Carne Asada Udon Noodle Salad
Chunks of marinated and grilled carne asada, combined with creamy dressed udon noodles in a pasta salad – It’s basically everything I love in one beautiful bowl! Fresh pico de gallo helps make the sauce on this pasta salad, and when you make it with summer produce it especially hits.
The inspiration for this recipe
You can never get enough tasty pasta salads this time of year. I have been on a huge Mexican food kick lately so I came up with this version to satisfy my craving instead of walking down the street to pick up a burrito. I like a thick udon noodle for this salad to stand up to the big chunks of veggies and carne asada. The chewy noodles and the tasty beef go so well together!
Make the fresh pico de gallo
Tomatoes, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, lime, and garlic. That plus a lot of salt is all you need for a beautiful pico!
A big bowl of pico de gallo is the main ingredient in this pasta salad. Well I guess the carne asada or the udon noodles are the main ingredients, but the pico is an important player. I made even more than I needed so I could eat tacos and nachos all week.
Make the carne asada
Marinate the flank steak in garlic, lime, red wine vinegar, cumin, and more. For a more comprehensive and authentic version of carne asada, check out the recipe from Muy Bueno. Cook the flank steak to medium and slice thin. I also grilled some zucchini that day for a separate side dish.
Prepare the udon noodles
Udon usually comes cooked and ready, either frozen or refrigerated. I like buying mine frozen at an Asian grocery store. All you have to do is boil it for a minute to thaw. Dressing goes in first, then the pico. The dressing for this carne asada udon noodle salad is inspired by the recent chipotle hack where people put sour cream into the vinaigrette
Serve the carne asada udon noodle salad
Put the dressed noodles into the serving bowls and add the steak and avocado on top
Then of course more cilantro and lime.
I love the flavors in this carne asada udon noodle salad! The steak goes so well with the creamy chewy noodles and the lime juice balances everything so well. A perfect summer dish!
Twists on carne asada udon noodle salad
This would also be great with some grilled chicken instead of steak. Maybe a chili lime marinade? Or make it vegetarian with grilled mushrooms or tofu. You could top it with other toppings as well, anything you like in a burrito would be great here. Cheese is the obvious thing that comes to mind!
If you love pasta salad as much as I do, check out my pickle bacon pasta salad, gnocchi pasta salad, or this kimchi pepperoni pasta salad!
Carne Asada Udon Noodle Salad
Ingredients
Steak and marinade
- 1 pound skirt or flank steak
- 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1/4 cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce chopped
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper
Pico
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 1/2 a small onion diced
- juice of 2 limes
- 2 jalapenos diced, some seeds removed if desired
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1/2 cup minced cilantro
Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red vinegar
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon chipotle hot sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic grated finely
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 cup sour cream
Noodles
- 16 oz precooked frozen or refrigerated packaged udon noodles boiled according to package instructions and strained and rinsed
- 1 avocado sliced thin
Instructions
- Mix the marinade ingredients in a zip lock and add the steak. Allow to marinate for 2 hours.
- Grill the meat over high heat to medium well. Allow to rest before slicing thin against the grain, and then chopping into smaller pieces
- Mix all the pico ingredients in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Put the dressing ingredients into a jar or small bowl and shake or whisk until smooth and combined.
- Put the noodles into a large bowl and add enough of the dressing to coat. Add pico to your personal tastes, I used about 3/4 of it and thought it was enough. Toss the noodles and add more dressing and/or pico if desired.
- Devide the noodles into serving bowls and top with the steak and avocado. Serve.
This looks so good! Love the idea of Mexican flavors with Udon noodles.