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Slow cookers are great for entertaining because you can easily get all the work done in advance and have your house smelling amazing when guests arrive (we use this basic, inexpensive slow cooker). Who knew you could set-and-forget Mexican cuisine in the slow cooker so it's ready for dinner? See how this easy and delicious crockpot flank steak recipe comes together in our detailed recipe below. After all, slow cookers aren't just for soups, people!
Make Ahead Crockpot Flank Steak Fajitas
I just made these fajitas myself the other day and my daughters kept asking me “What smells so good??” They couldn’t wait to dig in and if you make the tortillas in advance it will just take some grated cheese, sour cream, and cilantro (plus any other fixings you like on your fajitas), and your feast will be ready in no time. You will love these Chicken Fajita Bowls too!
How Long to Cook Flank Steak in a Slow Cooker
If you cook the flank steak on high for roughly 5-6 hours, you'll end up with perfectly tender, pull-apart flank steak that takes on the spices and sauce flavors perfectly! Just note that different brands of slow cookers may have different heating temperatures despite having the same setting. To avoid drying out your flank steak, be sure to check on it around hour 4 and 5 if at all possible! (For reference, we used the 6Qt Crockpot on "High" for this recipe.)
Best Toppings for Steak Fajitas:
Your family's tastes may vary, but these are some of our favorite toppings to dress up these crockpot flank steak fajitas with!
- Grated cheese, (try some Mexican Cotija!)
- Fresh cilantro
- Squeezed lime juice
- Sour cream
- Spinach
- Sliced Avocado
- Fresh Jalapenos (If you like more of a kick!)
- Habanero peppers
I am getting hungry just talking about it. But don’t take my word for it…you must try it for yourself! Or, make these Chicken Fajitas or this Arrachera! For more ideas, try these Steak Recipes.
Slow Cooker Flank Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs flank steak (preferably grass fed (we buy ours from Baucom’s Best at the Matthews Farmers’ Market))
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably the low-sodium variety)
- 1 jalapeño (seeded and chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 bell peppers (any color)
- 1 onion
Other Fajita Fixings:
- whole-wheat tortillas
- cheese (grated)
- avocado (sliced)
- cilantro
- lime
- spinach
- sour cream
- hot peppers
Instructions
- Mix together the dry spices with a fork including the chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
- Rub the spice mixture over all sides of the flank steak and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the soy sauce on top.
- Top the flank steak with the diced jalapeno and minced garlic. Slice the bell peppers and onion and throw those on top of the steak as well.
- Turn the slow cooker onto HIGH and cook for 5 – 6 hours or until the steak can easily be shredded with two forks.
- Drain the meat and peppers well then serve with the recommended fajita “fixings” (listed above).
Enjoy!
Steph B says
This is a great recipe and super easy to make. Awesome flavor and great for leftovers. Loved by everyone in my house, even the itty bitty's!
Nikki says
Can this be done in a pressure cooker? I love my pressure cooker as it speed cooks things and I don't have to worry about leaving the crock pot on while I'm at work (crazy paranoid Momma). Thanks!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Nikki. I don't see why not. Let us know how it turns out. ~Amy
Lindsey says
How'd it turn out with the pressure cooker? I'd love to know. Thanks!
Nan says
I made these the other night, and they were delicious! My husband, my 3 year old picky eater, and I loved them! I decided to make them late in the afternoon, so I couldn't use my slow cooker. Instead, I sauteed the beef (whole) on the stove, and removed. Then I sauteed the peppers and onions...I also added a sliced zucchini because I only had one pepper...it was delicious! I omitted the jalapeno because I didn't have one. After the meat had rested, I sliced it up and added it back to the veggies in the pan, just to mix it all together. The flavor was wonderful!
Molly says
Do I grind up the coriander seeds? I have never used coriander before. THANK YOU
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Molly - the coriander should be a spice you can buy and it will already be ground up. Jill
Jodi says
I'd like to make this tomorrow. Do you cut the steak before putting it into the slow cooker? Thanks for letting me know!
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Jodi. No, you should leave the steak whole. Jill
Jessica says
I made these today- and they were amazing! My fiance is typically the cook in our family, but we decided to start making changes to how we eat (mostly, I decided.) This meant it was time for me to step up to the stove and get to it! In this case, it was stepping up to the crock pot, but it was so easy and so delicious! Even my picky little 3 year old liked them. Thanks for the successful recipe!
