Flank Steak Marinade

This flank steak marinade is the best. It’s the only recipe you’ll need to make marinated flank steak at home.

You can cook flank steak many different ways, check out my How To Cook Flank Steak post for several different methods. These methods include grilling, oven, sous vide and more.

Continue on for our delicious and easy flank steak marinade.

Aside from simply marinating and cooking, you might wish to do something else with your flank steak. Perhaps fajitas, tacos, or making it into another dish.

With that in mind, I’m going to share with you how I make variations to the recipe for a couple of different dishes.

These variations are easy to do and pack a punch of added flavor.

Fajita Flank Steak Marinade

Because we love fajitas, to alter the recipe below I simply add three ingredients when making a flank steak fajita marinade.

First is cayenne pepper. Adding a kick of heat provides the spicy bite you love in fajitas. You can’t go wrong with cayenne pepper.

The second is paprika. Paprika has a nice mild-sweet flavor that adds wonderfully to this recipe.

Lastly, I like to add a little bit of liquid smoke into my flank steak fajita marinade. That smokey flavor really takes your fajitas from good to spectacular!

However, you can add any taco seasonings you wish to the marinade. I encourage you to get creative and explore different flavors!

Fajita Variation

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Flank Steak Marinade For Tacos

If you’re making flank steak tacos you’ll want to add a few different ingredients to the marinade to bring out the traditional Mexican flavors you love. Another three ingredients and you’ll have a delicious flank steak marinade for tacos.

First, we’ll add cumin. Adding a delicious earthy, nutty flavor, cumin is a common spice for tacos and works great with this marinade.

Second, we’ll add paprika. Yes, aside from going into fajitas, paprika in this recipe works exceptionally well. The flavor is almost like bell pepper sweetness; hard to describe, but it certainly does the trick.

Lastly, we’re adding chili powder. To kick things up a notch and add a little heat to our flank steak tacos, chili powder is the way to go. Chili powder is a Tex-Mex mix of spices including cayenne pepper among other spices. Great heat and flavor.

Taco Variation

• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder

Lime Flank Steak Marinade

If you love lime flavored food as much as I do, turning this recipe into a lime flank steak marinade is a must!

Lime is one of my all-time favorite flavors to add to literally any dish. My Bud Light Lime BBQ Ribs are ah-mazing, so go check those out too.

To alter this recipe we’ll be making one simple swap. Rather than the robust flavor of soy sauce, we’re going to add the sweet and puckery flavor of lime.

Just swap the two out – even stevens.

Lime Variation

• Juice from 4 freshly squeezed limes (1/3 cup Lime Juice)
• Remove the soy sauce from the recipe

Marinated Flank Steak

Now on to the star of the show, the marinated flank steak. With this recipe, you can marinate it from two hours up to overnight. Because you’re able to marinate for so long if you wish, this can be considered an overnight recipe.

The longer your steak is in the marinade, the more flavor will be imparted into the meat.

However, we’ve found that two hours of marinating works well and imparts plenty of flavor into the meat!

The Best Zipper Bags »

You might also like:

• How To Cook Flank Steak
• How To Grill Steak Tips
• How To Grill Steak Kabobs
• 15 Delicious Steak Recipes

5 from 3 votes

Flank Steak Marinade

Flank steak marinade recipe with variations for fajitas, tacos, and lime flank steak marinade.

Servings 3 people

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Resting time 2 hours hrs

Ingredients

• 2 lbs flank steak
• 1/3 cup soy sauce See note if making Lime marinade
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or large zipper bag. Add flank steak and flip to coat all sides. Cover or zip the bag and refrigerate for two hours, up to overnight.

Video

Notes

If using a zipper bag to marinate, I always suggest placing the bag inside a bowl incase it leaks.

Variations for this recipe are quite simple. 

Fajita Variation:

Add 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp liquid smoke.

Taco Variation:

Add 1 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 Tbsp paprika, and 1 tsp chili powder.

Lime Variation:

Omit (do not add) soy sauce. Instead, add the juice from 4 freshly squeezed limes or 1/3 cup lime juice.

Author: Scrappy Geek

Cost: $8

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American