With a blazing fast weeknight style prep, these steak fajitas will become your favorite school night dinner!
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What. A. Fall!
We couldn’t have asked for a more fun, more incredible weather, more jam packed fall this year. With 2 girls in high school now, and my youngest in middle school, we are kept busy enough, and honestly, in all the right ways! These are such fun ages. With busier outside of the home schedules, I leaned in a little more on dinners that were faster to prep, or could partially be prepped on a prep day…
…Without skipping out on the nourishment!
Because with a house full of growing kids, the fuel they are taking in does actually matter. I’ve never met a kid at any age that doesn’t want to do their best, feel well, and excel at whatever it is that they are doing. Sure, personalities vary from kid to kid, but every kid deserves a shot at performing their best at school, at play, in sports, or whatever it is that they love!
A dinner they will love!
So let’s fill them up with nutrients that count in a meal that they will love. A little taco night change up, fajita night gives them the same fun toppings bar choices that they love like cheese, guacamole, and salsa with a little spin using up a cut of beef that maybe you’ve overlooked.
Let’s talk about the flank steak
If you’ve gotten a grassfed cow for your freezer, or passed by the steak choices in the meat department at the store and never known what to do with the flank steak, today is your day! Flank steak gets a bad rap because, on it’s own, it is a tougher cut of beef. But when you marinate the meat, it gets gloriously tender, and cooked correctly, literally melts in your mouth like a filet does!
The Method :: The steak marinade
The steak will need to marinate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours. It works great to set it up in the morning so it is ready to go by dinner. You could whisk the marinade the night before so that it is ready, and then just pop the steak into the marinade in the morning.
The Method :: Grilling the steak
When you are ready to make the fajitas, get a grill pan, grill, or skillet super hot before placing the meat on it. You’ll only need to cook this thinner cut of beef for 3-4 minutes on each side. If you overcook the beef, it will be tough. Get a nice medium rare and don’t let the pink scare you! In fact, keep in mind that the steak continues to cook for a few minutes off the grill, and will also be added back into the veggies in the skillet so it could potentially get cooked a little more in there if you need to.
The Method :: Resting the steak
When you are done grilling the steak, transfer it to a cutting board to rest while you saute the veggies for the fajita skillet. This step is important to ensure the steak stays tender so do not just cut into it!
The method :: The veggies for the steak fajita skillet
While your steak is resting, heat up a couple tablespoons of the steak marinade in a large skillet, and cook the veggies until they are crisp tender. If you like them softer, you can cook them longer. You’ll also season this veggie mixture with fajita or taco seasoning.
The Method :: Assembling the steak fajitas
Once the steak has rested, slice it up and add it to the cooked skillet veggies. You can scoop the fajita mixture into shells, onto tortilla chips, or over rice, salad, or baked potatoes. If you love DIY projects on a weekend, my super easy corn tortillas and GF flour tortillas both freeze really well. You make them on a prep day for the freezer so they are ready to go whenever you need!
A note on leftovers!
This amount of fajitas feeds my family of 5 for one meal. Often, I’ll double the recipe so that we have leftovers. They taste SO good the next day!
The Best Flank Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
To Mix Your Own Fajita Seasoning Blend (Optional):
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp honey or coconut sugar, turbinado, date, maple, or cane sugar
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
For the Marinade:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos See Notes
- 1 tbsp honey or coconut sugar, turbinado, date, maple, or cane sugar
- 2 tsp fajita seasoning Homemade (recipe above) or this is a good store bought blend. Taco seasoning works too.
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic smashed or minced
For the Steak Fajitas:
- 1-2 lbs flank steak
- 1 red onion sliced into strips
- 1 sweet bell pepper sliced into strips
- 1/2 small head of cabbage sliced into strips
- 2-3 tsp fajita seasoning Homemade (recipe above) or this is a good store bought blend. Taco seasoning works too.
- Fajita toppings per your preference guacamole, limes, sour cream/yogurt, cheese, salsa, etc
Instructions
For the Fajita Seasoning Blend (Optional if using this versus store bought):
- Whisk the fajita seasonings in an air tight container with a lid or jar with lid. Store the fajita seasoning for months in the pantry or spice cupboard.
For the Marinade:
- Whisk the marinade ingredients in a large container with a lid, or add to a freezer bag for marinating the steak.
Marinate the Steak:
- You'll want your steak to marinate for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. It works great to set it up in the morning so it is ready to go by dinner. You could whisk the marinade the night before so that it is ready, and then just pop the steak into the marinade in the morning.
- Put the steak into the marinade, covering the meat completely. Close the lid or seal up the freezer bag. Let the meat marinade in the fridge for 2-8 hours.
Make the Fajitas:
- I like to take my steak out to come to room temperature for an hour before cooking. This may not be possible from a time standpoint for everyone to do, so adjust the cooking time accordingly if you are cooking right out of the fridge.
- Grill the steak first. Get the grill pan or grill very hot over a medium high heat. Alternatively you can sear your steak in a large skillet. Grill the steak for 3-4 minutes on each side for a medium rare finish. If you cook the meat too long, it will get tough. It does continue to cook after taking it off the grill pan while it rests. It will also cook slightly when you add it to the pan of veggies.
- Take the steak off the grill and let it rest while you saute the veggies quick.
- Pour about 2 tablespoons of the steak marinade into a hot skillet over medium high heat. Add the veggies and fajita seasoning, and saute for 7 minutes until crisp tender.
- Slice the steak up after it has rested a good 5 minutes and stir the strips into the fajita veggie mixture.
- Serve your steak fajitas in tortillas, over tortilla chips, over a salad, over rice, or over baked potatoes. Top with your preference of toppings.
Notes
- The coconut aminos is a swap for soy or worcestershire sauce for depth of flavor. If you prefer to use either of those, you may!
- Mix up the fajita seasoning on a prep day/days in advance so that it is ready to go. It makes a good amount so it will be waiting in the spice cupboard for you whenever you need it.
- You can make the marinade ahead of time up to a day or so in advance as well. This way, you can just pop the steak in the marinade in the morning before everyone leaves for the day, it will be ready when you get home.
- If you love DIY projects on a weekend, my super easy corn tortillas and GF flour tortillas both freeze really well. You make them on a prep day for the freezer so they are ready to go whenever you need.
- This meal feeds my family of 5 for one meal, so often I double the recipe so we have leftovers!
