Perfectly marinated and grilled Carne Asada steak sliced and served alongside steamed rice with charred corn, pickled red onions, scallions, cilantro and finished with a fresh cilantro green sauce.

Healthy rice bowls that are perfect for lunch or dinner. I no most of us don’t always want to turn to salads when trying to eat healthier so this is a great alternative with serious Mexican flavors that everyone will love.

Cinco de Mayo is also fast approaching so this is a Mexican-inspired dish to kick off the week! As a family who loves Mexican food, I mean tacos, burritos, enchiladas… the options are some of our all time favorites and since we haven’t been able to hit up some of our all time favorite authentic restaurants this recipe is a great option.

This requires a little of planning in advance since we like to marinade the flank steak for at least 2 hours before grilling. The citrus in the Carne Asada really breaks down the toughness of the meat and the longer you let marinade the better the flavors will get. Plan ahead if your making this but don’t worry there’s only a few ingredients you need to whisk together and marinade your steak in so you can set it and forget it after about 5 minutes of prep work.

Its important to let your steak rest for a few minutes before slicing. Once the steak has rested, use a sharp knife and slice the steak going opposite of the grain into thin slices. The Carne Asada marinade has mostly broken down the toughness of the flank steak but you want to avoid cutting thick pieces especially for a rice bowl since were going for that perfect bite you want the steak to just melt in your mouth and not have any chew. For ease of eating we then sliced the really thin slices into smaller bites and places them around the rice for presentation.

To finish your bowls we opted for some charred corn and scallions that we tossed in salt and pepper and lime juice and also garnished the bowls with pickled red onions and fresh cilantro. We used some of the reserve marinade to drizzle over the steak which makes the meat really juicy and flavorful.

The bowls are completely customizable so feel free to add other toppings like sliced red onions instead, avocado, black beans or other veggies. We of course had to finish the bowls off with our cilantro green sauce which is a must. We make this sauce quite a bit so highly recommend making it but if your not a fan of cilantro you can use sour cream, guacamole or hot sauce and turn it into a burrito style bowl.

If you love the flavors of Carne Asada as much as we do be sure to check out our nachos! https://thecommunalfeast.com/2021/04/carne-asada-nachos/

Cheers!

@thecommunalfeast

Print Recipe

CARNE ASADA RICE BOWLS

Perfectly marinated and grilled Carne Asada steak sliced and served alongside steamed rice with charred corn, pickled red onions, scallions, cilantro and finished with a fresh cilantro green sauce.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 2

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs flank steak skirt 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
• 2 corn ears
• 2 limes
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions
• Salt + pepper
• 2 cups steamed rice can use jasmine, wild rice, etc.
• Pickled red onions
• Fresh cilantro
• 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. Reserve about 1/3 cup of the marinade in a separate jar.

2. Combine the marinade with your steak and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, the longer the better (we try to aim for 4 hours minimum)

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. While the steak if grilling, grill the corn until charred on all sides. About 12 minutes

6. 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

7. Once the corn has cooled slightly, cut the kernels off and toss in a bowl with a squeeze of lime juice, the chopped scallions and salt + pepper to taste

8. 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.

9. To plate the rice bowls start by adding about 1 cup of steamed rice to each bowl, next layer the steak around the rice and drizzle with a bit of your leftover marinade. Add the corn and scallions over the rice and garnish with pickled red onions and fresh cilantro. Next drizzle the cilantro green sauce over the steak and serve with a lime wedge.

10. Enjoy!

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