Grilled Tequila Garlic Lime Flank Steak

This has to be in my top 10 favorite foods. Flank Steak is just good eats, as Alton Brown would say. Perhaps you know it by its other commonly known name of London Broil. It’s also a bit tougher than other cuts of beef, so it’s often marinated and is common in asian dishes such as Mongolian Beef.

I got this recipe from Guy Fieri, you know – the spikey faux blond guy on Food Network.  But as with all recipes, I never follow it exactly, I’m pretty sure that every recipe I ever make changes a bit, no matter how many times I make it.

Here’s the ingredient list:

• 1 cup roughly chopped garlic (approximately 3 bulbs)
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (approximately 8 large limes)
• 1/2 cup clear tequila
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 bunch roughly chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steak

First thing I did was place the flank steak into a zip lock bag and added about 1 cup of tequila. Yes, I know the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but I just told you I don’t follow the recipe exactly   No need for the fancy stuff, bottom shelf tequila will work fine it’s just marinade after all – we’re not shooting this grade.

Next, I squeezed limes to make about 3/4 cup of pure lime juice and added that to the zip lock bag. The recipe says that it will require about 8 limes, but I found that it only took me about 4 to get about 3/4 cups worth:

Next – chop up a TON of garlic! You need 1 cup worth, which came out to be about 3 large BULBS, not cloves! This is serious garlic folks. Also chop up 1 bunch of fresh cilantro.

Add the fresh cracked black pepper,  cumin powder, soy sauce,  and chopped jalapeno peppers into the zip lock and give is a good shake! You’re going to want to let this sit and marinade in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours to really let the marinate set in and break down the meat a bit.

After 2-3 hours in the fridge, take out and let it sit at room temperature for another 35-45 minutes.  At this point, remove the steak from the zip lock, set aside and bring the marinade to a boil on the stove. Once it reaches a boil, you can remove from the heat and strain the chunks out of it. You can save it or toss it. If you save it, you can reuse all that garlic for another future recipe. I’m all about reusing stuff here!

Cook the flank steak over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side. I like mine medium-rare, so that turned out to be about the right amount of time on each side for me, yours may differ based on temperature and setting.  Feel free to grill some asparagus too, my favorite way to eat it!

When it’s done, cover it with some aluminum foil for at least 5 minutes. Cutting into it too soon is a common mistake – lets all the good juices out. After 5 minutes of resting, cut across the grain, spoon some of the heated up marinade and enjoy!

Tagged as: flank steak, grilling, marinades, steak