All you need to make the best steak fajitas is skirt steak and a cheap charcoal chimney.
So, I was cooking some 3/4-inch ribeye steaks one night. I started some charcoal in a charcoal chimney to toss on my trusty Weber Kettle because I wanted max heat for that great whiskey-colored crust on the steaks.
It was getting dark and when I looked at the chimney, I noticed it looked like the afterburner of a fighter jet—with long blue and red flames. So I put a wire grate right on top of the chimney, and tossed the meat on. In less than 3 minutes per side, the steaks had a perfect sear—deep mahogany brown—and they were cooked to a perfect medium-rare in the center!
In the image here, you can see me cooking some 3/4-inch ribeyes on three afterburners at the conference of the International Sous Vide Association with scores of hungry chefs in attendance. Fortunately, I had piles of USDA Prime ribeyes that had been sous vided to 131°F and needed a good sear. Needless to say, the steaks were a huge hit, as was the show, and now everybody is doing it. There are even small grates designed for the chimney being sold.
Use the afterburner method on meats no more than 1 inch thick
The technique works superbly on sous vided meats and it can even be used on raw meats 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Anything thicker, and the meat will burn before the center is done. It is ideal for raw, outside skirt steaks, a long tough muscle rarely more than 3/4 inch thick, and the traditional meat for a steak fajitas recipe. The secret of the afterburner method is that it puts massive amounts of heat on one surface at a time and cooks it so quickly that the interior doesn’t get too warm. At regular gas grill temps, the heat progresses through the surface to the interior, and by the time you have a good dark sear on the outside, the inside is overcooked.
The correct way to cut skirt steak for fajitas
That’s the problem with most steak fajitas recipes. You have such a tasty piece of meat in the skirt steak, but the center is almost always gray. Nevermore with the afterburner method.
Note that for this steak fajitas recipe you’ll make two cuts on the skirt steak. The first cut (the vertical white lines) is to cut the raw meat into pieces that will fit over your charcoal chimney. The second cut (the black lines) is to cut the cooked meat across the grain into strips. It’s important to cut the cooked meat across the grain because that severs the meat fibers, making them easier to chew, or what we call “tender.”
Why You’ll Love This Steak Fajitas Recipe
- It’s easy. Just marinate the meat, grill it up with some vegetables, and serve it in tortillas.
- You can make it ahead. The meat marinates for 3 hours in the fridge, giving you time to go do other stuff. You can even let it go longer if you want—up to 6 hours if you have a lot on your your to-do list.
- The afterburner method. This cooking technique is the secret to perfectly cooked skirt steak. Just light briquets in a charcoal chimney, and place a grill grate over the top. The intense heat creates a deeply flavorful mahogany crust on the surface while cooking the interior to a perfect medium-rare doneness.
- The cooking goes fast. Your time at the grill is only about 20 minutes. Just long enough to enjoy a beer while making dinner.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Skirt Steak. This is the traditional cut for a steak fajitas recipe. It’s thin, flavorful, and cooks fast. Go for the outside skirt if you can. It comes from the diaphragm between the sixth and twelfth ribs. It is thicker, more tender, and more uniform than the inside skirt. You may have to order this cut from your butcher because most go to restaurants. It may come with a membrane attached that is easy to remove. If you can’t get outside skirt, buy whatever skirt the butcher has in the case. You could also use a thin flank steak. That takes a bit longer to cook since it’s thicker.
- Marinade. I like a mojo-style marinade here with fresh squeezed orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and a touch of cumin. Some canned chipotle chiles spice things up nicely and add a bit of smoke aroma. You could use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chipotle powder if you don’t have the canned chiles. And if you don’t like cilantro, you can sub in parsley. You could also leave out the cumin, but I like it.
- Veggies. Bell peppers and onions are traditional. A mix of colored peppers looks good on the plate (and tastes more complex), but use whatever peppers you have. I usually sear them just until tender but still crunchy in a cast-iron skillet over the hot charcoal chimney. I also like chopped fresh tomatoes and sliced fresh avocado on my fajitas. Those don’t see any heat.
- Tortillas. Flour or corn, your choice. I like to toast flour tortillas in a cast-iron skillet before serving.
How to make the best steak fajitas recipe
- Make the marinade
Just mix up orange juice, lime juice, chopped garlic, chopped canned chipotle chiles, chopped cilantro, ground cumin, salt, pepper and vegetable oil in a boil.
- Marinate the meat
Cut the meat into 6-inch widths so they’ll fit on the charcoal chimney. Then drop them in the marinade, and chill it all for about 3 hours to soak up some flavor.
- Fire up
When the meat’s done marinating, put your charcoal chimney on the cooking grate, light it up with briquets, and let ‘er rip until you start to see flames shooting out the top.
- Sear the veggies
Cut your onions and peppers into 1/4-inch strips and toss them with oil. Sear them in a hot cast-iron pan set on your afterburner.
- Warm the tortillas
Wipe out the pan, toast each tortilla in it, then stack ’em up in foil to keep them warm.
