Citrus, garlic, fire — and one strict rule about slicing

Across northern Mexico, carne asada is what happens when lean beef meets a citrus marinade and a very hot fire. No fancy cut required — the tradition runs on hard-working muscles just like round. Orange and lime do the softening, garlic and cumin do the seasoning, and the barbecue does what only a barbecue can. Then comes the rule that makes the whole thing work: slice thin, across the grain, every time. Do that, and a humble round steak comes off the grill eating like something twice its price.

2 hrs 25 mins 4 servings Prep 2 hrs 15 minsCook 10 minsMain CourseMexican

Ingredients

  • 460g Your Farmer grass-fed beef round steaks (thin-cut)
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • Juice of 2 limes, plus extra wedges to serve
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Large handful coriander — stalks finely chopped, leaves reserved
  • Salt to season
  • Warm tortillas and charred corn, to serve

Instructions

For the marinade

Whisk the orange juice, lime juice, garlic and soy sauce together in a shallow dish.

juice of 1 orangejuice of 2 limes3 cloves garlic1 tbsp soy sauce

Whisk in the cumin, oregano, chilli flakes if using, oil and coriander stalks.

1 tsp cumin1 tsp oregano2 tbsp olive oilcoriander stalks

Add the steaks, turn to coat well, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours (up to 8 hours is fine, but no longer — the citrus keeps working).

460g round steaks

For the barbecue

Heat the barbecue grill or plate to its absolute hottest — you want it ripping. Lift the steaks from the marinade, let the excess drip away, and season with salt.

Grill 1–2 minutes per side, pressing gently for contact, until deeply charred outside and still pink within. Rest on a board for 5 minutes.

Slice thinly across the grain — this is the step that makes carne asada tender, so take your time and watch the fibre direction.

Pile the sliced beef onto a warm platter with the resting juices poured over, scatter with coriander leaves, and serve with warm tortillas, charred corn and lime wedges.

Appears in

In every beef share — Round Steaks (~460g)

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Grass Fed Beef Share
Sale price From $152.00Regular price $169.99

Lean Beef, Big Fire

Carne asada was never built on premium steak. The Mexican ranch tradition takes lean, well-exercised cuts — flank, skirt, round — and gets tenderness through technique instead of marbling: an acidic marinade, the hottest fire you can manage, a short cook, a proper rest, and a thin slice across the grain. Every one of those steps is doing real work, and none of them is hard. The thin-cut round steaks in a grass-fed beef CSA share are made for it — thin enough to char hard before the centre overshoots, lean enough that the citrus flavours ring clear. Your Farmer® beef spends its whole life on pasture, and that grass-fed leanness is exactly the style of beef this method was invented for. The rest matters more than usual here, too: thin, hard-seared beef reabsorbs its juices in five minutes, and slicing early tips them all onto the board instead of into your tortilla.

Swaps and Variations

Topside or rump both take the same marinade happily — rump wants an extra minute per side for its thickness. No barbecue? A cast-iron grill pan indoors, opened windows, same timing; we use that trick in plenty of winter steak cooking, and our barbecue steak night guide covers the fire-management side in more depth. Serve it taco-style, over rice as a burrito bowl, or as a straight steak plate with charred corn and a tomato salad. Spring onions charred whole on the grill beside the beef are a two-minute upgrade the tradition would approve of. For a herb-and-yoghurt direction with the same grill-hot logic, try the marinated topside steaks on the BBQ.

Storage and Leftovers

Don't marinate past 8 hours — citrus is a slow-motion cooker, and thin steaks left too long go mealy at the edges. And once raw beef has been in the marinade, the marinade is done — discard it rather than reusing it. Cooked and sliced, the beef keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a blazing pan for thirty seconds or eat at room temperature; slow reheating undoes the char you worked for. The classic leftover move is quesadillas: sliced carne asada, grated cheese, a hot dry pan, five minutes. There are worse lunches.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I marinate the steaks?

Two hours is the sweet spot; up to eight is fine. Beyond that the citrus starts breaking down the surface of thin steaks and the texture turns soft and mealy rather than tender.

Charcoal or gas?

Either works — heat matters more than fuel. Charcoal adds a smokiness that suits the dish, but a gas barbecue cranked to maximum with the hood down for ten minutes beforehand chars beautifully.

