Carne Asada Torta 🥪 is a Mexican sandwich made with grilled carne asada, creamy avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño on a soft telera or bolillo roll.
Growing up, summers meant kids running around, food grilling, music playing, an ice chest full of beer, and los tíos arguing about los terrenos. 🙄😄 There was always plenty of carne asada, tortillas, rice, beans, and salsas.
When we had leftover carne asada, my family knew exactly what to do with it: make a torta de asada. The chopped steak gets tucked into a toasted roll with fresh toppings for a hearty Mexican sandwich that’s perfect for lunch or dinner.
Also try my Carne Asada Street Tacos recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Great for leftovers. Turn leftover carne asada into a completely different meal the next day.
- Fresh and filling. Creamy avocado, crisp lettuce, juicy tomato, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño balance the grilled steak.
- Easy to customize. Add refried beans, pickled jalapeños, pickled onions, guacamole, or your favorite salsa.
- A classic Mexican sandwich. Serve it on a traditional telera or bolillo roll for an authentic torta de asada.
-Maggie
🥩 Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- Beef – flap or skirt steak (preferred)
- Lime juice
- Ground cumin
- Ground oregano
- Garlic clove
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Olive Oil
For the Sandwich:
- Bread (Telera roll if you can find it)
- Mayonnaise
- Avocado
- White onion
- Cilantro
- Jalapeño
- Lettuce
- Tomato
👩🏼🍳 Instructions
- Marinate the beef with the marinade ingredients for 1 hour.
- Up to overnight in a resealable bag.
Cuts of Beef
Flap steak and skirt steak are commonly used to make carne asada. You can also use iron steak, top round, rib eye steak. Basically, any thin piece of beef. If you can’t find a thin piece of beef, pound it thin between two pieces of wax paper, then marinade it and cook as instructed below.
- Cook the meat in a grill pan or on the grill until done.
- Let the meat rest before chopping it into small pieces.
Take the beef out of the fridge for 15 minutes before place on the grill. Cook until golden brown and slightly charred.
How long to cook it depends on how you like your beef cooked.
Beef Grilling Temperatures
- Medium rate – cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side until you reach an internal temperature of 130-135 degrees F
- Medium – cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until you reach an with an 135-145 degrees F
- Medium-well – cook for 8 to 10 minutes on each side until you reach an with an internal temperature of 145-155 degrees F.
- Place the avocados in a bowl and sprinkle with salt.
- Mash until smooth.
My mom used to call this guacamole and is nothing but really smooth avocado and salt.
Swap out for Guacamole or Salsa de Aguacate.
Let the meat rest slightly before slicing. Cover with aluminum foil until ready to assemble the sandwiches.
Prepare all the remaining ingredients to assemble.
Assembling Carne Asada Tortas
- Slice the roll in half.
- Smear the top bun with mayonnaise and the bottom half with the mashed avocado.
- Add the sliced steak, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno slices.
- Top with the other half.
See why this recipe is great for leftover carne asada!
What Bread to Use
Bolillo and teleras are traditionally used to make tortas, or sandwiches.
If they are not readily available at your local store, use baguette, hoagie rolls, even ciabatta bread.
Variations
Instead of fresh jalapenos, use pickled jalapenos. Or swap out fresh white onion for red onions or pickled onions.
One variation of this sandwich is to spread a generous amount of refried beans on one side of each roll.
For a spicier kick, drizzle some hot sauce.
Storing and Reheating Instructions
I highly recommend storing the meat and all the ingredients separately. That way the buns do not get soggy.
Store the cooked beef in a plastic container for up to 4 days in the fridge. Place the bread in a sealable plastic bag and remove as much air as possible.
Reheat the beef in a skillet for 4-5 minutes, or on high in the microwave for 2-3 minutes (depending on your microwave). Assemble your sandwich and enjoy!
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
A carne asada torta is a Mexican sandwich made with grilled carne asada and toppings such as avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. It is traditionally served on a telera or bolillo roll.
Telera and bolillo rolls are traditional choices for Mexican tortas. If you can’t find either one, a baguette, hoagie roll, or ciabatta can also work.
Yes! This is one of my favorite ways to use leftover carne asada. Chop or slice the cooked steak and reheat it in a skillet before assembling the sandwich.
Flap steak, skirt steak, and flank steak all work well for carne asada. You can also use thin cuts such as top round, rib eye, or flat iron steak.
A torta is essentially a Mexican sandwich. The word torta refers to a sandwich in Mexican Spanish and is commonly made with rolls such as telera or bolillo.
🍴 Serve With
This Carne Asada Torta is one of my favorite ways to turn leftover carne asada into an entirely new meal. The tender grilled beef, creamy avocado, fresh vegetables, and soft toasted roll make a hearty sandwich that’s easy to customize.
Make it after your next carne asada dinner, or grill the steak just for these tortas. Either way, it’s a delicious Mexican sandwich that’s perfect for lunch or dinner.
Carne Asada Torta
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- 1 ½ lbs flank steak (or flap steak)
- 2 limes (juice only)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the Sandwich:
- 4 bread rolls sliced in half
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 avocado
- ¼ onion sliced
- ½ bunch cilantro chopped
- 1 Jalapeno sliced
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 1 tomato
Instructions
- Marinate the beef with the marinade ingredients for 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Take the beef out of the fridge for 15 minutes before place on the grill.
- Heat grill to 400 degrees, or heat up 2 tablespoon oil in a grill pan.
- Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side until you reach an internal temperature of 130-135 degrees F for medium rare.
- For medium, cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until you reach an with an 135-145 degrees F.
- Let rest before chopping into small pieces.
- Slice the bread in half.
- Smear one side of the bread with mayonnaise.
- Place the avocados in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Mash until smooth.
- Smear the other side with the mashed avocado.
- Add the chopped beef on top of avocado.
- Top with shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno slices.
- Add the other half on top and enjoy!
Notes
- Medium rate – cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side until you reach an internal temperature of 130-135 degrees F
- Medium – cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until you reach an with an 135-145 degrees F
- Medium-well – cook for 8 to 10 minutes on each side until you reach an with an internal temperature of 145-155 degrees F.
I have not heard of this sandwich before, but after reading your post, I wanted to give it a try. Super delicious!
Hope you do. I know you’ll enjoy it.