The Best Cut Of Steak To Use For A Classic Quesadilla

You can find all kinds of formulas for filling a quesadilla these days, from leftover sloppy Joe meat to Spam (if you can believe it). But you can never really beat the classic combination of a steak and cheese quesadilla for a satisfying snack or meal. Steak is a bit of a broad term, however, because not all of cuts make for good filling. The best cut of beef to use for a classic quesadilla is either flank or skirt steak, because both are packed with flavor and have a bit less fat than cuts like ribeye. Both skirt and flank steak do, however, have enough marbling so that they still taste juicy even when they're a little bit overcooked, which can be easy to do when you're making a quesadilla.

Cooking skirt or flank steak for making quesadillas is easy, just season the outside with spices like cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder and sear them on both sides over high heat until the meat is cooked to temperature. The only tricky part of working with either of these cuts is making sure to thinly slice the meat against the grain.

While flank steak and skirt steak come from different parts of the cow (and actually skirt steak is two different muscles), the structure of both cuts of meat are pretty similar, with thick, vertical fibers that run the length of the meat. When it comes time to slice the steak for filling a quesadilla, it's very important to slice it perpendicular to those long muscle fibers, and very thinly, so that the pieces are tender and chewable.

If skirt or flank steak is cut with the grain, that is, in the same direction as the lines of the muscle fibers, you'll end up with tough, stringy, chewy pieces that will be a struggle to bite into inside the quesadilla. It should be pretty easy to notice which direction the fibers of the steak are going, however, just look for the direction of the deep crevices along the surface of the steak. Then, all you need to do is make your cuts at a 90-degree angle against those fibers. If you're cooking a big piece of skirt or flank steak, you can always cut the entire steak in half once along the grain so that it's easier to work with, then slice small pieces for the quesadilla filling against the grain. Once you have the meat cooked, sliced, and ready to eat, simply pile it into some tortillas with the other fillings, and your quesadillas are ready to grill.