Salsa Marinade For Steak

Try this steak salsa marinade for seasoning grilled or smoked beef and other meats like chicken breast, too. It’s an easy way to use leftover salsa for an easy dinner the next day. Let’s make tasty food!

This easy steak marinade idea dawned on me when I made tasty salsa marinated steak tacos for a taco night featuring smoker recipes. 

HEY FOODIES — Follow SBG for new recipes on Instagram / TikTok

See the best smoked food recipes…

Why this salsa marinated steak recipe is so good

Do you have any idea how much *better* steaks taste when you let them sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes in a simple marinade ?? 

Marinating beef in salsa is an example of how easy adding a marinade into your dinner routine can be. 

Ingredients

• Your preferred beef / any type of steak (flank, skirt steak, ribeye, sirloin, hanger, tri tip, coulotte etc.)
• Salsa
• Any flavorful add ins you’d like: fresh herbs, ginger, jalapeno, olive oil,  bbq rub or taco seasoning

See the best game day smoker recipes…

How to make a steak salsa marinade

I think it’s great to serve salsa on top of food like steaks, chicken, pork or tuna, but using it as a marinade is really something special. 

Quick look at marinating steak in salsa

1. Mix salsa marinade.
2. Marinate steak in salsa in the fridge 20 min – a few hours. 
3. Cook steak, probably after patting it dry with paper towels.

Detailed recipe steps

1. Prepare salsa marinade for steak. In a large bowl, add salsa. You can also toss in any other flavorful herbs, veggies, seasonings, etc. at this time. Mix to combine. (In the Sip Bite Go recipe video for using smoked salsa to marinade steak smoked on the Traeger, you’ll see I added 1 tbsp ginger and 1 diced jalapeno pepper. You can add in a little more olive oil, too.)
2. Add steak to salsa marinade. Coat steak all over with salsa marinade. Using a little olive oil can help the salsa spread out a bit. 
3. Cover and chill salsa marinated steak. Any amount of time marinating steak in the salsa will help, but a minimum of 20-30 minutes is ideal, up to a few hours (3-4 hours). 
4. Grill or smoke marinated steak as desired. Tip: you might want to remove the marinated steak from the bowl of salsa and pat it dry (with a paper towel) before grilling / smoking it. The flavors will be absorbed and this will help you get a little more char on your sear.

Literally, you just dump the salsa in a large bowl, add any other flavors you’d like (in my video I added diced ginger and jalapeños)…

Add a little olive oil if you want and toss your streaks in there. 

Grill steaks or smoke them to enjoy. 

See easy Traeger beginner recipes…

For a smoked side dish, try smoked mac and cheese or smoked mashed potatoes.

FAQs

What type of salsa can you use for marinating meat?

In this demonstration, I had plenty of leftover smoker salsa that I made to go with my smoked queso dip. You could also use regular salsa and that would be delicious too. Or try verde salsa or mango salsa for a tasty flavor combination. 

New recipes and foodie guides….

• Tri tip (it’s so good!)
• Chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce
• Homemade pizza
• Smoked wings
• Traeger pizza
• Pan grilled chicken
• Bacon wrapped hot dogs
• Potato side dishes
• Pasta side dishes
• Baked brisket
• Sous vide frozen steak
• Cooked chicken temp guide
• Jalapeno ranch sauce
• Sous vide pork chops
• Coulotte steak
• GUIDE: How to make hamburger patties
• GUIDE: Aerogarden
• Best restaurants in Portland
• Blackstone griddle recipes

Grill and smoker recipes…

• Grilled chicken wings
• Smoked pizza
• Smoked chicken
• Smoked tri tip
• Traeger pulled pork
• Grilled shrimp
• Smoked turkey breast
• Smoked chicken wings
• Smoked ham
• Flank steak marinade
• Skirt steak marinade
• Smoked mac and cheese
• Smoked chicken breast
• Grilled broccoli
• Smoked queso

Meat thermometer recommendations

Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly. 

On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:

1. Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
2. ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill. 

It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature. 

How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.

While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!

Are you a foodie, too?

Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about using salsa as a marinade for meat. Next, check out how to make this tasty sirloin steak in oven.

See how to get more smoke flavor from your favorite Traeger dishes…

Connect…

• Instagram / TikTok / YouTube
• Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection