Jamaican Beef And Mango Tacos Recipe
Aren't tacos great? Who doesn't enjoy a taco? With so many different fillings and flavors, there's bound to be a taco for everyone. This taco recipe, developed by recipe developer Jennine Rye uses Jamaican-inspired flavors to make a jerk beef and mango filling.
Jerk is a popular Caribbean seasoning, offering complex, earthy, sweet, and smoky flavors. In this recipe, it is used in the form of a dry rub to coat sirloin steak, which is deliciously meaty and flavorful enough to carry the bold taste of jerk. The strong earthy spicy flavors of the jerk seasoning pair wonderfully with the bright, fruity, and zesty freshness of the mango salsa, making this a particularly vibrant dish for those who enjoy bold and spicy flavors.
As tacos are great for sharing as a sociable meal with friends and family, this dish is ideal if you're planning on hosting a get-together, be it an informal finger food affair, while watching a football game together, or for a gathering around the dining table. The dish can be enjoyed as a meal on its own, or combined with a side. A salad is a nice light accompaniment to these tacos, or for something a little more substantial, why not serve it with sweet potato wedges?
Gather the ingredients for Jamaican beef and mango tacos
To begin this Jamaican beef and mango tacos recipe, first, you will need to gather the ingredients. You will want some good quality steak, such as sirloin. To create the jerk spice, mix you will need brown sugar, ground allspice, dried thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, sea salt, ground paprika, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground bay leaves, and hot chili powder (which you could reduce or even omit, if spicy food isn't your thing).
To make the salsa you'll need mango and pineapple, as well as red bell pepper, red onion, fresh cilantro, a red chili, and lime juice. Lastly, you'll need some tacos. Soft or hard taco shells work equally well, so go with whichever you prefer.
Make the Jamaican style dry rub
Start off by making the jerk spice blend. While there are many different herbs and spices involved, it is a quick and straightforward process; simply combine all of the spice rub ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. Then, to prepare the steak, massage it with a little oil before coating it thoroughly with the spice mix, on both sides.
Before cooking them, it's best to let the steak stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. This has two benefits. Firstly, it allows time for all the flavors of the spice rub to infuse into the meat. Secondly, bringing the meat up to room temperature will help it to cook more evenly throughout compared with frying it straight out of the fridge. Make sure not to keep it out of the fridge for too long though, for best food health and safety practices.
Make mango salsa
While the steak is reaching room temperature, this is a good time to put the salsa together. For the absolute best salsa, you will want to use perfectly ripe mango and pineapple; as well as being easy to chop up, they also have the best flavor and are super juicy. When chopping up the fruits and vegetables, try to make sure they are cut to a similar size. Then, to make the salsa, simply combine the mango, pineapple, pepper, red onion, cilantro, red chili, and lime juice in a bowl and then set aside.
Cook the steaks
After letting the steaks reach room temperature, it's time to get frying. Heat up a heavy-bottomed pan to a medium-high temperature and then add the steaks. Cooking a steak is somewhat of an art form, however, using a meat thermometer will allow you take a lot of the guesswork out and make it more of a science. Chef Gordon Ramsey has a clever technique for testing how well done a steak is; feeling your cheek, your chin, and your forehead to represent levels of doneness. For this dish, medium-rare is the perfect level of doneness, which would be somewhere between your cheek and your chin using Ramsay's testing scale.
Slice and serve
Once the meat is cooked, let it rest for 10 minutes to allow the fibers to relax and juices to redistribute throughout the meat. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the steaks into fine slivers, going against the grain to slice the meat fibers neatly and keep the meat intact. Then, simply place a few slices of steak into your taco, top with a few spoonfuls of the mango salsa, and enjoy the explosion of flavors in your mouth!
Store any leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge, and consume within 2 days.
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- ½ teaspoon hot chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground bay leaves
- 2 thick-cut sirloin steaks, roughly 1.5 pounds
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 ripe mango, cubed
- 1 cup finely cubed fresh pineapple
- 1 bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 red chili, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- 12 soft or hard taco shells, to serve
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the brown sugar, allspice, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, ground paprika, hot chili powder, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground bay leaves to make a Jamaican jerk-style dry rub.
- Pat the steaks dry with kitchen towel and then rub the cooking oil into them, before liberally coating them with the Jamaican jerk-style dry rub. Let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cubed mango, pineapple, bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, red chili, and juice of 1 lime. Stir gently using a wooden spoon to mix.
- Using a heavy-bottomed pan, heat to a medium-high temperature before adding the steaks to the pan. For 1 inch thick-cut steaks, cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side to cook medium-rare. Increase the cooking time for medium or well-done steaks.
- Remove the steaks from the pan and let them sit and rest for 10 minutes, before thinly slicing with a sharp knife.
- Serve the warm sliced steak in soft or hard taco shells, topped with a spoonful or two of the mango salsa.
| Calories per Serving | 701 |
| Total Fat | 37.1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13.0 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.1 g |
| Cholesterol | 132.6 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 55.4 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7.6 g |
| Total Sugars | 21.4 g |
| Sodium | 700.5 mg |
| Protein | 38.8 g |
