Grilled Flank Steak Tacos With Stone Fruit Salsa Recipe

Few things taste as good as a juicy steak straight off the grill. Now, imagine that charred, tender meat wrapped in a portable taco with a summery salsa of sweet stone fruits and tangy, fresh tomatoes. Recipe developer Julie Kinnaird  shares this recipe for grilled flank steak tacos with stone fruit salsa that's guaranteed to wow on the hottest of summer evenings! 

Flank steak is marinated until super tender, and then it's given a quick cook over flames to sear and crisp up the outside while keeping the meat tender and moist in the center. Slices of the grilled meat are piled into warmed corn tortillas with ripe avocado, and the tacos are topped with a vibrant salsa made from sweet cherries, ripe plums, grilled red onion and poblano peppers, cherry tomatoes, peppery arugula, and fresh thyme. A marinade made from olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lime juice, garlic, and chili powder flavors both the meat and acts as a dressing for the salsa. This recipe comes together quickly for an easy and impressive presentation.

To make these flavorful tacos, you will want to select a large piece of flank steak that is roughly 2 pounds. To marinate the steak, you will need olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lime juice, fresh garlic, chili powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. For the salsa, you will start by grilling a small red onion and a couple of poblano peppers. This will add a nice, charred flavor to the vegetables and will allow you to also remove the tough outer skins from the poblanos. To the grilled vegetables, you will add cherry tomatoes (a mix of colors gives great visual appeal), pitted sweet cherries, fresh plums (red or black both work well), some arugula, and fresh thyme. To assemble the tacos, you will need corn tortillas and some fresh slices of avocado.

In a medium bowl, whisk together ⅓ cup olive oil with the red wine vinegar, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper.

Reserve 3 tablespoons of the marinade in a small bowl.

Place the steak in a ziplock bag and add the larger portion of the marinade. Press out the excess air and seal tightly.

Refrigerate the steak for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat.

Rub the red onion and poblano pepper with the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Grill the vegetables until they are charred and softened (about 10 minutes).

Place the poblanos in a heat-proof bowl and cover with plastic. Let steam for 15 minutes.

Chop the grilled onion.

Once the poblanos are cool enough to handle, remove the charred skin, stems, and seeds, then chop the pepper.

Discard the excess marinade from the steak bag.

Grill the steak until medium-rare, about 6 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.

Let the steak rest on a carving board for at least 10 minutes.

While the steak is resting, combine the onion, poblanos, tomatoes, cherries, plums, arugula, thyme, and reserved 3 tablespoons marinade in a bowl for the salsa.

Thinly slice the avocado in its shell.

Thinly slice the steak across the grain.

Warm the tortillas in a hot cast iron pan or over an open flame.

For the tacos, add a slice of avocado and some of the grilled flank steak to a warm tortilla, then top with some of the salsa.

Place the tacos on a serving platter or individual plates, and enjoy!

Flank steak is a lean and flavorful cut from the lower abdominal area of the cow, marked by predominant grooves running lengthwise through the meat. Flank steak is a relatively thin cut of meat but is not as thin as skirt steak, although the two are often confused. Flank is actually cut from the part of the abdomen directly behind the skirt. Flank naturally has a medium degree of toughness once it's cooked due to low marbling of fat and its large muscle fibers, so using a good, high-acid marinade and giving the acids time to start tenderizing the meat is key. 

Flank steak is perfect for the grill because it can be cooked quickly, allowing the meat to stay juicy and maintain tenderness. Broiling or pan-frying over medium heat also works well, but be sure to not exceed medium-rare doneness or the meat will start to become tough. Flank steak is an ideal cut for these tacos or any recipe that requires a nice slicing meat — just be sure to cut against the grain.

This vibrant and aromatic stone fruit salsa is best eaten the day it is assembled, but Kinnaird gives some suggestions for prepping it in advance. The grilled vegetables can be prepared a full day ahead and stored in the refrigerator until you assemble the salsa for serving. The fruit components of the salsa can also be prepped a day in advance, but Kinnaird says that it is best to do the tomatoes on the same day of serving and no more than 4 hours ahead of time so that they don't lose too much of their juice. Hold off on mixing in the arugula and thyme until you add the tomatoes, as well. Once all of the components are mixed and the reserved marinade is added, the salsa will keep well for about 1 more day under refrigeration.

If you want to change up the ingredients, try switching in other stone fruits, such as nectarines, pluots, or other shades of plums. Red or yellow bell peppers could be grilled in place of the poblanos, but they will have a bit less of the spice and the smoky flavor. To add some additional savoriness, try mixing in a tablespoon of capers or some chopped Kalamata olives.