Someone asked me the other day to whip up my favorite all-purpose spice rub for summer so naturally, that's exactly what I did! Let me introduce you to this Chipotle Flank Steak with Corn Salsa!
Are you really surprised that my all time favorite spice rub has a decent amount of chipotle powder? I think not. If you follow along on insta stories, any of my recipes or any of my product lines, you know I love a chipotle moment. I stock chipotle powder by the truckload in case I ever run out. And I have a slew of chipotles in adobo in my pantry for whenever the craving strikes. This spice mixture has all sorts of flavors going on. It's smoky from the chipotle, spicy from the cayenne, sweet from the brown sugar and savory from the paprika, garlic powder, coriander and cumin. Once it's all combined, I pack it onto a piece of flank steak and throw it on the grill. Serve it up with a corn salsa that balances out all the flavor and it's actually the most perfect thing you'll taste all summer. It's the quintessential summer grilling steak recipe and you need it ASAP. Chipotle Flank Steak for the win.
You could also use this and dust it on fish before making fish tacos, you could use it on a whole roasted chicken and toss it into a calabacitas veggie hash! But for sure make the Chipotle Flank Steak, you won't be disappointed. Hot tip- you can drizzle the yogurt green goddess dressing from the loaded steak salad bowl if you have it on hand and it will go so well.
Some tips and tricks for cooking flank steak:
- How long to cook flank steak: If you want a medium-rare flank steak, cook for 4 minutes per side. If you want a medium flank steak, 5 minutes per side.
- Do you rest flank steak? Yes! You rest all steak. Rest your flank steak for about 5 minutes before serving, covering lightly with foil so the juices and redistribute throughout the meat and stay juicy.
- How do you cut flank steak: You'll want to cut flank steak thinly sliced against the grain for maximum tenderness.
- Can you marinate a flank steak: you can - but I prefer a dry rub as listed below.
- One more thing: always let your meat come to room temperature before cooking or grilling! VERY important part of perfecting a piece of meat!
Chipotle Flank Steak with Corn Salsa
Ingredients
For the spice rub
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ pounds flank steak
For the Corn Salsa
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for grill
- 3 ears of corn shucked
- 1 poblano pepper
- ¼ red onion finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño finely diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- Kosher salt freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the spices for the spice rub in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Prepare a grill to medium high heat and brush with olive oil. Brush the corn with the oil. Grill the corn and poblano pepper, turning occasionally, until charred, about 8–10 minutes and remove from the grill and let cool. Strip the kernels from cobs and place in a medium bowl. Peel the charred skin on the poblano and discard. Chop the flesh of the pepper into a small dice and add to the bowl with corn kernels. Discard seeds from the poblano
- Add onion, jalapeño, tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice to corn and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper. Set salsa aside.
- Meanwhile, drizzle the steak with 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle the steak with all of dry rub. Grill the steak, until you have grill marks on both sides. (4 minutes per side for medium-rare, 5 minutes per side for medium.)
- Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, slice against the grain and top with the salsa.
Made the flank steak and it was delicious! I scored the steak and put the rub on a few hours ahead, then refrigerated it so it could marinate a bit. Will make up a batch of the rub to keep on hand for other steaks and chicken!
Absolutely delish!
I added the juice of about 1.5 limes and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the dry rub to make it more of an actual marinade 3 hours before grilling - YUM. Was worried it wouldn’t be tender enough without a few hours in a marinade and we put it on the traegar. Delish!!! And EASY
Delicious! My whole crew loved this one. The brightness and acidity of the corn salsa pairs so well with the smokiness of the dry rub. Keeping this in the rotation!
This is AMAZING!! Couldn’t think of a better summer meal! It’s raining tonight in Mississippi, so I used my grill pan. So much flavor in the rub! And all my favorite flavors in the corn salsa! Superb and simple!!
I'm making this today!! Do you recommend putting on the dry rub just before cooking, or would it taste even more delicious a few hours prior?
either is totally fine - I do it just before cooking!
This was delish! Another wonderful recepie my family enjoyed! I used frozen corn and I cooked the onions a bit since I have a toddler and raw onions are not his thing. The steak was really really good and tasty. Thank you!
This was so delicious!!! We cut the cayenne down a bit for the kids and it was still fairly spicy. But is was seriously so good!!!
Well, that just hit the spot!!! So delicious and so easy. Thanks Gaby, your recipes shine every single time.
Delish!!
Making this next weekend for the 3rd time!!! May have to double the recipe though, there are never any leftovers! This dish is a flavor celebration and quintessential ode to summer. Another great Gaby recipe that will be on repeat !
Can't wait to try this
Amazing!!! The spiciness of the meat is balanced out so well with the salsa. This is definitely a recipe we will continue with regularity. Thank you!
This was another dinner - winner! LOVE the corn salsa, I can't stop eating it!! I'm already dreaming of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Thanks Gaby!!
Hi Gaby. I’m thinking of making this on our camping trip next weel. Can I make the corn salsa two days in advance?
absolutely!