Deb says
Could I cook on low for 6 to 8 hours?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Deb. Yes, I think you could, but, I would think it would be closer to 7 or 8 hours. Jill
Lil says
Made these for dinner last night and they are so delicious. I left out the jalapeño and it still has so much flavor. What a great way to use flank steak!
amanda says
Do you have to cover the ingredients with water?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Amanda. No, no water necessary...the juices will come naturally from the meat. Jill
Renae says
YUMMY! I made them with chicken last time. FANTASTIC!
Tiffany says
Hi Lisa,
I am having trouble finding 100% grass fed beef in my area. The farmers market closest to me states that their beef:
" consists primarily of two family farms raising rotationally grazed, grass fed, grass finished beef with no antibiotics, no growth hormones and no grain.
Cattle are moved to new paddocks daily except for short periods in the winter when grass is scarce. During this time our production method varies from the Eatwild standards in that we confine them in paddocks and supplement their winter diet with small amounts of soy hull pellets."
Is this ok?
Thanks,
Tiffany
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Tiffany. I believe that is common practice for winter months (although I'm not 100% certain). I alway tell people to go with the best that's available to them. Jill
Rachel says
I made this tonight and it was amazing! My steak was very large so I cut it in half, doubled the spices so I could rub both pieces. I ended up using all the spice but a quarter of it. I also used chipotle powder and ancho chili powder in place of the regular chili powder. I'm putting this in my recipe book!
Jessica says
These were so good! I have 4 kiddos and 2 of the kids even loved these (the other two still ate them, but didn't rave) and my husband and I thought they were absolutely delish. We will be making them often!
I wonder if you can substitute other meats...chicken fajitas perhaps?
Madison M. says
I made these last week for some company and it was DELICIOUS!! My grocery store didn't have flank steak or skirt steak so I got London broil (?) and it was still great! And my meat was 2.5 lbs and I'm glad I made it all because four of us gobbled it up! And we wrapped them in iceberg lettuce leaves to reduce carbs. I'm tempted to make these every night!
Jackie says
I've looked at this recipe many times on this site and always thought it was kind of weird. In my head, fajita meat is always grilled (or sauteed in a skillet as a last resort). But, we've gotten a little bored with our "usual" recipes -- and I have gotten off track with "easy" foods, take out, etc. So, this week I decided to re-dedicate our family and put these on our menu.
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
They are so good! I am eating leftovers for lunch right now! I thought the soy sauce was a weird addition, but it really does the trick!
This recipe will definitely go into our rotation from now on!
Emily says
I made these. They were awesome. I also took them to work for lunch and they didn't have a microwave, but they are fantastic cold as well. I'm making another batch today to eat this week. I'm trying a flank and skirt steak, the store didn't have 2 flank steaks. We'll see how it goes.
helen says
can i replace the flank steak with skirt steak?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Helen. You could give it a try. I would just make sure you select a steak that is grass fed. Good luck. Jill
Jennifer says
yes, I made it with skirt steak yesterday and it was DELICIOUS!
Ellie G says
My husband hates bell peppers. Would this work without the peppers in the crock pot?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Ellie. I don't see why you couldn't leave them out, or you could just make it with them and take them out of his serving, that way the rest of you can still enjoy them :-). Jill
Catia says
Hi Jill, thanks for all you input on the website.We been cutting lots of processed foods now. And I would like to know what could you recommend in substitution of Nuttela(hazelnut spread) my kids love them ! and also my son would only drink chocolate milk although I only put 2-3 drops on Nesquik I would like to know what can you recommend instead. Thanks
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Catia. In terms of Nutella, here is a recipe from Weelicious...http://weelicious.com/2011/08/01/chocolate-hazelnut-spread/. I would use honey though and not agave. For the chocolate milk, check out this recipe for chocolate syrup from Deliciously Organic...http://deliciouslyorganic.net/chocolate-sauce-syrup-hersheys-recipe/. Good luck. Jill
Katie L says
Not sure if it was me or my meat...but it was tough. I bought the flank steak, as recommended, and I've never had flank steak before so maybe it was just a different texture. Oh and at 4 hours it was pulling apart so I didn't cook it any longer...maybe that was the problem.
