The Grilled Steak Soft Taco - Saving Taco Bell

Welcome to my eulogy series, mourning the loss of Taco Bell menu icons all across the country. Neither God nor the Taco Bell CEO will save our favorites, so its up to us to do it ourselves. Wednesday night, I put up a poll asking my readers what they would like me to recreate this weekend: the Grilled Steak Taco, or the Loaded Grillers. By Friday July 24th, eleven of you voted for me to recreate the grilled steak taco.

Let’s face it. Making a grilled steak taco isn’t exactly hard. You grill a steak. You cut it up. You put it on a tortilla. Boom, bang, done. The actually interesting part of the Taco Bell Grilled Steak Taco is actually the Avocado Ranch ON the chopped up steak. It's easily the reason this taco is disappearing from Taco Bell Menus soon since their steak remains for steak chalupas. I attempted the taco with both a flank steak and a cut referred to as ‘charcoal steak’ which was significantly cheaper, and I don’t believe it makes much difference beyond your comfort as a cook. My husband vastly preferred the taste of the flank steak, so do what you like.

The grilled steak on the actual Taco Bell version is also cooked straight up well since its meat that comes to them in a bag. I advise you cook your steak how you would normally like to eat it, if not slightly more done so it's not bleeding through your tortilla. 

You can find the recipe for my version of the Avocado Ranch here to get yourself started on your mourning feast of Grilled Steak Soft Tacos. I recommend you make the ranch at least an hour before you plan to serve. The time in the fridge helps the flavor of the herbs seep into the fats.

Ingredients:

• Flour tortillas
• Iceberg lettuce, shredded
• Mexican Three Cheese Shredded Mix
• Avocado Ranch sauce
• Dealer’s choice of steak
• Diced tomatoes

 

1. Remove steak from the fridge at least thirty minutes prior to grilling. Taking the chill off allows any steak you want to use cook more evenly. Use this time to prep your toppings if you like. Shred lettuce, dice tomatoes.
2. Heat a grill pan to medium if you’re cooking inside, or make sure you have two zones in your grill if you’re taking it outside. Salt your steak and drop onto your ungreased cooking surface 
3. Cook your steak about four minutes each side, varying for doneness.
4. Remove steak from pan and allow to rest while you heat tortillas.
5. Warm a small skillet over medium heat. Drop one dry tortilla at a time into the center of the pan and allow to warm. Some brands will puff up when they're ready to flip.
6. When your steak has rested for the total amount of time you cooked it ( or close), slice into small chunks. Be careful to go against the grain as much as possible to avoid chewy meat. 
7. Build your taco. Tortilla. Steak. Avocado ranch. Shredded lettuce. Cheese. Tomato.
8. Win.