Exhausted from hours of baking and cooking over the holidays? This easy Christmas dinner is just what you need. These Christmas tacos are going to be your new favorite holiday dinner! It's the best non-traditional Christmas dinner you could ever make.
Crispy tender marinated carne asada topped with sweet savory cranberry salsa- what is not to love? These carne asada tacos are the perfect easy Christmas dinner because they cook up in minutes and a food everyone loves.
Pair it with our cilantro lime rice, some chips and guacamole. Dress up the meal with a fancy easy drink like this Christmas punch and you are done!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Done in less than 30 minutes
- Easy recipe with simple ingredients.
- Everyone will love it.
- Great flavors.
- Perfect for groups of all sizes.
Ingredients
You don't need much for this recipe! For the steak you can marinate it with a few simple ingredients.
For the meat grab a beautiful Flank Steak, then we use tradition carne asada marinade ingredients and let the meat infuse all the flavor for at least a few hours.
- Orange, lemon, limes- Red meat can be kind of tough if not aged or marinated right. Having an acid like vinegar or citrus will help break down and tenderize the meat.
- Green onion or onion- use whatever you have on hand!
- Garlic- fresh is the best.
- Olive oil- this help keep the meat nice and juicy
- Salt- enhance the flavor
How to Make Carne Asada
Start by marinating the meat. In a large bag or air tight container place your meat inside.
- Add in all your ingredients oil, garlic
- salt
- green onion
- orange juice and lime.
5. Message the bag and make sure the spices are covering the entire steak. Allow to marinate for a few hours - over night.
6. Prep your cooking area by preheating your pan, grill or oven.
7. cook your carne asada on high heat. Cook for about 5 minute on each side until it has a nice brown crust but is slightly pink inside.
8. Allow to rest, and the chop into small pieces.
Making Cranberry Salsa
Just as easy as making the carne asada is the salsa. Here is what you need:
- 1 bag cranberries
- cilantro
- limes
- jalapeno
- green onions
- sugar
- salt
Pulse your ingredients
Add your ingredients- starting with the cranberries.
Then proceed to pulse the salsa until it is chunky, I like mine a little more minced, but you can make yours pretty thick chunked! You can use either a blender or a food processor. I prefer the food processor.
TOP TIP: If you like your salsa more puréed than chunky I recommend making it in a blender. For a chunky salsa then be sure to just pulse your salsa and not blend.
Making your Christmas Tacos
This is how Easy your Christmas dinner will be
Take corn tortillas. Heat them up with a little cheese, add carne asada and then cranberry salsa. It'll be the best non-traditional Christmas dinner ever.
Popular FAQ's
Another hack to a good carne asada is to find a really great cut of beef and cut it into bite size pieces. Marinate and sauté.
You can make the salsa 2-3 days ahead and marinate the steak. But do not cook the meat until serving time.
Store salsa and meat in separate air-tight containers. Keep refrigerated for 5-7 days.
Not at all! It's the perfect balance of sweet and savory.
If you're looking for more festive recipes, check out this darling Easy Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board.
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Easy Christmas Dinner
Ingredients
Carne Asada
- 3-4 lbs flank steak
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 limes juiced
- ½ cup onion or green onions
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup oil
Cranberry Salsa
- 12 ounces cranberries
- 1 jalapeno seeded
- 1 bunch of cilanto
- 4-5 green onions
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 limes juiced
Instructions
carne asada
- In a large bowl or bag place steak, onion, garlic, oil, citrus to marinate. Allow to marinate for 30 min to 24 hours. After Marinating sear steak on both side on high heat. You can do this on the grill, broiler, or preferred method cast iron skilled.
Cranberry Salsa
- Add all ingredients into the blender- starting with cranberries and any liquid. Pulse until desired consistency.
- Layer Carne asada with cranberry salsa, cheese and other favorite taco toppings. Serve immediately.
Joshua Armstrong says
I made this on Christmas Day 2022. Huge hit.
I plan on using the salsa in my healthy meal preps going forward. Sure it’s got some sugar but it takes just a tablespoon of the cranberry salsa to make a healthy taco bowl meal pop.
Jane says
Can always count on you two to come up with the most original and delicious recipes. This use of the pressure cooker with air fryer function was genius!!