Marinade for Steak

Recipe by Pamela

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Marinade for Steak

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

1 cup olive oil
1 ⁄₂ cup sherry wine vinegar or 1 ⁄₂ cup red wine or 1 ⁄₂ cup white wine or 1 ⁄₄ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, sliced
pepper, Coarsely ground
red peppercorns (optional)
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Place all ingredients in glass screw-top jar; shake vigorously.
Arrange meat in shallow glass dish; pierce with a fork.
Pour marinade over meat; turn to coat.
Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, turning meat occasionally.
Remove meat from marinade; pat dry.
Remove any pieces of spices or herbs that may stick to meat.
This recipe is a steak marinade, but the ingredients can be adapted for other meats using the same techniques.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (69 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 492.4 Calories from Fat 486 99% Total Fat 54 g 83% Saturated Fat 7.5 g 37% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 545.7 mg 22% Total Carbohydrate 2.9 g 0% Dietary Fiber 0.1 g 0% Sugars 1.6 g 6% Protein 1 g 2%

Classic Steak Marinade

10 mins
Prep: 10 mins,
Cook: 0 mins
Yield: Makes 3/4 cup (serves 4-6)

A high-quality steak doesn't need any help. A not so great steak can definitely benefit from a good marinade. If you are grilling a steak, particularly leaner steaks like flat-iron, skirt, or flank steak, then it is wise to marinade them first. This steak marinade provides just enough acid to help tenderize the steak but also infuses the outer layer with delicious flavor.

What You'll Need

1/4 cup/60 mL olive or avocado oil
1/4 cup/60 mL red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons/30mL Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon/7.5 mL sea salt
2 teaspoons/10 mL fresh oregano, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon/2.5 mL black pepper
1/2 teaspoon/2.5 mL fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon/1.75 mL onion powder or granulated onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

How to Make It

1. Place vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until well combined. Add remaining ingredients and stir through. Let mixture stand for 5 or so minutes before using.

2. See Marinating Beef to get the right time for your steak.

3. Place steak in a resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over top, making sure all surfaces are coated well. Seal bag and place in the refrigerator for 2-12 hours.

4. Once you have it marinated it is time to grill it right, see Grilling Steak - Step by Step.

5. If making ahead of time, store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days after preparation. Double or triple recipe if you are preparing many steaks. This recipe will marinate up to 3 medium steaks or one larger flat steak (skirt, flat iron, flank, or hanger steaks).

How to Marinate a Steak

Marinades are used to make steak more tender and flavorful. The sweet and salty flavors of the marinade meld with the meat as it marinates in the refrigerator. When it's time to cook the steak, the results will be juicy and fragrant. Read on for information on how to marinate a steak and three delicious marinade recipes.

Steps Edit

Method One of Two:

Method Two of Two:

Making Steak Marinades Edit

Community Q&A

It can stay for three days uncooked, covered of course or wrapped in aluminum foil. It can stay there for three days after you cook it as well, and must stay refrigerated.

If the marinate dries up while it's covered in the fridge, then that means the steak soaked it up. That is a good thing because it means all the flavor from the marinade is in the steak.

Remove steak from your marinade container, place on tinfoil or paper towel, and pat your steak lightly with a paper towel, leaving very little marinade on the steak.

Technically not, it is advised to slowly thaw the meat at a chilled temperature (-2 to 4C) so that the moisture and juiciness of the meat will not extract.

As long as it does not undergo temperature abuse, it will last up to two months in a freezer.

You could, but it would have a different result. Once the meat has been thawed, it may taste a little bit bland due to the extraction of moisture plus the ice crystals that have been present during the freezing stage.

Inside round steak is more tender than outside round steak mainly because outside round steak has more fibrous muscle and less amount of marbling.

Related wikiHows Edit

Marinate a Rib Eye Steak with Sriracha Sauce

Make a Jack Daniel's Marinade

Make and Use Your Own Sirloin Steak Seasoning

How to Marinate Steak Without a Recipe

Photo by Chelsea Kyle

Master this basic marinating technique and you'll be grilling crowd-pleasing steaks all summer long.

