With some time and bold flavoring this budget-friendly steak makes excellent tacos
I had you at “Modelo,” right? This delicious recipe was made up from my husband’s steak taco loving mind. And since tacos are part of my love language, we make a pretty damn good pair.
I had at some point ordered a top round steak from our friends over at Avrom Farm with no real plans for it, so I was thrilled when Dave whipped up this easy and delicious recipe.
Since top round steak is a leaner and tougher cut of beef (also inexpensive), braising is a great way to get the meat nice and tender. Also, gosh what a pretty little sauce this is.
As the steak cooks and tenderizes, it soaks up all the wonderful spices and aromatics making it incredibly flavorful. And the great part about tacos as a family dinner is that everyone can add their favorite toppings, making it their very own.
Lucky for us we also had some fresh Salsa Roja Asada on hand that I made from My Mexico City Kitchen cookbook (pg. 48) by Gabriela Cámara – the chef of Contramar, a favorite in Mexico City. This is a beautiful book I definitely recommend if you dig Mexican cuisine as much as we do!
We kept our toppings simple with just fresh cilantro and chopped white onions. So delicious!
Quick Non-Taco Sidebar
While I don’t want to take away from this recipe, I did want to do a quick holler. I’m excitedly putting more energy into the blog in 2021.
The blog is going to turn 10 next year, which feels absolutely crazy. I’ve always worked on Give Me Meatloaf to challenge myself to stretch in my cooking capabilities but also to interact with this fun foodie community I feel very lucky to be a part of. This year I’m going to try and challenge myself in new ways, like design, layout, frequency, topic-type and more!
Blogging has been such a nice escape, especially in 2020, so I thought I’d dedicate some more time and love to it in the new year. I’ve got nothing but time!
So – you might notice a few updates here and there, which I hope will make you enjoy your visits to GMM even more.
Fun, right? 😊
Alright – now onto the deliciousness!
Modelo Braised Top Round Steak Tacos
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Patience
Ingredients
- 1 1.25 Top Round Steak
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Pepper
- 3 Tbs Bacon Fat
- 1/2 Cup Diced White Onion
- 4 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 Roasted + Diced Unseeded Jalapenos
- 1 Roasted, Skinned + Seeded Pablano Pepper
- 1 Bottle Modelo Beer
- 1 Cup Beef Stock
- 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- 1 Bunch Cilantro Stems
- 1 Sliced Lime
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- Flour Tortillas for Serving
- Cilantro, White Onion and Salsa for Toppings
Instructions
- First, prep the pablano and jalapeno peppers by roasting them over an open flame on the stove, turning until blackened on all sides. If you do not have a gas oven, put the peppers on a sheet pan in the broiler of the oven, turning once to ensure both sides blacken nicely.
- Once the peppers are warm enough to handle, dice the jalapeno and set aside. Then remove the skin and seeds of the pablano pepper and dice and set aside as well.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Get a dutch oven on the stove over high heat and add the bacon fat.
- Salt and pepper the steak liberally and sear in the dutch oven until browned on both sides. Remove the steak and set aside.
- Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the same dutch oven over medium heat and cook until the onion is just starting to become tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Pour in the one bottle of modelo and just enough beef stock to nearly cover the meat. This will vary depending on the size pot you are using, so you can use more of the modelo or beef stock to get you there depending on your preference. As you pour in the liquid, scrape up the delicious bits in the bottom from searing the steak and cooking the onions.
- Add the peppers, the chili powder, cumin, cilantro stems, and lime cut in half, stir until spices well mixed.
- Put a lid on the dish and pop in the oven to cook for 3 hours.
- Remove from the oven and remove the lid. Remove the beef from the liquid and set aside. Strain the braising liquid and discard the solids.
- Add 1/4 cup of the braising liquid and 2 tbs of butter to the beef, and shred with two forks.
- Serve on warm flour tortillas and top with whatever you like.