Salsa Macha drizzled over steaks cooked in a cast iron skillet is the ultimate date night at home. Salsa macha is a delicious, rich salsa made from three types of Mexican dried chiles, onions, garlic, and peanuts. Blended with vinegar and seasoned with oregano salsa macha is simply irresistible.

Date night at home is the perfect opportunity to bust out your trusty cast iron skillet and give my salsa macha recipe a try. Salsa macha is a rich, chile based salsa that can be served with steaks, breakfast tacos or even better with a pile of tortilla chips con una cerveza bien fria.

I’m excited to partner with Beef Loving Texans to share with you a very special date night at home. You don’t need to visit a fancy restaurant to cook up a juicy steak. Today, I am walking you through how to perfectly cook a steak in a cast iron skillet plus I am sharing with you how make salsa macha at home.

A juicy steak drizzle with a rich, hearty salsa macha – what’s not to love? My salsa lovers, you will love making homemade salsa macha at home. Not only is it easy to make, but you can also store in fridge for up to two weeks. Today I am drizzling salsa macha over juicy steaks cooked in a cast iron skillet.

If you’ve never cooked steak in a cast iron pan before, it can be a little intimidating. It was for me at first. Once I got the hang of how to cook steak in my handy cast iron skillet, it’s my go-to cooking method for date night. Warm, hearty steaks drizzled with salsa macha, talk about stepping up my date night.

WHAT IS SALSA MACHA

Salsa Macha hails from Veracruz, Mexico. Salsa Macha is made with a variety of dried chiles, nuts and oil. Each ingredient is fried slightly to intensify their flavor creating a rich, nutty, oil-based salsa. There are countless variations throughout Mexico, each household has their own twist or spin to this special salsa. Salsa macha is thicker than salsa verde because the recipe includes nuts. Salsa macha is oil based, a cross between chili oil and chili paste and can be made as mild or as spicy are you like.

HOW TO MAKE SALSA MACHA

Before you start making my salsa macha, I recommend gathering these tools from your kitchen. A large deep saucepan as we will be frying our ingredients. As we fry our ingredients, we are also infusing our oil that we will use to blend our salsa. A slotted spoon to easily retrieve our ingredients from the saucepan. A baking sheet, oven safe plate or heat resistant bowl to hold our ingredients as we fry. A blender or food processor to blend our salsa macha.

TIPS ON MAKING HOMEMADE SALSA MACHA

Before frying, remove the stem and seeds from all dried chiles. If you prefer a spicier salsa, feel free to keep the seeds of chiles. You can fry whole or tear chiles into pieces for easier blending.

For this recipe I am using ancho, chipotle and arbol dried chiles. Feel free to experiment with other dried chiles.

I plan to use guajillo chiles next time. Find dried chiles in the spice aisle or produce section of your grocery store.

For salsa macha we will fry each ingredient, then place on baking sheet to cool slightly as we do not want to add to blender or food processor hot for safety.

When frying chiles be careful not to burn chiles. We want them to puff, slightly toast and become pliable. Stir often or reduce heat if needed to prevent burning.

I quickly run my knife through onions and keep garlic cloves whole as they can easily be removed from saucepan. Everything will be blended; we are simply frying to soften onions and garlic.

Next, we lightly fry our peanut until golden brown. For this recipe, I used unsalted peanuts – you can easily swap our salted peanuts, simply omit salt before blending. Blend then taste for salt and adjust.

I fry sesame seed last as they will fry quickly –

Once all ingredients have fried, remove saucepan from heat, allow to cool slightly before adding to your blender or food processor.

Add remaining ingredients, give a few pulses and blend until smooth, but still thick and chunky. Taste, adjust for seasoning and set aside or store in fridge before drizzling over steaks. Heat through in a small saucepan before drizzling over steaks.

Storing. You can store your salsa macha in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to two weeks.

HOW TO COOK STEAK IN A CAST IRON PAN

Cooking a steak in a cast iron is not difficult but requires a few steps to ensure our steak is perfectly seasoned, seared, and juicy. A cast iron skillet retains even heat which makes it great for searing or frying. It’s an investment piece that seasons over time.