Oh and the Ezekial Tortiallas (sprouted), not the best taste :(
100 Days of Real Food says
If the meat was tough (and especially since you took it out a little early) my guess would be it didn't cook long enough. It just gets more tender the longer you cook it. And while Ezekial brand is a great "real food" alternative I agree I am not a big fan of the taste/texture of some of their products.
Teresa says
I've never made a slow cooker recipe without any kind of liquid inside of it. Do you need water or beef broth to make sure it doesn't burn? Or is the soy sauce enough? This sounds awesome and I just didn't want to ruin it!!
100 Days of Real Food says
No liquid necessary! :)
Natasha says
Wow, my question exactly. Was searching all over the internet for something like this and just thought it was odd that the only liquid was the soy sauce.
Going to give this a shot this week.
Jessica says
Your recipes are sooooo amazingly delicious! Thank you! I made this tonight and used 2 pounds of round steak instead because there wasn't a store in town that sells flank steak! It was still delicious! I do not have a tortilla press yet, but am looking into getting one! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and delicious recipes!
Sara says
Would it be okay to add FROZEN meat to the crockpot or should I defrost it first?
100 Days of Real Food says
It should definitely be defrosted first.
lonestargal says
Just made this last night and it turned out WONDERFUL!! Whole family loved it and so incredibly easy!!! Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
jodi says
was wondering if it would be ok to do 9 hours on low...don't want to dry it out :).
100 Days of Real Food says
You could try that as an experiment...should probably work.
Elizabeth says
I made this tonight for the first time. LOVED it!!! Served it over rice (instead of in the tortilla). And, I didn't drain it; just served with a slotted spoon.
100 Days of Real Food says
Love the idea of serving it over rice with the sauce...thanks for sharing!
Heather says
Yum! My husband and I love making fajitas...and I love even more doing it in the crockpot! I will be making this for super bowl sunday. Thanks!
Lynn says
This recipe was soooo good!!! I didn't use the slower cook, I just used my saute pan. Worked perfect! Made it under an hour. I have four kids and super hubby. All gave it a thumbs up!
Lindsey says
These are so good! I made them this weekend and my whole family loved them. Definitely will be making this again
NEdmonds says
The recipe is awesome. So awesome, I want to slow cook all things now. I substituted NM Red Chile, added a poblano and forgot about the soy sauce part, and it turned out delicious.
Marcia @Frugal Healthy Simple says
Keep up the slow cooker recipes! It's winter. I like my slow cooker in the winter.
Geni says
I found you from Pinterest. I was definitely fascinated by the slow cooker fajitas! I need new slow cooker recipes that my whole family will enjoy and I know these will be a winner! Love your blog and can't wait to look around more. I am a real food lover myself. Try to eat mostly organic and local and Grass Fed. It's not always easy to find, but I do think it's important for our health and our earth.
Charlotte says
I made this recipe for dinner last night, and my husband and I both LOVED it! We just bought 1/4 of a grass-fed, organic cow, and this was the first recipe I made with our beef. The only thing I did different was that I didn't have flank steak, so I used round steak. It was absolutely delicious on homemade tortillas. I know I'll be making this again! Thanks so much for sharing!
Bill says
I'm always on the look out for recipes based on real "real food". Thanks for sharing with the world and I'll definitely be directing friends, family and customers to your site.
Jenn says
I have to say thank you! I found your blog about 3 weeks ago and cannot be more grateful! By bringing your family to a more healthy lifestyle you have begun to help me as well. I am allergic to artificial additives and preservatives, so your recipes allow me to feel like I eat more like the rest of the world! Thank you!
Superfood Sisters says
This looks very good!! Crockpots are the best! Healthy meals prepared in the morning and ready for dinner, makes life a little easier!! We like to use BRAGG's liquid aminos instead of soy sauce!!
Cali says
I have a similar recipe that uses chicken and we LOVE it. Can't wait to try this.
Mary says
This looks wonderful and it is a dish my family would love. This is my first visit to yoursite so I took some time to browse through your earlier entries. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes you share with your readers and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
Diane Jaquay says
I'm always looking for easy and tasty crock pot recipes and this one sounds like a winner!
Esther @ Esther Eats says
Ah! These sound delicious! I will definitely have to try these. Thanks for the recipe!
Pam @ Ramblings of a Happy Homemaker says
We just received our first grass-fed cow this weekend. I look forward to making your fajitas with our steak. :0) Slow-cooking is my favorite.