Sous Vide Carne Asada – San Diego-Style

Whip up a batch of my famous San Diego-Style Carne Asada Marinade and throw it in a Sous Vide bag along with juicy steak. You’ll have tender and flavorful carne asada in as little as 90 minutes.

For the traditionalists out there, “Carne Asada” means grilled meat, so I’m considering the sear at the end the “grilled” part.

Sous Vide Carne Asada Recipe

This sous vide carne asada recipe let’s the Mexican flavors shine by infusing the beef with the carne asada seasonings while cooking to your exact preferred temperature.

Long time readers know I’m the master of San Diego-Style Carne Asada. I have a huge collection of Carne Asada Recipes. With that said, I wasn’t sure is using the sous vide method would still provide the authentic flavor and it does!

Test Kitchen Results

Finding #1 – In inital rounds of testing, I was using my classic carne asada marinade and dry seasonings. I quickly found using the sous vide cooking method amplifies the flavor of a few ingredients. So, the recipe below is for making sous vide carne asada, not any other cooking methods.

Finding #2 –For the classic carne asada flavor and texture, it’s important to reverse sear the meat after cooking.

Grilled Carne Asada

While I highly recommend reverse searing the carne asada after pulling it from the water, it’s not required. You’ll just set the sous vide machine to the exact temperature you want to serve it at. 

To reverse sear, pre-heat a grill or cast iron skillet over hight heat with a bit of oil (I recommend avocado oil). Sear the meat for 45-60 seconds per side, until your desired crust is reached.

Serve the meat next to rice and beans, or use it to make carne asada fries, carne asada tacos and other Mexican favorites.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• When testing and cooking sous vide recipes I utilize this Anova Immersion Circulator; it’s had four years of heavy use and is still going strong. Check out my list of recommended Sous Vide Equipment for more tips.
• Reserve searing creates a LOT of smoke. Turn on the oven fan, or open the windows, to get ahead of, if searing inside.
• Make sure to do a thorough job patting dry the beef with paper towels after removing from the water bath. To get a good pan-seared crust, the meat needs to be dry.
• Make sure the meat is fully submerged in the sous vide bath. If it isn’t it won’t cook properly. Do not even attempt as food safety would not be guaranteed.
• If your sous vide bag floats, either try to re-seal or utilize something to weight it down. You can always invest in some sous vide weights.

Sous Vide Carne Asada

Take Taco Tuesday to the next level with sous vide carne asada— a modern twist on a Mexican classic. It’s a popular Mexican Recipe, and Carne Asada Recipe, on FoodieandWine.com

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 195kcal

Author: Darcey Olson

Cost: $15

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Ingredients

CARNE ASADA MARINADE (Note *1)

• 2 lbs. flank steak, skirt steak or flap steak
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• ½ tbsp chili powder
• ½ tbsp white pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tbsp Mexican oregano (*Note 2)
• 1 pinch ground cloves (*Note 3)
• 1 whole orange, sliced

Instructions

• Pre-heat the water bath to your preferred doneness (*Note 2) using a sous vide immersion circulator.

• Add all the ingredients (except the meat and orange slices) to a large Ziploc Bag and shake to combine. Add the steak and shake to coat the entire piece of meat evenly. Lay the bag flat and add the orange slice directly to the meat – half on top and half on bottom. Refrigerate up to 48 hours.

• Transfer the vacuum bag to the water bath and cook for 60 minutes minimum. Reference the time chart in the post or notes to see what the max. time is. (*Note 3)

• After the filet is finished cooking, remove the bag from the water bath. Carefully remove the filet from the bag and pat dry. Discard any juice that accumulated, unless you’re using to make an au jus.

REVERSE SEAR

• Pre-heat grill to high heat.

• Place meat directly on greased grate for 45-60 seconds. (*Note 2) Flip and grill for 45-60 seconds. Remove from the grill and transfer to a cutting board. Enjoy immediately as there is no need to rest the carne asada.

Notes

Note 1 – This recipe is not the same as our classic San Diego Marinade or Carne Asada Dry Seasoning Mix. Cooking Sous vide magnifies the flavor of certain spices therefore adjustments have been made.
Note 2 – If you don’t have Mexican oregano you can replace with regular oregano. 
Note 3 – this measurement is approx. 1/16 tsp.
 
Temperature:
Reverse searing will increase the temp around 3-5°, so keep that in mind when picking your level of doneness. 

• Rare: 120°F to 128°F
• Medium-Rare: 129°F to 134°F
• Medium: 135°F to 144°F
• Medium Well: 145°F to 155°F
• Well Done: 156°F +

 
How Long To Cook
The below timing chart is for beef 2″ thick. Calculate one hour of cooking time per 1″ of thickness.

• **Rare: 2 – 2.5 hours
• **Medium-Rare:  2 – 4 hours
• Medium: 2 – 4 hours
• Medium Well: 2 – 3.5 hours
• Well Done: 2 – 3 hours

 
FOOD SAFETY TIP: If you cook your carne asada below 130°F, it should only be in the water for up to 2.5 hours. Any longer and you risk running into food safety issues.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 942mg | Potassium: 425mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.5g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg