Grill/Barbecue

Flank Steak in Mojo Criollo

Name: Flank Steak in Mojo Criollo
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: juice of 1/2 orange; juice of 1 lime (if it\'s a particularly dry one, use an extra half); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (just one chile, not one can!), diced with a little of the sauce; 1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped; 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder; pinch or two of salt; 1.5 - 2 pound flank steak

by: healthierkitchen

October 18, 2010

0 Ratings

Serves 4

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Author Notes

Most commercial sauces and marinades are quite high in sodium so I like to make my own. This is my version of an easy Latin classic that is good on chicken and pork as well as beef. This marinates a steak for 4 people or so, or about 1 cut up chicken. I like to use flank steak (or even hangar or skirt) for this and then slice it to put into tortillas and serve with avocado, black beans, rice, cheese, diced tomatoes, lettuce, etc. While the meat is on the grill, use one of those nifty new grill skillets to make a side dish of grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms. This can double, and even triple, well. —healthierkitchen

What You'll Need

Ingredients

juice of ¹/₂ orange
juice of 1 lime (if it's a particularly dry one, use an extra half)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (just one chile, not one can!), diced with a little of the sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
¹/₂ teaspoon cumin powder
pinch or two of salt
1.5 - 2 pound flank steak

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and use to marinate the steak. You can put the meat into the marinade before leaving for work and throw the steak on the grill when you get home. I like to let it sit in the marinade at least 3 - 4 hours (in the refrigerator). Take the steak out of the refrigerator about half an hour before you want to cook it to let it lose some of the chill.
Sear flank steak on grill over direct heat, about 2 - 3 minutes on each side, depending on your grill, then move to indirect heat and finish cooking to your liking. Time will depend on the type of grill, thickness of meat, and whether it's grassfed or not. Let rest about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serve with warmed tortillas, avocado slices or guacamole, beans and rice, lettuce, onions, peppers, etc. In the alternative, it's also great with sides of corn, tomato salad, and/or potato salad.

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14 Reviews

Eric A. November 14, 2017

I live in Tucson AZ were this marinade is common. I grab meet from the local carneceria all the time. Today I didn't and needed a recipe to make my own. I tried yours and it was 100% fantastic. It was so fresh and flavorful. I let is slack for only any hour because my family was hungry but they loved it. There was no more chicken left!!!! Thank you

fiveandspice July 19, 2011

This sounds delicious! I'm with lapadia, how did I miss it?!

healthierkitchen July 19, 2011

Thanks fiveandspice! Must be my beautiful photo! I'm trying to figure out how to load one now that I submitted this recipe to the contest.

lapadia July 17, 2011

This sounds GREAT, HK, and I don't know how I missed it!

healthierkitchen July 18, 2011

Thanks so much lapadia! It's a summertime staple around here. For Fathers' Day, I did this as well as Merrill's fish salpicon with slaw - two kinds of tacos!

JoanG December 7, 2010

Now i know what to do with my leftover chipotle chiles in adobe sauce. Thanks!

Rita B. November 3, 2010

I think I'm lucky! Jalapenos can be found in cans even here, but most of all my Mexican mother-in-law brought us a pack of adobo sauce from Mexico this summer so I can try! And that's perfect because I wasn't sure about what I could do with adobo sauce. I think my husband will appreciate!

Rita B. November 3, 2010

This is super-delicious! Unfortunately I don't know where to find chipotle chile.... :(

healthierkitchen November 3, 2010

I guess it's hard to get Mexican ingredients in Italy? For heat you can just use a regular jalapeno, but I'm trying to think of what could duplicate the adobo sauce. Food Lover's Companion says that adobo sauce is composed of ground chiles, herbs and vinegar. There's plenty of acid in this sauce with the orange and lime juices, so perhaps add a little ground red pepper and some oregano?

allie October 25, 2010

Just made a batch (for tomorrow's dinner). Needed something to perk up chicken cutlets and this was perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!

healthierkitchen October 20, 2010

Thanks for the comments. Give it a try!

allie - sorry about the glitch on the chipotle pepper. I've just edited it above. I do dice it and add a little of the sauce as well. You can do this to taste. If you like more heat, do a second pepper. I haven't tried it on fish, but I think it could work on something substantial - maybe salmon or halibut? Probably shrimp as well. But don't leave it in the marinade long for fish - maybe 20 mins.

allie October 20, 2010

Looks wonderful - do you cut up the chile or leave it whole? This looks great and perfect way to jazz up chicken. Have you tried it on fish or is it too intense?

TheWimpyVegetarian October 19, 2010

Me too! This looks really great.

dymnyno October 18, 2010

I am making this soon!