The dinner that turns up at the table still sizzling
Fajita night is the easiest win in the book. Thin-cut topside is lean and even, which means a citrus marinade gets right into it in half an hour — no overnight planning required. Then it's a ripping-hot pan, a couple of minutes on the beef, charred capsicum and onion, and a stack of warm tortillas in the middle of the table. Everyone builds their own, everyone's happy with theirs. And the cook, for once, just sits down and eats.
Ingredients
- 460g Your Farmer grass-fed topside steaks, sliced across the grain into 1cm strips
- 2 limes — 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges to serve
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 red capsicum, thickly sliced
- 1 green capsicum, thickly sliced
- 1 large brown onion, sliced into wedges
- 8 small flour tortillas, warmed
- Sour cream, coriander leaves and your favourite salsa, to serve
Instructions
For the marinade
Whisk the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and salt together in a large bowl.
juice of 1 lime3 tbsp olive oil2 tsp cumin2 tsp smoked paprikaAdd the beef strips, toss until every piece is coated, and set aside for 30 minutes.
460g topside stripsFor the fajitas
Heat a large heavy frying pan or BBQ plate until smoking hot. Cook the capsicums and onion for 4–5 minutes until charred at the edges but still with some bite, then tip onto a plate.
2 capsicums1 brown onionReturn the pan to the highest heat. Sear the beef in two batches, 1–2 minutes per batch, so it browns rather than stews.
Return the vegetables and all the beef to the pan, toss together once, and squeeze over a little lime.
Carry the pan straight to the table and let everyone build their own with warm tortillas, sour cream, coriander, salsa and the lime wedges.
8 tortillassour creamcorianderlime wedgesAppears in
In every beef share — Topside Steaks (~460g)
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Why Thin-Cut Topside Is Built for Fajitas
Topside comes off the inside of the back leg — a muscle that worked hard every day the animal grazed. That work makes it lean and fine-grained, with barely a ribbon of fat through it, and it's exactly why the topside in your grass-fed beef CSA share arrives as thin-cut steaks: meat this lean wants fast, fierce heat, and a thin steak gives you the head start. For fajitas you take it one step further and slice across the grain into strips, shortening the muscle fibres so every piece bites tender. The lime does the rest — and because Your Farmer® topside is already cut thin, half an hour in the marinade is genuinely enough. If you want the full temperament chart for everything in the box, our guide to every beef cut and how to cook it is the place to start.
Swaps and Variations
Round steaks — the other thin-cut staple in every share — swap in without changing a thing, and thinly sliced rump works too. Corn tortillas make the whole dinner gluten-free, and the same marinated beef is just as happy piled over rice as a burrito bowl when the tortilla supply runs dry. If the wok-and-soy mood strikes instead, the same slicing trick powers our topside and broccolini stir-fry. And for the adults: fresh jalapeño or a shake of chipotle sauce, added at the table, so the kids' dinner stays in the mild lane.
Storage and Leftovers
You can get ahead here. The beef can sit in its marinade in the fridge for up to 2 hours, or go straight into the freezer, marinade and all, for up to 2 months — it seasons itself as it thaws overnight in the fridge. Cooked leftovers keep 3 days in an airtight container. Thin strips overcook fast in the microwave, so flash them in a hot pan for under a minute — or don't reheat at all. Tomorrow's lunch is cold fajita beef, cheese and salsa folded into a tortilla and toasted flat in a dry pan until crisp. That's a quesadilla, and it's a very good reason to cook the full pack tonight.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use round steaks instead of topside for fajitas?
How do I stop the beef strips going chewy?
Can I marinate the beef overnight?
Can I cook fajitas on the barbecue?
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