Best Skirt Steak Fajitas – Slow Cooked Skirt Steak
Skirt steak fajitas are popular all over and a favorite among many. The Skirt steak is normally cooked hot and fast in a skillet or grill. But how about a slow cooked skirt steak? Will it add a whole new flavor and make your fajitas have even more tasty?
Skirt steak how to cook then? I have always cooked my skirt steak hot and fast with it being such a thin cut of meat. I always went for a med-rare to med since it got chewier the more I cooked it. While I am sure hot and fast will remain the popular way to go. I can honestly say that this recipe for low and slow turned out 10 times better than I had hoped.
“We might receive commissions if you click on our links and make purchases. This does not affect your price. However, please know this does not impact our reviews and product comparisons. We try to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for your needs.”
The slow cooked skirt steak made some of the best fajitas I have ever made or had for that matter. There was just enough smoke to add a nice smoke flavor to it and was extremely tender and juicy.
Useful Equipent For This Recipe
- Smoker. I use a Pitboss pellet smoker for this recipe. Use what you have the main thing is you can keep a stead temp at around 225° F.
- Cutting Board. A good cutting board makes it nice for trimming and slicing, while saving the blade of your knife.
- Sharp Knife. A good sharp knife is always needed but makes it nice for trimming and slicing . I use a SAWKIT Boning Butcher Knife. My only problem with it has been getting it away from my wife so I can use it.:)
- Wrapping. We will be wrapping in this recipe I will be using pink/peach butcher paper, but tinfoil is another great option. I use both.
- Meat Themometor. Other than having a cooking method A meat themometor is a must, so you know when you are at the right internal temp of what you are smoking. I have been using Lavatools Javelin PRO and have been very happy with it.
- Meat Probes. This is optional but very nice to have. If your Grill/Smoker does not come with a good set of meat probes. These ThermoPro TP08S Wireless Digital Meat Thermometer are very nice affordable option for montoring your cook.
What Is Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is a cut of beef steak from the plate. It is long, flat, and prized for its flavor rather than tenderness. It is not to be confused with flank steak, a generally similar adjacent cut nearer the animal’s rear quarter.
Skirt steak is the cut of choice for making fajitas and is used a lot in Chinese stir fry.
Skirt steaks are often marinated before grilling or being pan seared very quickly. To help minimize the toughness. They are typically sliced against the grain before serving to maximize tenderness.
How Long To Smoke A Skirt Steak?
Usually, it is 5-10 mins per side over direct high heat. For this recipe though we are going to cook it at 225° F for around 2 hours with indirect heat or reaching an internal temp of 200°-205° F.
What Type Of Wood For Smoking Skirt Steak?
For this recipe I used Mesquite. It is a short cook time as far as smoking goes so you want a stronger wood flavor and mesquite is perfect for this. Hickory would probably work well too.
Tips & Tricks For The Best Smoked Skirt Steak
- Season early. I Let the skirt steak sit in a marinade for a little over 3 hours. I would not recommend anything under 2 hours. I have seen where some people like to marinade for 8-12 hours when marinading skirt steak
- Marinating. I would recomend marinating your skirt steak. It is a very flavorable piece of meat but it is also a tough piece of meat. Marinating it for atleast 2 hours will help a lot. Check out my Marinade recipe here
- Make Sure to let the Skirt Steak rest! Let the Skirt Steakt rest for atleast 10-15 mins. You can leave it in the Tin foil or Butcher paper.
- Slicing. If at all possible you want to cut against the grain to keep the moisture in.
What Is Needed
Marinade
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt,plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon chile powder (substitute ancho chile powder if you want more kick)
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons canola oil( substitute what you wish if you don’t like to use canola oil)
Fajitas
- 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
- 1 red,1 green,1 orange bell pepper, stemmed and seeded,then sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick. (you can use any combination you like, I like the various colors) can even substitue a poblano chile for a bell pepper if looking for more of a kick.
- 1 thick yellow onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 12 flour or corn tortillas (your choice)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Skirt Steak How To Cook
- Marinate .First thing we will do is make a marinade. Check out my marinade recipe here. and soak the Skirt steak in it for 3 hours. I would not recommend doing less than 2 hours.
- Seasoning Skirt Steak. This is pretty simple we will apply salt and pepper. Seasoning both sides (Apply to your preference). I would recommend letting the seasoning have time to soak in 30 mins or so. You can apply your favorite beef rub if you prefer. I just went with salt and pepper.