First, we want to season our steak. For this steak recipe we are keeping our seasoning, super simple with kosher salt and pepper since we are drizzling salsa macha over our steaks before serving.

I prefer to use kosher salt, a thicker salt grain, to cook my steaks as I find it seasons and helps to tenderize our steaks beautifully.

Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel then season each side liberally with half the kosher salt and pepper.

Next, we will pre-heat our cast iron skillet. Begin by pre-heating your cast iron skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes, or until you place your hand over skillet and can feel the heat.

Give your steaks another dry pat with paper towels and season with remaining half of kosher salt and pepper.

With paper towels lightly coat your cast iron skillet with vegetable oil, about 1 tablespoon, carefully as skillet is hot. Be sure your space is well ventilated as your pan will smoke. Turn your kitchen vent or fan on or slightly open a kitchen window.

With tongs carefully place the steak in cast iron skillet and allow to sear for two minutes, without moving steaks. This ensures a proper sear and allows the seasoning to create a crust. Carefully flip the steak and cook an additional two minutes or until desired doneness.

HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOUR STEAK IS DONE

Beef’s tender, juicy texture is optimum when cooked to medium rare (145°F) to medium.

(160°F) doneness. Let steaks rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing. For steaks insert an instant-read thermometer horizontally from the side so it penetrates the thickest part of the center of the steak not touching the bone or fat. After cooking, let steaks rest before serving.

Beef Loving Texans is a one-stop shop for recipes and stories brought to you by Texas Beef Council. Beef Loving Texans celebrates the pride and values deeply rooted in Texans through family, community and tradition. Visit www.beeflovingtexans.com for more recipes and inspiration.

OTHER RECIPES IN COLLABORATION WITH BEEF LOVING TEXANS

Beef Picadillo Tacos

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Flautas

Cumin Lime Ground Beef Tostadas

Steaks with Salsa Macha

Author: Vianney Rodriguez

Ingredients

For salsa macha:
Salsa makes about 2 cups
2 cups vegetable oil
½ medium roughly slices
4 garlic cloves peeled
1 cup peanuts unsalted
4 dried chipotle chiles stem and seeds removed
4 dried ancho chiles stem and seeds removed
5 dried chiles de árbol stem and seeds removed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cups water
For steaks:
2 steaks I used T-bone steaks, about 1 inch thick each
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pepper
Pepper
1 tablespoon oil

Instructions

For salsa macha:
In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, fry until slightly soft and translucent then add garlic, stir, and continue to fry another minute stirring until garlic is golden brown. Carefully spoon out onion and garlic with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet. Add peanuts, stirring often. Fry until peanuts are golden brown. Remove and place on baking sheet. Add chipotle chiles, ancho chiles and chile de arbol, fry until soft, puffed and slightly darkened, about one minute, stirring often. Finally, add sesame seeds, fry for 30 seconds, and remove pan from heat. Carefully spoon chiles and sesame seeds to baking sheet. Allow oil to cool slightly before returning to blender to finish making salsa macha.
Place onions, garlic, peanuts, chiles and sesame seeds in blender or food processor along with vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, brown sugar, and water. Pulse to coarsely chop, with blender or food processor on low carefully add oil and blend until smooth, but if salsa remains thick and chunky, adjust speed as needed to blend. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed. Pour salsa into container. Drizzle over steak.
For Steaks:
Remove steaks from fridge, pat dry with a paper towel then season each side liberally with half the kosher salt and pepper. Allow to rest.
Pre-heat cast iron skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes, or until you place your hand over skillet and can feel the heat.
Give your steaks another dry pat with paper towels and season with remaining half of kosher salt and pepper.
With a paper towel lightly coated with vegetable oil carefully coat your cast iron skillet.
With tongs carefully place the steak in cast iron skillet and allow to sear for two minutes, without moving steaks. Carefully flip the steak and cook an additional two minutes or until desired doneness. For medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness. Remove steak from skillet, place on baking sheet, tent with foil. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels and repeat process. Let steaks rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing. Serve with salsa macha. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels and repeat process.