Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak

I came up with the marinade for this Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak on a whim the last time I was making steak nachos and I knew immediately I had to share it – with a bit of tweaking. It’s spicy, a touch sweet, and very bright but also earthy and savory. Generally, I use it on skirt or flank steaks, sear them good and dice ’em up and add them to nachos or burrito bowls, but I’ve also substituted them for the chicken portion of my TGI Friday’s Copycat Sizzling Chicken and Cheese recipe and that was DELICIOUS, so I think while the flavor is distinct, it’s very versatile.

Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak recipe:

• Skirt steak: I’ve also used this marinade on flank steak and tri-tip, as well as chicken breasts. I’m sure it’ll work on any cut of meat you want to try it with, but I’d suggest flank steak if you’re specifically looking for a skirt steak alternative.
• Garlic, cilantro: The only things we’ve got to mince for this recipe. I call for a certain number of cloves to be minced, then for a certain amount of already minced cilantro to be added. I wrote the recipe this way to ensure enough of both are added. You’ll need about 10 sprigs of cilantro to get the amount of minced cilantro called for this Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak recipe. Use more or less cilantro and garlic, to your taste.
• Olive oil, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar: Our liquids, other than the citrus juices. Soy sauce provides most of the sodium, vinegar tenderizes, and oil does what it needs to do.
• Blood oranges, limes: Blood oranges have more depth of flavor than regular oranges, some call it ‘floral’. If you can’t find blood oranges you can substitute any ol’ orange plus a splash of grapefruit juice. There’s no substitute for the lime juice or lime zest!
• Cumin, chili powder, onion powder, smoked paprika: These
• Sazon, Kosher salt: I use Savor Spice Co‘s Sazon blend, use your favorite. Depending on how salty you like your food and how salty the sazon and soy sauce is you might not need kosher salt. I leave that to you to decide.
• Carolina reaper powder: Heat! If you’re scared of it, you can substitute cayenne or another hot pepper’s powder. Don’t omit it, or else you won’t be making Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak.

How to Make Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Spicy Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak recipe:

• Marinate the meat. Whisk together all of the ingredients. Add your skirt steak to whatever container you’re using to marinate along with all of the marinade. Cover, expelling any excess air, and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
• Prepare to cook. Pull them from the fridge to come to room temperature on the counter about 20 minutes before you’re ready to cook the steaks. Place a 12” cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and allow it to preheat for about 5 minutes until the pan is smoking.
• Get to searin’! Add the skirt steak, one at a time – don’t crowd the pan, and press it into the surface of the pan to ensure a good sear. Let cook undisturbed for 6 minutes, then flip and continue cooking on the other side for 5-10 minutes, depending on how you like your steak cooked. Once satisfied remove it from the pan, and repeat the process with all remaining steaks. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. We usually eat this steak over nachos or in tacos, but it’s delicious period so do what you like.

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