Loaded Carne Asada Fries

🍟 What Makes This Recipe So Good

Lolita’s Mexican Food in San Diego gets the credit for bringing this incredible concept to life. Carne asada fries are super popular in the American Southwest and Mexico, but if you’re not local to those areas, you might have a hard time finding them. This homemade recipe will help you get your fix until the next time you can get an authentic plate. Fries-as-nachos might be one of my favorite things, and this recipe couldn’t be more satisfying. Juicy flank steak marinated in a simple blend of spices… served on top of crispy, homemade fries… finished off with cheese and your favorite toppings. What could be better?! While it’s 10,000% worth the wait, this isn’t really a quick recipe – but the actual cooking part doesn’t take very long at all. Carne asada fries start with marinating flank steak in an incredible marinade for 4 to 12 hours. Be sure to factor that in when you’re planning your dinner! Carne asada fries can be an appetizer or a meal all on their own! If you’re feeding a large group, you can absolutely double the size of this recipe without any trouble.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

Don’t cook the flank steak to well done! It’ll be chewy and just all around miserable. Medium is best, and medium-well is fine, but well-done is too far. Rule #1 for cutting beef applies here – always cut across the grain. That’s how you end up with tender strips of steak instead of tough, chewy strips, which I guarantee you don’t want on your carne asada fries. To cut across the grain, lay it on a cutting board and look for the parallel muscle fibers running down the meat. Lay your knife perpendicular across the fibers and cut at a slight diagonal. When you’re baking the fries, I recommend not using parchment paper on your baking sheet. The fries will crisp up better if they’re directly on the pan. Since the marinade is really acidic, don’t marinate your steak too long! 12 hours is the max we recommend. Any longer than that and the muscle fibers can start to break down – when that happens, you end up with mushy meat on your carne asada fries.

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