This Carne Asada Fries recipe is so good, it should be outlawed! Crispy fries are smothered in melted shredded cheese and topped with creamy guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and diced carne asada, yum! Or drizzle with Taco Bell quesadilla sauce!
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Carne asada fries are a San Diego original. If you don't have any plans to visit San Diego anytime soon, that's ok. I'll show you how to make this sinfully tasty dish at home.
If you do live in San Diego, stop buying this easy dish from your local taco shop. That's right, save your money, and make them at home instead. Not only are they easy to make, but you can customize them exactly how you like and reduce the amount of calories!
What makes this recipe lower in calories than the ones you can purchase at Mexican taco shops is the portion size. One restaurant-sized serving is big enough to feed two or three people. However, when you make them at home, you get to control the portion size.
You can make absolutely delicious Carne Asada to top your fries by marinating flank steak in my Carne Asada Marinade.
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Carne asada fries are really easy to make at home!
- You can control the portions.
- Customize them to your preference by allowing everyone to choose their own toppings.
- If you prefer chicken, you can add chopped pollo asada instead!
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
This recipe is enough for two people to share, especially as an appetizer. However, if you're really hungry, or if you're serving it as a main meal, you may want to double the recipe to serve two people.
🔖 Ingredient & Substitutions
- 4 oz diced flank or sirloin steak: I recommend either using flank steak or sirloin steak to make carne asada fries. However, sirloin is a lot more economical.
- Fries: If you're in a rush, you can use frozen fries, but if you want the real deal, you can use fresh potatoes and make your own fries (fried, not baked).
- Pico De Gallo: When serving kids, you may want to leave off the pico de gallo since it contains onions and Serrano peppers.
- Creamy Guacamole: Creamy guacamole should be perfectly smooth and have plenty of sour cream mixed into it.
- Cheese: Although this recipe calls for shredded cheddar cheese and Cotija Mexican cheese, many Mexican taco shops serve carne asada fries with nacho cheese instead.
* A full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card.
🍟 How to Make Carne Asada Fries
Step 1: Dice the beef and season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside to allow the flavors to develop while you work on the pico de gallo and creamy guacamole.
Pro Tip: If you have the time, marinate the beef using my Carne Asada marinade which contains orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, and spices.
Step 2: Chop tomato, onion, garlic, and cilantro and add to a small bowl. Add sliced serrano pepper. Season with salt and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Set aside until needed. Another option is to use salsa ranchera.
Step 3: Mash avocado in a bowl. Add lime juice, sour cream, salt, and garlic. Mix until creamy, then set aside.
Step 4: Preheat oven to the temperature specified on the fries bag. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add frozen fries and sprinkle with Tajin seasoning. Bake according to the instructions on the bag.
Step 5: Meanwhile, heat one teaspoon of oil in a cast-iron skillet. When the pan is very hot, add the seasoned meat and cook until charred. Set aside.
Step 6: When the fries are ready, add them to an oven-safe serving dish. I love this cast-iron fajita pan. It's the perfect size for this recipe. Top fries with shredded cheese and pop back into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
Pro Tip: If the meat has cooled off add it on top of the cheese before popping the fries back into the oven.
Step 7: Layer the hot fries with Pico de Gallo, Cotija cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and jalapeño slices.
Drizzle with your favorite hot sauce and serve while sizzling hot!
🥡 Storage Instructions
This recipe is best when enjoyed fresh. I do not recommend storing leftovers. Once the fries are covered with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, they will be impossible to reheat. For this reason, I recommend making a smaller batch or sharing them with someone!
🤷🏻♀️ FAQs
The two cuts of meat most often used to make Carne Asada are flank steak and skirt steak. Although I'm using flank steak for this recipe, you can just as easily use some sirloin steak instead.
Although I wouldn't advise using sirloin when making Carne Asada as a main dish, you can definitely use sirloin in this recipe, as well as in my California burrito recipe.
Most come with the same ingredients, no matter where you buy this Mexican favorite. Common ingredients include:
fries
cheese
diced Carne Asada
pico de gallo
guacamole (either chunky or creamy)
sour cream
Some restaurants include the following:
refried beans
nacho cheese
Cotija cheese
sliced jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
Carne Asada fries are known to be "over the top" when it comes to flavor and calories. But when you make them at home, you can reduce some of the calories, without sacrificing any of the flavors.
According to myfitnesspal, one serving has over 1500 calories. Yikes, that's a whole day's worth of calories for most of us! 
Unless you live in Southern California, or more specifically, San Diego, you may have a hard time finding them. This is why I recommend making your own!
According to the internet and more specifically Wikipedia,
Lolita's Mexican Food in San Diego claims to have created the recipe in the late 1990s, inspired by a suggestion from their tortilla distributor.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- If you are not worried about calories or fat content, you can fry the potatoes for an even tastier dish. Either use frozen fries or make some with russet potatoes.
- Another delicious option is to use tater tots instead of fries.
- If you like chunkier guacamole, you can mix some of the pico de gallo in the creamy guacamole to get a chunkier texture.
- Besides cooking the meat in a pan, you can grill the carne asada instead.
- If you don't have cotija cheese, you can use crumbled feta instead.
🌶 More Mexican Recipes
If you enjoy this carne asada fries recipe, check out these other Mexican dishes!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Dice the meat and season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside to allow the flavors to develop while you work on the pico de gallo and creamy guacamole.
- Chop tomato, onion, garlic, and cilantro and add to a small bowl. Add sliced serrano pepper. Season with salt and a squeeze of lime juice. Set aside until needed.
- Mash avocado in a bowl. Add lime juice, sour cream, salt, and garlic. Mix until creamy, then set aside.
- Preheat oven to the temperature specified on the fries bag. If you plan on frying the frozen fries or using fresh potatoes, you can skip this step.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add frozen fries and sprinkle with Tajin seasoning. Bake according to instructions on the bag.
- Meanwhile, heat one teaspoon of oil in a cast-iron skillet. When the pan is very hot, add the seasoned meat and cook until charred. Set aside.
- When the fries are ready, add to an oven-safe serving dish. Top with shredded cheese and pop back into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts. If the meat has cooled off add it on top of the cheese before popping the fries back into the oven.
- Top the hot fries with Pico de Gallo, cotija cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and jalapeno slices.
- Drizzle with your favorite hot sauce and serve while sizzling hot!
Nutrition
Notes
- If you are not worried about calories or fat content, you can fry the potatoes for an even tastier dish. Either use frozen fries or make some with russet potatoes.
- Another delicious option is to use tater tots instead of fries.
- If you like chunkier guacamole, you can mix some of the pico de gallo in the creamy guacamole to get a chunkier texture.
- Besides cooking the meat in a pan, you can grill the carne asada instead.
- If you don't have cotija cheese, you can use crumbled feta instead.
Kelly Methey says
Love these! Needs more than five stars! Thanks for sharing our special San Diego recipes! Maybe someday they will get to Montana...
HildaSterner says
Thanks for your rating! 😘