For the grill, I always choose a thin, quick-cooking steak—I'm talking skirt, hanger, or flank steak; tri-tip, short ribs, faux hanger (aka bavette, sirloin tip, or flap meat), or entraña steak. These are all cut from large, strong, active muscles, which makes them more flavorful and great for serving a crowd. But those strong muscles are also naturally tougher. Which is why these steaks require a marinade.

Making a steak marinade is a lot like making a salad dressing—you can customize it depending on your mood, your menu, or whatever happens to be in your pantry. But unlike salad dressing, you want the flavors in your marinade to be extra strong—strong enough to infuse the meat with flavor that will linger long after the marinade is discarded.

Every steak marinade needs four elements—oil, acid, flavoring, and salt. Once you understand the basic ratio and timeline of how to marinate steak, you'll never need to look at another recipe again.

Let's dig in: here's how to marinate steak without a recipe:

1. Start your marinade with oil

Your marinade should be at least 1/2 oil. The oil helps emulsify the marinade into a thick sauce that coats the meat. It's also a flavor-carrier. And having a coating of an oil-based sauce on your steak before you grill it will help it cook better and more evenly.

You'll need 1/2 cup of marinade per pound of meat you're grilling, and you want that marinade to be at least half oil, so for two pounds of steak, start with 1/2 cup of oil. If you don't want to taste the oil, go for a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola. If you're open to a stronger flavor, try olive oil or sesame oil or even an infused oil. You can mix together a couple oils or stick with just one. And of course you can add more later if needed once you get all the other elements in play.

2. Add acid, but not too much

Acid helps tenderize tough connective tissues—which my favorite steaks have plenty of—but too much acid will actually cook and toughen the meat, turning it weird and chalky. To prevent this from happening, use equal parts or less acid to oil.

You can always add more acid later, but you can't take it away. So though you can add up to as much acid as oil, I like to start with less, just to be safe. For two pounds of steak I usually start by whisking together 1/4 cup of acid and 1/2 cup of oil. What kind of acid you use depends on how you want it to taste—you could use a fresh fruit juice such as lemon juice, orange juice, or pineapple juice, or you could use any kind of vinegar such as balsamic, apple cider, or rice vinegar. Your acid could also come in the form of wine, beer, buttermilk, yogurt, or even puréed onions and garlic. I love a classic combo of olive oil and balsamic on a juicy hanger steak.

3. Mix In Some Flavorings

The flavoring elements are simply that—flavor for the surface of your steak. So have fun and add whatever you think tastes good. Raid your condiment collection as well as your spice cupboard and herb garden. Try Worcestershire sauce or mustard, some miso or chili paste, sliced garlic or shallots or grated or pressed garlic, roughly chopped fresh herbs or herb sprigs (or a smooth purée of fresh herbs), fresh or dried chiles, whole or ground spices, ketchup or sriracha, or grated or sliced fresh ginger or citrus zest. (I add Dijon mustard, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and pepper to my balsamic marinade.)

Putting the final touches on my balsamic marinade for hanger steak.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

4. Get Sweet and Salty

To balance out the flavor, just as you would a salad dressing, you need to also add something sweet and something salty to your marinade. The salt is essential as a tenderizer and moisture retainer for the meat, but it doesn't have to come from actual salt—you can also use a salty liquid such as soy sauce or fish sauce. Sugar is not as essential, but helps balance out the flavor. If one of your acids or flavorings is already naturally sweet, you can skip adding a sweetener entirely, otherwise try whisking in a pinch of brown sugar, a squirt of honey, or a splash of maple syrup. (Too much sugar will make the steak burn when you toss it on the grill, so go light with the sweetener—the marinade is not supposed to taste sweet, just well-rounded.)

Speaking of taste: This is the moment when you want to taste your marinade. Adjust your salt, sugar, flavoring, acid, and oil levels as needed. If you find you've made more than your needed amount of marinade, set the rest aside to use another time or turn it into a sauce or dressing.

