My husband and I really like getting Qdoba bowls with steak and their queso and a lot of add on ingredients so I decided to try to make a copycat version at home. He really likes Chipotle’s corn salsa also, so I tried to replicate it also.
I bought flank steak at Massanutten Produce along with some of the produce ingredients. I also got some of the ingredients at the Friendly City Food Co-op. I created a rub for the steak, made the corn salsa and queso and fixed some rice with chicken broth and then assembled everything in a bowl. It actually turned out better than Qdoba, it was so delicious. I hope you enjoy the recipe and don’t get overwhelmed by the steps.
1 pound flank steak
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
For corn salsa:
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
cilantro, to taste (I don’t like a lot of cilantro so I only used about a Tbsp or 2 chopped)
1/8 cup red onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp lime juice and also lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh jalapeno, finely, diced
1/2 tsp salt
For black beans:
1 can black beans, drained
1/8 tsp cumin
For queso:
1 poblano pepper
4 oz American cheese, torn into pieces
4 oz White American cheese, torn into pieces
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 Roma tomato, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of garlic powder
For bowl:
1 cup rice cooked with 2 cups chicken bone broth
lettuce
tomato
sour cream
Whatever fixin’s you like on a bowl
Mix all ingredients for the flank steak rub and generously rub on both sides of the steak. Set aside.
Combine all ingredients for the corn salsa and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Roast or char the poblano pepper and when cool enough to handle dice finely. In a small saucepan combine the cheeses and heavy cream stir occasionally until all of the cheese is melted and smooth and creamy, you don’t want it it to be to thick so may need to add more cream. Stir in rest of ingredients for the queso and combine well.
Stir the cumin into the black beans and heat in microwave for 2 minutes.
For the steak you can sear it in a pan or I cooked in the air fryer. I preheated the air fryer to 400 for 5 minutes then put the steak in for 5 minutes at 400. After 5 minutes I flipped the steak and cooked for 8 more minutes. After it was done I let it rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before cutting into strips.
To assemble the bowl:
Put rice in bottom of bowl, then add black beans, corn, queso, and whatever fixins you want.