The Border Table · Source Edition
Lime and Teriyaki Beef Fajitas
Skirt steak touched with lime, teriyaki and a spare coat of oil before a hot-coal grill.
The 2021 archive called this ‘Award Winning Beef Fajitas’; no award documentation survives with the card.
Cook it
The 2021 archive called this ‘Award Winning Beef Fajitas’; no award documentation survives with the card.
- Season and marinate. Squeeze the limes over both sides of the skirt steak and add the teriyaki sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 2½ hours; the old card says to start about four hours before cooking, but the meat should not sit unrefrigerated during that wait.
- Drain and coat. Lift the meat from the marinade and drain off excess liquid. Sprinkle with the fajita seasoning and garlic salt to taste, then lightly brush both sides with the two tablespoons olive oil. Discard marinade that touched raw beef.
- Grill. Cook quickly over very hot coals, turning when the first side darkens. Char both sides without letting the meat dry out. For food safety, check the thickest part of a piece for 145°F (63°C), then rest at least 3 minutes.
- Slice and serve. Cut into roughly 1-inch strips across the grain. Serve with warm flour tortillas and pico de gallo; the original card also suggests margaritas at the table.
Serve it
Set out a platter of the sliced beef with thin, pale flour tortillas. Put pico de gallo to the side so each person can choose how much to add.
Understand it
What makes this version work
The unusually large quantity is a gathering recipe: six pounds of skirt steak for the ten servings listed in the old card. Lime provides the main acid, while the measured teriyaki adds a separate sweet-salty note. Drain the wet marinade before the grill so the surface chars rather than steams. The oil is a thin protective coat, not a pan of fat. Slice against the grain after resting to shorten the long skirt-steak fibers.
Know it
The recorded recipe and its place at the table
The owner’s archive title includes ‘Award Winning,’ but it does not identify an award, date, contest or judge. This public title describes the actual flavor and leaves the unsupported accolade in the provenance note. Skirt-steak fajitas became closely associated with Texas restaurants; the Smithsonian documents their growth in Tex-Mex restaurant menus. That broader history does not establish the origin of this exact lime-teriyaki formula.
Sources and method
About this version
The ingredient proportions and core method come from the owner’s 2021 Authentic Tex-Mex Recipes card. The Border Table has clarified the instructions for readers without claiming an undocumented inventor or origin for the exact formula. The external source gives broader culinary context; it does not authenticate the owner’s private recipe.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Tex-Mex Invasion.
- FoodSafety.gov, Four Steps to Food Safety — refrigeration and safe handling guidance where relevant.
See our corrections policy to suggest an update.