5. Marinate for at least one hour, and up to 12

Pour your marinade over your steak and toss to coat. You want to have as much meat surface as possible in contact with the marinade, and the easiest way to do this is in a resealable plastic bag, where you can seal it up tight so the marinade is encircling the meat entirely. If you're not into plastic bags, use a glass or ceramic baking dish or wide shallow bowl and flip the meat every now and then. If you plan to cook the meat within one or two hours, leave it out on the counter to marinate; otherwise put it in the fridge. Just remember to remove the meat about an hour before grilling so it has a chance to come to room temperature.

Thin cuts of steak shouldn't marinate for more than 10 or 12 hours, so this is not so much of an overnight thing—more of a marinade it in the morning, grill it at night game. The shortest amount of time you can get away with is one hour. Any shorter and the marinade won't have a chance to work its magic.

6. Pat it down, then grill

When your grill is ready for cooking, remove the steak from the marinade and give it a good pat down with paper towels. Make sure no bulky flavorings like slices of jalapeño are stuck to the meat—they'll just burn on the grill.

Your cook time will depend on the heat of your grill and the cut of steak you're using, but generally speaking all thin cuts fare well cooked over high heat. They won't take long, so have your thermometer and tongs at the ready and keep flipping them over high heat and checking the internal temperature until your steak reaches your desired doneness. Aim to pull it off the grill at 120–125°F for medium-rare, or 130–135°F for medium. If you don't have a thermometer, simply slice into the steak a bit to have a peek at the color in the center to know if it's done to your liking.

Now that's a good summer supper.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

7. Don't forget to rest, and slice against the grain

Give your grilled steak five minutes to rest—you don't need longer for thin cuts like these—and then slice it against the grain and serve.

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9 Marinades for Grilled Steak

All steaks can benefit from a good marinade, but when grilling less marbled or chewier cuts, like flank or skirt, a marinade can take your meat to another level.

All steaks can benefit from a good marinade, but when grilling less marbled or chewier cuts, like flank or skirt, a marinade can take your meat to another level. Depending on the ingredients, it might help tenderize it to boot.

1. Balsamic. A basic balsamic vinaigrette is a no-think marinade that is always a good choice for steak, especially when you serve the meat in a salad.

2. Lemon-garlic. For an even simpler Mediterranean-style marinade, toss the steak with herbs, garlic and olive oil, then top with lemon slices for subtle flavor.

3. Soy sauce. For a grilled steak you could add to a number of different Asian-style dishes, toss the meat with soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar.

4. Korean-style. Koreans love bulgogi, which is usually made with short ribs, but there’s no reason you can’t use that sweet-savory marinade on steak.

5. Southeast Asian-style. For a steak that will hit a lot of spots on the tongue, bathe it in a blend of herbs, garlic, chile sauce and fish sauce.

6. Mojo. Think of this citrusy, cumin-spiced sauce as vinaigrette, Cuban-style. It works beautifully as a marinade for steak because the sugars in the citrus juice caramelize on the grill. Or keep the Latin marinade even simpler and just use tequila, lime juice and garlic.

7. Chipotle. The adobo sauce that comes in a can of chipotles? It’s a brilliant, richly flavored marinade for steak. Just blend it with garlic, orange juice and olive oil before you rub it on your meat.

8. Papaya skins. If tenderizing steak is your goal, use this trick they use in many parts of the world: Rub your steak with a simple marinade and then cover it with papaya skins, which contain an enzyme that breaks down tough meat fibers.

9. Cola. Cola (yep, the soda) is another meat tenderizer; plus its sugars caramelize nicely on the grill.

Kristin Donnelly is a former Food & Wine editor and author of the forthcoming The Modern Potluck (Clarkson Potter, 2016). She is also the cofounder of Stewart & Claire, an all-natural line of lip balms made in Brooklyn.

