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.
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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.
Check out this homemade flap steak marinade to break down tough cuts of beef…
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
- Mix salsa marinade.
- Marinate steak in salsa in the fridge 20 min – a few hours.
- Cook steak, probably after patting it dry with paper towels.
Detailed recipe steps
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
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Grill and smoker recipes…
- Grilled chicken wings
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- 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:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- 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
Steak Salsa Marinade Recipe (For Smoking Or Grilling) | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
- 3 lb steak flank, skirt steak, ribeye, sirloin, hanger, coulotte etc.
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 tbsp ginger diced (optional)
- 1 medium jalapeno pith and seeds removed, diced
- ¼ cup olive oil optional
- 1 tbsp bbq rub or taco seasoning, etc
Instructions
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
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