- Grill the meat
Remove the pan and put a wire grill grate over the charcoal chimney. Grill the skirt steak pieces over the hot grate, turning every 30 seconds or so (the afterburner be wicked hot!), until deeply seared and about 125°F in the center. It should only take a couple minutes.
- Serve
Cut up a fresh tomato into bite-size pieces, slice an avocado, and set those on the table with the warm tortillas, onions and peppers, and skirt steak. A cut-up lime is nice too. Let everyone build their own fajita.
Steak Fajitas FAQs
Skirt steak is traditional. But you can use flank steak. Some people also sear up other proteins like chicken thighs or breasts, turkey breast or tenderloins, even shrimp. Any meat you can cut and serve in strips so it fits into a rolled up tortillas is fair game.
Fajitas are a build-your-own situation: the tortillas, fillings, and toppings are all served separately and you add what and how much you like. It’s more personalized and interactive than a burrito, which is usually built for you. You may specify the fillings in a burrito, but you don’t usually build it yourself. Burritos are also fulled enclosed and wrapped on both ends, whereas fajitas are usually folded up on the bottom end only with the top end open, exposing some of the fillings and toppings.
Onions and peppers are traditional, cut in strips and seared like the meat. After that, avocado, sour cream, pico de gallo, or chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice are common toppings.
Cheese is optional, especially if you have sour cream and avocado. But a crumble of Oaxaca cheese, Cotija cheese, or Queso Fresco is fantastic. Of course, you could always go with shredded Cheddar, Jack, or a combination if you like.
If you like this steak fajitas recipe, you’ll love…
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- Griddle Grilled Chorizo Breakfast Tacos Make Breakfast Pop
- The Best Stovetop Ribs: Arroz Con Costillas De Cerdo (Mexican Rice With Ribs Of Pig)
- Fresh Pico De Gallo Adds Zip To Countless Dishes
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- Hitting The Grill Takes Guacamole To Epic New Heights
Makes:
Takes:
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Charcoal chimney and briquets
- wire grill grate to place over chimney
- frying pan
- foil
Ingredients
Marinated Meat
- 2 oranges
- 2 limes
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fine-grind black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak preferably outside skirt steak
Fajitas
- 2 medium bell peppers any color
- 1 large onion
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil + more as needed
- 6 tortillas your choice of flour or corn
- 1 avocado
These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page
Method
- Make the marinade. Squeeze the oranges and pour 3/4 cup of the juice into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Squeeze the limes and add 3 tablespoons of the juice to the processor. Peel and press or mince the garlic. Finely chop the chipotles and the cilantro and add them along with the cumin, salt, black pepper, and oil. Puree everything to small bits—It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. Measure out 1/4 cup and put it in a small bowl in the fridge to use as a sauce. Pour the rest into a large bowl.
- Marinate the meat. Cut the meat with the grain, basically crosswise, into 6-inch lengths (the white lines in the raw skirt steak image). Put on some gloves, add the meat to the big bowl with the marinade, and massage it in. Let them get to know each other in the fridge for 1 to 3 hours.
- Prep. Slice the peppers in half, rip out the stems and seeds, and cut what’s left into 1/4-inch slices. Cut the top off the onion, peel the onion, cut it in half pole to pole, and then slice it into 1/4-inch half-moons. Cut the tomatoes in half and, over the trash, squeeze out the seeds and gel. Chop what is left into 1/4-inch chunks and put them in a bowl. (Don’t cut the avocado yet or it will turn brown.)
- Fire up. Put the charcoal chimney on top of the cooking grate on your grill. Fill the chimney halfway with briquets and light it.
- Cook the fajita vegetables. When the coals are white and flame is shooting out of the top like an afterburner, put the cast-iron skillet on the chimney, add the oil, spread it around, and add the bell peppers and onion. Cook just until they soften a bit, but leave some crunch, about 4 minutes. If they scorch a bit, that’s OK. Pour them into a bowl.
- Warm the tortillas. With a paper towel wipe the oil from the pan, being careful not to burn yourself. Working quickly place one tortilla at a time in the pan and heat them until they toast slightly on one side. Take them out and stack them on a plate and cover with foil to keep them warm.
- Cook the meat. Remove the pan and put a wire grate on the chimney. Remove the meat from the marinade, wipe off the excess marinade, put the meat on a plate, and head for the chimney. Grill one chunk at a time. Sear one side quickly, 1 minute is all, and then flip and sear the other side until it has good color and the interior is 125° to 130°F. Move the cooked meat to a cutting board. Cut each piece across grain (opposite the direction you cut in before) into 1/4-inch strips (the black lines in the skirt steak photo). Put them in a bowl.
- Slice the avocado. Carefully run a knife around the avocado cutting it in half from pole to pole. Twist the halves apart and with a spoon pop out the seed. Cut the halves again so you have 4 quarters. Scoop the meat of the fruit out of the skins, cut it into 1/4-inch slivers, and put them in a bowl.
- Serve. Now, set all the bowls on the table—meat, onions and peppers, tomatoes, and avocados—and don’t forget the sauce in the fridge. Let your guests assemble their fajitas as they wish.
Nutrition per Serving
This recipe is adapted from Meathead’s book, The Meathead Method, published May 13, 2025. It is available now on Amazon.
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