Steak Marinade

Recipe by LuuvBunny

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Top Review by

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Steak Marinade

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or 1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and place steaks into freezer bag with marinade, preferably overnight.
The original recipe used balsamic vinegar.Seems I never had that on hand so I just used white and listed that in the recipe, but balsamic is definitely better.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (24 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 3

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 55.1 Calories from Fat 41 75% Total Fat 4.6 g 7% Saturated Fat 0.6 g 3% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 411.1 mg 17% Total Carbohydrate 2.8 g 0% Dietary Fiber 0.1 g 0% Sugars 1.5 g 5% Protein 0.8 g 1%

Steak Marinade and Rub Recipes

These zesty concoctions tenderize meat while infusing it with flavor. Place the steak and the marinade in a shallow bowl and let sit for 30 minutes or up to overnight in the refrigerator.

If you don't have rosemary on hand, fresh thyme or marjoram will work just as well.

Balsamic-Soy Marinade

Give steak a salty-sweet kick with an Asian-inspired marinade.

All-Purpose Steak Rub

Want to add a kick to steak and simultaneously seal in succulent juices? Use a rub, pressing gently to help it adhere. Apply just before cooking.

All-Purpose Steak Rub

This rub can be kept for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

Lemon, Thyme, and Pepper Rub

To add more heat to his citrusy rub, use crushed black pepper (sometimes called butcher’s grind) in place of ground pepper.

The Best Steak Marinade

June 14, 2013 By DrDan 13 Comments

Step that steak up a few notches with an excellent marinade. Easy to do and all your friends will want the recipe.

The inspiration is a very popular recipe around the internet on blogs and recipe sites. The original (I think) is known as “Best Steak Marinade in Existence” on Allrecipes.com. Only a few changes to simplify and some rounding for a smaller (Cooking For Two) amount. Plus I didn’t bother with running a blender, though.

I buy very good beef, so a marinade just seems wrong on a filet or porterhouse. Just some salt, pepper and a little garlic, please. Strip steaks have just not been our favorites over the years, but the best-looking steaks at the market were the strips. I had just read Simple Steak Marinade by Chris at Nibble Me This and a marinade seem great, but I’m not a “beer person” so Google was my friend again. If you’re a beer person, check out Chris’ post.

A 5 minus. I don’t frequently marinade steak, but this is good enough to start doing it a lot more. My wife felt it was the best strip steak she has had in years.

Notes: Run through a blender if you want but it doesn’t seem necessary to me. Use black pepper if you don’t have white. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper or a hot or pepper sauce if you want.

In a 1 gallon zip lock bag combine: 3 T soy sauce, 4 T olive oil, 3 T lemon juice, 2 T Worcestershire sauce, 2 t garlic powder, 1 1/2 T dry basil, 2 t dry parsley flakes and 1/2 t white pepper.

Trim your steaks of extra fat. Here are two strip steaks about 12 oz each. (I do not want to hear about not doing this to a strip steak)

Add the steaks to the bag, squeeze out the air and mush the steaks around to get them coated well. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours. Longer should be fine.

Remove from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill as usual. You can also pan sear. See my post at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/pan-seared-oven-roasted-strip-steak/.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes or so before cutting.

Course Seasoning
Cuisine American

Course Seasoning
Cuisine American

3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoon dry basil
2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon white pepper or black if you don’t have it

Nutritional information is for entire recipe which can do 3-4 steaks and only a small amount stays on the meat.

All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated. Rating is done by clicking on the stars above.

Reader Interactions

It’s funny because I thought about that same recipe when I posted my variation of Troy’s. I’ve had that “best steak marinade in existence” on my try queue forever, but it’s just so rare that I marinate steaks. Your looks like it turned out great.

It did turn out great… I’m sure yours did also.

This sounds great and looks delicious; I want to try it. I don’t think I’ve ever marinated a steak. Thanks!

Definitely try it.

Excellent. I love to cook but a good steak was never in my grasp until now.

I do not like rare beef but strips just get tough when overcooked.