How do I judge doneness on such thin steaks?

By time and touch, not a thermometer — they're too thin to probe reliably. At 1–2 minutes per side over ferocious heat they'll be charred outside and pink inside. When in doubt, pull them early; the rest finishes the job.

What does slicing across the grain mean?

Muscle fibres run in one visible direction, like fine lines through the meat. Cut perpendicular to those lines so every slice contains short fibres. On round it's the single biggest difference between tender and chewy.

0 commentson Carne Asada-Style Barbecued Round Steak

Three Simple Steps

A whole table of real food.

Your Farmers grow grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured eggs and the best eco-grown veggies and produce — every item grown to the same ecological standard, every farmer one you can know by name. One subscription, your whole real-food shop.

01

Reserve your share — or try a pack

Subscribe to a share of the harvest, or start with a one-off fixed pack.

02

Make it your own

Pick your delivery rhythm and what's in the box. Skip or cancel anytime — no lock-in.

03

Cook, savour, know your farmer

We deliver in a reusable esky we collect next time. No couriers, no waste.

5.0
Vendor:Your Farmer

CSA Grass Fed Beef Share

Value $169.99
Price $152.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

CSA Pastured Lamb Share

Value $162.41
Price $150.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

"Tucker Box" Budget Beef Pack

Value $196.38
Price $186.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

“Steak King” Premium Beef Box

Value $157.43
Price $149.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

Grass-Fed Beef Sausages, Mince and Diced (SMD) Bundle Pack

Value $272.82
Price $218.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

"Mixed Grill King" Combo

Value $273.56
Price $260.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

"Slow King Beef" Combo

Value $147.43
Price $140.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

"Slow King Lamb" Combo

Value $147.43
Price $140.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

Bulk Grass-Fed Beef - Cut-up Your Way

Price $1,048.00
Vendor:Your Farmer

Bulk Pastured Full Lamb - Cut-up Your Way

Price $495.00

More Recipes

View all

Greek-style grass-fed lamb roast with lemon and oregano served over golden potatoes in a ceramic baking dish.

Greek-Style Lamb Roast with Lemon and Oregano

Lemon, oregano and time — the Greek family-table treatment for the whole cut

Every Greek family has a version of this and none of them are wrong. Garlic, dried oregano and lemon get worked deep into the lamb, potatoes go underneath to catch everything that falls, and the oven runs slow enough that nobody has to watch it. What comes out isn't pink, carve-at-the-table lamb — it's the other thing entirely: golden on top, giving underneath, with lemony potatoes that half the table will fight over harder than the meat. It's Sunday cooking from a country that takes Sundays seriously.

Read moreabout Greek-Style Lamb Roast with Lemon and Oregano

Low-and-slow barbecued grass-fed lamb ribs with a dry-rub bark, sliced on butcher's paper.

Low-and-Slow BBQ Lamb Ribs with Dry Rub

Paprika, brown sugar, patience — American barbecue discipline meets Australian lamb

This is the recipe for the day you've decided the barbecue is the afternoon's entertainment, not just the cooking appliance. No foil, no shortcuts: a paprika and brown sugar rub, a hooded barbecue held low around 140C, and three or so unhurried hours while the fat renders, the spice sets into proper bark and the smell slowly takes over the street. Lamb ribs suit the American low-and-slow treatment better than most people expect — they're smaller and fattier than pork ribs, so you get all the bark in less time. Pour something cold. This one's a sit-outside recipe.

Read moreabout Low-and-Slow BBQ Lamb Ribs with Dry Rub

Grilled grass-fed lamb chump chops sliced over a warm French-style lentil salad with mustard dressing.

Grilled Chump Chops with Warm Lentil Salad

Charred chops over mustardy lentils — the bistro order, made at home

Walk into any honest bistro in France and there'll be lamb with lentils somewhere on the board. It works because the two halves trade favours — earthy lentils soak up the lamb's resting juices, and a sharp Dijon dressing cuts the richness of a properly charred chop. The lentils simmer away on their own for twenty-five minutes while you see to the chops, so the timing looks after itself. Hearty without being heavy, smart enough for guests, and most of it comes from the pantry.

Read moreabout Grilled Chump Chops with Warm Lentil Salad