Carne asada refers to both the dish and the event, a meat-centric cookout beloved across Northern Mexico. In the case of the dish, it’s a marinated, grilled steak (asada or asado means roasted in Spanish) that’s cut into thin strips and often tucked into warm corn tortillas, alongside a fresh, spicy salsa and grilled onions.

For this recipe, we partnered with For this recipe, we partnered with Masienda, the fastest-growing masa brand in America and a huge proponent of using heirloom masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour) to make fresh tortillas.The term nixtamalization is from the Nahuatl language – nextli means ashes and tamalli means dough – and involves soaking heirloom corn in calcium hydroxide before grinding the re-hydrated kernels. The result is a more nutritious, earthy and naturally sweet taste, plus a softer texture.

You can cook and reheat your tortillas in the Ooni – once you do, you’ll understand why Masienda found this to be the fastest and most effective method for whipping up carne asada tacos yet. In fact, every element of these tacos can be made in an Ooni: blistering the ingredients for the salsa verde (which can then be blended or hand-ground in a molcajete, the traditional method that yields impressive flavour and texture) and grilling the meat. 

This is a meal best enjoyed with others and we highly encourage you to host a carne asada taco party where everything is made – and eaten – outside.