Asada Fries made with Carne Asada grilled flank steak, melted queso, chopped onions, cilantro, and jalapenos over crispy oven baked golden smashed potatoes. Loaded dirty fries piled high with marinated steak, cheesy stovetop queso served with loads of chopped cilantro, onion and jalapenos makes an irresistible game day meal or fun Mexican-inspired meal that comes together easily. 

Combining some of our favorite foods for some seriously delicious game time eats. Street meat style loaded dirty fries that feature loads and loads of Carne Asada with queso over crispy fries. We are huge football fans over here and are so excited that the season is finally here. Can’t get enough- we could watch football every day of the week. We’re getting pumped up to crank out some football Sunday eats. 

These loaded fries aren’t just for football- of course they scream game day eats but they can be made for any occasion. Whether you’re craving some food truck style fries or Mexican food this is sure to hit the spot. While fries are typically a side dish, these Asada fries are a meal themselves and there’s enough to feed 2. A sharable dish that doesn’t feel too heavy because we didn’t go crazy on the potatoes but increased the toppings, this way you don’t have to have loads of carbs and calories but still feel good when it’s all gone.

CARNE ASADA

We love making Carne Asada. It’s cost effective and only takes 5 minutes to prepare a head of time. The marinade adds so much fresh vibrant flavors after it’s been sitting for 2 hours and it’s quick to cook because we’re using flank steak which is pretty lean and not too thick. The best part is that it can be used for a multitude of meals, from tacos, nachos, fries, enchiladas, taquitos it’s almost endless. So if you have leftovers, count yourself lucky because you’re in for another great meal the next day. 

For the Asada marinade, we combined some olive oil, juice from one orange and two limes, minced garlic, salt and pepper, chopped onion, and fresh cilantro. You can mix that up all together in the same container you’re going to use to refrigerate the meat. Once it’s combined, add the steak, you can even leave it the oranges to sit together with the meat and the marinade. Let that rest together for 2 hours. Leave out the limes to avoid adding too much acidity, lastly try and avoid marinating for more than two hours as the acidity will start to cook the meat which will make it more difficult to get an even cook once it goes on the grill. 

SMASHED POTATOES

Making homemade fries 100% makes this recipe more authentic and fresh tasting. Making some fries in the oven is pretty easy, don’t feel like you need to skip and opt for the frozen fries. The most important part is to cook fries at 450 degrees F. This is how you get those crispy golden fries in roughly 30 minutes. A lower heat will take too long to cook and can give you some fries that are too soft. Because we’re making some smashed potatoes to quick these up and extra notch, we need to boil the baby potatoes until fork tender. This takes around 10 minutes once the water is boiling. Rinse them under cold water until just cooled. This will speed things along time wise. We like to coat a large baking sheet with some cooking spray and spread a few potatoes at a time on the tray. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press down gently onto the potatoes until they start to break open. Keep doing this until all the potatoes are smashed. Space them out onto the tray making sure they don’t overlap- touching is okay. Drizzle on some oil over each potato and season with salt and pepper. Keep in mind that 1 large baking tray filled with smashed potatoes or regular fries serves enough for 2 people.

TOPPINGS AND ASSEMBLY

The main ingredients for these dirty fries is the grilled carne asada flank steak, cheesy queso, minced white onion, chopped cilantro and thin slices of jalapenos which all get loaded onto the crispy baked smashed baby potatoes. Apart from the steak, the potatoes and the queso, it’s completely optional and easy to customize some extra or different topping. From guacamole, to pico de gallo, sour cream- add on any extra layers you feel would complete the fries to your liking. 

We hope you enjoy this recipe! If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it on Instagram! We love to see what you come up with. #thecommunalfeast Follow along our social media account on instagram for quick videos on how our recipes come together!

Print Recipe

Asada Fries

Asada Fries made with carne asada grilled flank steak, melted queso, chopped onions, cilantro, and jalapenos over crispy golden smashed potatoes.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 2 lb golden little gem potatoes
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• Carne Asada:
• 9 oz flank steak
• 1 orange
• 2 limes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, plus more for serving
• 1/4 cup diced white onion plus more for serving
• 1/2 jalapenos thinly cut into rounds
• Queso:
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/3 cup white onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 TBS all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup salsa verde or canned green chilies
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup Monterey jack shredded

Instructions

• For the Carne Asada: in a large tupperware, add the olive oil, juice from orange and limes, minced garlic, cilantro and white onion. Stir to combine. Season the steak with salt and pepper and place in the container. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the potatoes until fork tender and rinse under cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a large baking tray with cooking oil, place the boiled potatoes on the tray and use the back of a drinking cup to press down onto the potatoes to smash them. Repeat until all the potatoes are smashed. Line them up on the tray making sure not to overlap. Drizzle some olive oil over all the potatoes just enough to coat and season with some salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the potatoes and bake an additional 10 minutes or until golden and crispy.
• While the potatoes are baking, remove the steak from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Preheat the grill to 400 degrees F.
• Once the potatoes have been flipped and returned to the oven, grill the steak 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain into thin strips, cut again into cubes.
• For the queso: heat olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Cook onions and garlic until translucent. Dust with the flour and stir to combine. Add the salsa verde, cook for an additional minute. Stir in the milk and let simmer until thickened. Lastly, stir in the cheese continuously until completely melted. For thinner queso add a bit more milk. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
• To serve: Top the potatoes with queso, load on the carne asada and garnish with chopped onion, cilantro and jalapenos. Enjoy!