This marinade gave me incredible flavor and remained very tender

and juicy at the medium to medium well stage. Very good. I can make steak now!

Made the smashed potatoes and honey grilled carrots. Also very good.

Thanks for the note David. You might want to try my post on how to grill a t-bone or porterhouse at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/how-to-grill-t-bone-or-porterhouse/ . It will make you look like an expert.

As for rare… most expert would say I over cook my beef. An excellent filet can have a little blood but only a little pink for a strip or porterhouse.

All of the ingredients sound fine except for the lemon juice. Lemon juice will cook the meat and should NEVER be used in any marinade where the meat, or fish for that matter, will be in it for more than a few minutes. Also, lemon has NO place in flavoring a steak.

Well I will disagree. A marinade needs an acid to denature the proteins of the meat. The usual ones used are lemon or lime juice or vinegar. If by “cook” you mean to denature or break down some of the proteins then yes…but that is a big exaggeration of the word. This allows the other components to penetrate better and usually will tenderize some. So NEVER is wrong… As for the taste, I couldn’t taste it but do what you want.

Good ingredients my wife loved the steak but I usually like my steaks medium. 15 minute’s it came out well done. Maybe they should put the different types of minutes for rare, medium or wealt done.

Thanks for the note. .This post was about the marinade. I have a separate post on cooking strip steaks at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/pan-seared-oven-roasted-strip-steak/

PS I’m changing this post to point to those instructions.

This turned out great on a flank steak. I’m not a fan of lemon and was worried the lemon juice would be overpowering, but I couldn’t taste it at all. Due to available ingredients, I substituted peanut oil for the olive oil. Have you tried different oils (vegetable, olive, peanut, etc.) and what would be your opinion on why you choose a certain one over the other?

This marinade is my new “go to” marinade. I have never liked beef let alone steak, but got two Omaha Strips as a customer appreciation gift. I was so proud of how these turned out that I wanted to go out and buy a beef! This is going in my private collection. Thanks for perfecting and sharing it!

I’ve one it twice in the last 2 weeks… so it is now my “go to” also

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Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

Flank steak is a lean, somewhat tough but flavorful cut of beef that benefits from the tenderizing effects of a marinade. It is best cooked medium rare and thinly sliced at an angle across the grain of the meat.

Prepared this way, marinated, cooked quickly at high heat, thinly sliced, flank steak practically melts in your mouth. This recipe calls for grilling the steak, but if you don’t have a grill, you can prepare the steak on a large cast iron frying pan as well.

For more Southwestern flavors, see our carne asada recipe. Do you have a favorite flank steak marinade? or grilling trick for flank steak? If so, please let us know in the comments.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Yield: Serves 6

My mother likes to score the flank steak with 1/4-inch cuts about an inch apart across the grain of the steak before cooking. It helps the marinade penetrate more deeply and the steak cook more quickly.

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Marinate the steak: Combine the marinade ingredients in a large non-reactive bowl. Place steak in the bowl and turn so that it is completely coated with the marinade. (You can also place the steak and marinade in a freezer bag and place it in a bowl.)

Chill and marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

2 Prepare your grill for high, direct heat with one part of the grill for lower, indirect heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over the hot side and you can only hold it there for about a second.

3 Grill the steak: Remove the steak from the marinade and gently shake off the excess marinade from the steak (but make sure there is still a coating of it, you'll want the oil on it to help keep the steak from sticking to the grill).

Place steak on the hot side of the grill. Grill for a minute or two on each side to get a good sear, then move the steak to the cooler side of the grill, cover and cook a few minutes more until done to your liking.

How do you know when the steak is done? One way to tell is to poke it with your fingertips. While the steak is still raw, test it with your fingers; it will be quite squishy. That's what a very rare steak feels like. Touch the tip of your nose and that's what a very well done steak feels like. Here's a visual guide, the finger test to check the doneness of steak.

Otherwise use a good meat thermometer (I recommend a thermapen.) Pull the steak off the grill at 125 to 130°F for rare, 140°F for medium rare, and 150°F for medium.