- Smoking!! Were going to place the Skirt Steak in the smoker at 225° F until it reaches 160°-165° F Internal temperature. Was 1 hour and 25 mins for me.
- Wrapping! Wrapping is going to help finish the cook it is going to get us through the stall and get it done. Wrapping in tin foil or pink butcher paper is a preference. I have always used tin foil, but I have been using pink butcher paper more and more. Once wrapped we will place it back on the smoker at 225°.
- Finishing up. We are looking for an internal temp of 200°-205° F.
- Resting. Pull it off the smoker. Need to let it rest. I would recommend a resting time of 10-15 mins.( I left it in the butcher paper for this and covered with a towel)
- Time to slice. Slice it against the grain for best results.
Preparing Vegetables
Bell peppers. After destemming and removing seeds. Slice into 1/4-1/2 inch thick strips
I find it easiest to cut the top off the pepper and cut out core a pull out core seeds and all.
Onion cut into 1/4 inch strips.
place Sliced peppers and onions in cast iron skillet add 2 tbsp olive oil and stir mixture.
As the Skirt steak is finishing up and resting. We turn the heat up to 450° on the pellet grill and put our vegetables on the grill so we can saute them. We will also cook our tortilla shells, why sauteing the vegetables.
This takes some timing if you want to do it all on the grill. When the skirt steak got to an internal temp of 195° or so I turned up the temp to 450°F. The only reason I did this was to save on time for the grill to get up to temp. Once the skirt steak was ready to pull I placed the vegetables on the grill and started to cook the tortilla shells.
If it is easier you can just saute your vegetables on the stove top. Along with the Tortilla shells.
My Thought On These Skirt Steak Fajitas
These were some great tasting fajitas. I can’t remember the last time I had fajitas that were as tasty as these were. This is a great way to cook skirt steak that is not the tries and true way we normally hear about.
If you try them let me know. Any thoughts? always love to hear people’s thoughts and ideas on recipes they like or how they would change things.
Best Skirt Steak Fajitas – Slow Cooked Skirt Steak
Equipment
- grill/smoker
Ingredients
Skirt Steak Marinade
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup Worcestrtshire sauce
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ½ tsp chile powder substitue ancho chile powder if you want more kick
- ½ tsp minced garlic
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp canola oil substitute what you wish if you don’t like to use canola oil
Fajitas
- 1 ½ lbs skirt steak
- 1 med-large green bell pepper stemmed and seeded,then sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick
- 1 med-large red bell pepper stemmed and seeded,then sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick
- 1 med-large orange bell pepper stemmed and seeded,then sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick
- 1 med-large yellow onion sliced 1/4 inch slices
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 12 med flour or corn tortillas (your choice)
Instructions
Skirt Steak
- Mix all the ingrediants for marinade Place in 1 gallon reseallablebag . Place skirt steak in bag with marinade. seal the bag and mix around . Place in refrigerator marinate the skirt steak for 3 hours.
- Pull the Skirt stakes out of fridge. Remove from marinate and pat dry.
- add your preferred seasoning. I am going to just salt and pepper. let sit for 30 mins. Start getting the grill preheated to 225° F.
- Place Skirt steak on the grill until it reaches an internal temp of 160°-165° F. Took around 1 hour and 25 mins this time.
- Wrap the skirt steak in pink/peach butcher papper. Place back on grill until it reaches an internal temp of 200°-205° F
- Once it hits an internal temp of 200°-205° F. Remove it from the grill and let rest for 15 mins.
- Once done resting cut skirt steak into 2-3 sections and then slice against the grain in 1/4-1/2 inch slices.
Vegetables and Tortillia shells
- Bell peppers. After destemming and removing seeds. Slice into 1/4-1/2 inch thick strips
- Onion cut into 1/4 inch strips.
- place Sliced peppers and onions in cast iron skillet add 2 tbsp olive oil and stir mixture.
- As the Skirt steak is finishing up and resting. We turn the heat up to 450° on the pellet grill and put our vegetables on the grill so we can saute them. We will also cook our tortilla shells, why sauteing the vegetables.
- Saute vegetables to your desired level
- Once tortilla shells are all warmed up and vegetables are done. Once you have skirt steak sliced up. Its time to make your fajitas and enjoy
