 2 limes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
• Tortilla chips
• 2 cups shredded cheese blend
• ½ cup black beans
• Toppings:
• Pico de gallo
• Pickled red onions
• Pickled jalepenos
• Guacamole
• Cilantro Green Sauce:
• 1 cup basil
• 2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp pepper

Instructions

• 1. In a large mixing bowl, combine orange juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, whisk until combined
• 2. Combine the marinade with your steak and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, the longer the better
• 3. Pre heat the grill to high heat
• 4. Remove the steak from the marinade and grill about 6 to 8 minutes per side. (Best cooked medium rare, if you are using thinly sliced steak, grill on each side for 2 minutes, you can coat the steak with a bit of the marinade to help get the to sizzle and achieve those grill marks as your cooking)
• 5. Remove the steak and let rest for 10 minutes. Once your steak has rested, slice really thin slices against the grain and then chop those slices into bite size pieces. You might have extra steak, store any leftovers
• 6. To make the green sauce: add all the ingredients to a food processor, blend until you get a dark green thick sauce -about 2 minutes. Adjust taste by adding more seasoning or cilantro.
• 7. If making sheet pan nachos all in one layer: Heat the oven to 375. Place tortilla chip onto baking sheet, next layer with cheese, black beans and steak. Bake until cheese has melted about 10 minutes. Top with cilantro green sauce, pico de gallo, pickled red onions, pickled jalepenos and guac. Serve immediately,
• 8. If making layered nachos, trash can style piled high, you’ll want to use a cast iron skillet. First start with a base layer of tortilla chip, sprinkle some cheese, black beans and steak. Bake for 3 minutes until the cheese has just started to melt. Remove from oven and start your next layer, here we like to drizzle a bit of the green sauce to ensure each layer is
  packed with flavor then you’ll want to start another layer of chips, cheese, beans and steak. Bake for another 3 minutes until the cheese has just started to melt. Next make your last layer and pile the chips high with cheese, beans and steak. Bake for 5-8 minutes until the cheese has completely melted and started to bubble, some of the chips will start to crisp. Remove from the oven and top with pico de gallo, cilantro green sauce, pickled red onions, guac, pickled jalepenos and fresh cilantro.
• Cheers!