4 Rest the steak: When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat while the steak rests for 10 to 15 minutes.

5 Slice across the grain: Notice the direction of the muscle fibers of the steak; this is called the grain of the meat. Flank steak is a very lean cut that will be tough and chewy unless you cut it in a way that breaks up the muscle fibers.

So, cut the steak across the grain of the meat, at a steep diagonal, so that the slices are wide. I find it easiest to use a long serrated bread knife for this, but any long sharp knife will do.

If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak. Great also with salsa or horseradish sauce.

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Showing 4 of 99 Comments

Made this tonight with the horseradish sauce. Excellent!

November 7, 2017

Lee

Why would you put this under foil to rest? That just keeps the cooking process going. Let it rest uncovered and enjoy it medium rare. Otherwise, outstanding recipe!

September 30, 2017
· 1 Reply

Jerry

When I made this recipe I used flank steak AND pork steaks – marinated separately of course. They were both delicious, but I must say the pork absorbed the marinade better and was more flavorful. As sides we had Argentinian Black Bean Salad made with avocado, onion, tomato, feta cheese and chimichuri dressing. We also made grilled broccoli which is always a big hit with our family.

Note: I really snazzed up the dressing with more vinegar, salt, hot pepper flakes and the juice of a lime. We liked it better. The next time I won’t mix the cheese and avocado, or the dressing, in with the rest of the salad ingredients, but will have those in separate dishes so they can be added at the table.

September 5, 2017

Joan Hart

Made this for dinner tonight as written and it was wonderful. Thanks for making me look good tonight!! Received lots of compliments-

August 5, 2017

Cheryl Mays

I made a version of this, but I used 1/2 cup Dale’s liquid seasoning, 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup veg. oil. I put it all in a Ziploc bag in the fridge overnight then let it come to room temp and sprinkled with Omaha steak seasoning before I grilled it. We like ours a little more than med-well and it was melt in your mouth tender and delicious! Dale’s is basically soy sauce with garlic and other seasoning so there’s no need to add more. I use an oven thermometer that [ can put in the steak and have the digital reading outside of the grill. At 85 degrees I flip it and cook until about 165-170 then rest on counter covered loosely with foil before cutting.

July 8, 2017

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Beef Steak Marinade

This is a simple but magical beef steak marinade that truly tenderises and infuses the steak with flavour, transforming good value steaks into “wow!”. It injects enough flavour that the steak can be eaten plain without sauce or even butter but does not overpower the flavour of the beef, which would be a travesty!

Use this beef steak marinade when you aren’t splurging on prime-grade steaks. It works great on any cut of beef suitable for grilling!

I got a hankering for a big, juicy steak.

As it happened, last Friday was abnormally warm considering it’s the middle of winter – 25C/ 80F. Perfect grilling weather. So I tottered into my local village (breaking in new heels), planning to go all out and get a thick top-of-the-line 45 days dry aged Rib Eye. Tied Dozer up outside the butcher and went inside.

As I eyed off the steaks, I heard a pathetic wail from outside. Yes, Dozer. Wailing because I’m inside with all the juicy meat and he’s tethered to a pole.

One little howl and he draws a crowd like moths to a flame. Patting and consoling, cooing to him.

But it worked. Because I paused. And realised that it would be inevitable that I would cave and give him some steak because he’s been somewhat depressed lately, being sidelined due to injuries.

And there was no way I was sharing a prime grade rib eye with him.

So I got a normal T-Bone. And decided to doll it up with a marinade. 😉

The Serious Stuff About Steaks & Marinades

Now that I’ve had my moment of Dozer fawning, I can get down to business!

Fact: Steaks are like wine – the more you spend, the better they are. Juicier, more flavour, more tender, no random bits of sinew throughout.

Fact: Steak Marinades can make steaks more tender and inject flavour into them. So you can seriously transform an every day beef steak into something that tastes as good as a premium cut (in my humble opinion).

