A flank steak is best when it is stuffed with shrimp! This flank steak is stuffed and rolled up with some tequila lime marinated shrimp and is oozing with melted Oaxaca cheese. The tequila lime marinade gives the shrimp a smoky-sweet flavor that is out of this world! The Oaxaca cheese is incredibly melty and gushes out of the flank steak when it is sliced into. This stuffed flank steak recipe was inspired by my recipe for grilled tequila lime shrimp and cooked on a pellet grill to soak up some smoky flavors.

Have you ever eaten a flank steak that ended up being a mouth workout? It can be easy to ruin a flank steak, and there is nothing worse than when it comes out chewy and overcooked. This steak is incredibly tender because it is hammered thin with a meat tenderizer. You can also marinate the steak to add more flavor and make the meat even more tender!

What is flank steak?

The flank steak comes from the cow’s lower chest and abdominal area. It is a relatively thin cut of meat, about one inch thick, and is very long. Since it is so thin and extremely lean, it takes very well to a marinade. A quick marinade can add tons of flavor and also help to tenderize the meat.

It is typically cooked whole, unlike other steaks, and is then sliced up after grilling. I like to use a pellet grill with my flank steak so that I can give it an amazing color and smoky flavor.

Flank steak is a wide, flat cut of meat, and the muscle fibers all run in one direction. It is also very lean so it can be a fairly tough cut of meat. Because it is so lean and tough it benefits from soaking in a good marinade and cooking over an intense flame very quickly. Also, be sure to cut it very thin and against the grain so that it isn’t too tough

Ingredients for this recipe

What really makes this stuffed flank steak incredible is the marinade for the shrimp. Eating these marinated shrimp won’t get you drunk, but the tequila flavor sure will go well with your margarita. To make this tequila lime shrimp stuffed flank steak you will need:

• 1-1.5 pound flank steak
• 1 pound shrimp
• 8 ounces Oaxaca cheese
• 1/4 cup tequila
• 1/4 fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder

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Marinade tips

I always recommend marinating your flank steak, it really steps up the flavor and makes it way more tender. Check out the marinade in this recipe for easy grilled marinated flank steak.

Marinade ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 5 cloves minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

Marinades for flavor

Flank steak has a very distinct beefy flavor so a marinade can work wonders to pump flavor into the meat. Marinades only work their way into the first eighth of an inch of the meat. Most of the aromatics in the marinade like garlic, sugar, and herbs, have a relatively large molecular structure. The marinade will hit a roadblock when trying to enter deeper into the meat, there just is not enough space for the marinade to squeeze in any further. However, the salt can enter deeper into the meat through a method called osmosis. Osmosis allows for water to move throughout the meat. During this process, the water takes the salt, and hopefully some of the other flavorings in the marinade, along for the ride.

Marinades to tenderize

Marinades can be used to tenderize the meat but they can also ruin your meat if not used properly. An acidic marinade can make your meat overly mushy. Acids like vinegar and enzymes which are found in fruit act to tenderize the meat by denaturing the proteins. You can think of proteins as being a long chain of tangled strings. The marinade will help to untangle these strings and take away the plump structure of the meat. Some people may find the end result to be slightly mushy, and if the meat marinates for too long, this will be more of an issue. You can usually get away with a quick marinade with your flank steak. Try letting it marinate for a couple hours or, at most, overnight.

How to make stuffed flank steak

Step 1: Marinade

Begin by marinating your shrimp and flank steak.

Be sure to use deveined shrimp and take the time to remove the tails from each and every shrimp. Combine the tequila lime shrimp marinade ingredients and allow the shrimp to sit in the marinade for at least 1-4 hours in the fridge.

It is important to get your flank steak worked into a more manageable slab. Remove any silver skin and fatty sections and then butterfly the flank steak so it opens up like a book. Use a meat tenderizer mallet to hammer it thin. Place the flank steak in the marinade and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least 1-4 hours.

Step 2: Stuff

After the shrimp and steak have soaked in the marinade, you are ready to stuff the flank steak.

Layout the steak and put a layer of thinly sliced Oaxaca cheese on. Then put a layer of shrimp on the steak.

Carefully roll up the flank steak into a log. Be sure that the fibers in the meat are oriented correctly and running the length of the meat. This way when you slice the steak, you are cutting perpendicular to the fibers and it will make the steak more tender. Hold the rolled flank steak together with some twine.

Step 3: Cook

Cook the stuffed flank steak at 225°F for about 90 minutes. Once the internal temperature of the steak reaches 140°F, remove it from the grill and cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.

The stuffed flank steak will continue to cook even when it is taken off of the grill. This is called carryover cooking, and you will notice the internal temp of the steak will go from 140°F up to 145°F when covered with foil.

Expert tips & FAQ

• Grill at 225°F using your favorite wood. I use competition blend pellets by Pit Boss. Oak and Mesquite wood also pairs well with flank steak.
• Be sure to use cooking twine to hold the steak together. I usually space the twine about 2-4 inches apart to be sure it is held together well. If you do not have cooking twine, you can use toothpicks or wooden skewers to suture it.

What else is cooking?

Potatoes always go well with meat so you should definitely check out these air fryer parsley baby potatoes. These potatoes have a healthy coating of butter and parsley, giving them a fresh herb flavor and a crispy skin.

This Traeger smoked stuffed pork tenderloin is loaded with lots of cheese and spinach that spills out when it is cut into. This is one of my favorite ways to cook pork tenderloin, I promise you will also love it!

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