Fact: It’s easy to make marinades that infuse flavour into meat. But it’s harder to make marinades that enhance without adding too much flavour into the steak. You want the steak to taste mainly of (gasp, shock horror!) BEEF. Not overwhelmed by marinade flavour.

Fact: Many beef steak marinades will flavour but won’t actually tenderise meat. In order to tenderise beef steak, you need either a tenderising ingredient (typically something acidic) and/or salty liquid to act as a brine to retain moisture. I use both. Soy sauce as the brine element and balsamic vinegar as the tenderiser. So there’s a double effect – tenderising PLUS keeping the beef plump and juicy. 🙂

I promise you, this Beef Steak Marinade makes the beef so juicy and adds enough flavour that you do not need a sauce or mustard on the side.

But because steaks are a bit of a treat in my world, I couldn’t resist going all out and making a little herb butter to accompany the steak.

Oh – and baked potatoes. And grilled corn. (And a few sad stalks of asparagus I dug out from the bottom of the fridge).

Save this Beef Steak Marinade to your GRILLING Pinterest Board!

2 large steaks (I used 2 x 400g/14oz t bone steaks) (Note 1)

1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp minced garlic (1 large garlic clove)
½ tsp onion powder (or sub with garlic powder)
1 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)
1 tbsp oil (I use olive oil, but any oil is fine)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Black pepper

Mix together mustard, garlic and onion powder. Then mix in remaining ingredients.
Place beef in a ziplock bag with Marinade and marinade overnight (12 - 24 hours).
Remove from the fridge 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temperature. Shake off excess marinade.
Heat skillet (or BBQ) on high heat until is really hot - you should see wisps of smoke. Add oil - it will heat almost instantly. Add steaks and cook the first side for 2 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for 1½ minutes (for very medium rare). (Note 3)
Remove from skillet onto a WARM plate, cover loosely with foil and set aside for 5 minutes.
Serve with baked potatoes and corn! I couldn't resist herb butter - see recipe in notes.

300g/10oz exc bone), excluding herb butter.

Marinated Steak nutrition per serving.

LIFE OF DOZER – We shared one steak. The homeless man at the dog park got the other. He really enjoyed it too!?

OMG this marinade is to die for – used T bones and the flavour was incredible – we had it with onion rings – retro I know . and salad – another great recipe thank you Nagi and love to Dozer

That’s great to hear Kym, thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️

which one do you prefer?beef or porkchop.

Don’t make me choose! 😂

I enjoyed your blog. A real sense of transparency and realism to your writing. Thank you. I hardly ever subscribe but I really like the way you came across.

Thanks for the compliment! I’m very flattered 🙂 N xx

This marinade is fantastic . I put my New York Strip steaks in the marinade 24 hours before we grilled and flavor was wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

That’s fantastic to hear Becky! Thank you for letting me know – N xx

I’m hoping that’s a five star rating! 😉

Hi Nagi! Loved this one. The herb butter really takes it to the next level and should be compulsory… Did it with supermarket porterhouse and it really transformed it into something fantastic.

WHOOT!! PS I am with you on that butter…. 🙂 N xx

Would this work for thick porkchops?

Catherine Hall says

As a 60 year old who has never prepared her steak other than with some oil and a bit of seasoning before slapping it in the pan to cook, I can only say my eyes have been opened…. not to mention my tastebuds. This marinade is sensational. My new favourite taste!! Thank you 😊😊😊

Whoot! 🙌🏻 So happy to hear that Catherine, thanks for letting me know! N xx

What can I sub for soy sauce? I can’t have soy/MSG. Would coco aminos work?

Can you use tamari? 🙂

SHARON SLOANE says

She is not to use tamari, it has to much flavor and no dark soy either.Hope this helps

Moira Alfers says

Had to double the amount of sauce, and add an extra steak…I have 3 dogs! ?

Your LUCKY DOGS.

Tried this last night and loved it. Hubby said this recipe is a keeper we no longer have to buy the marinade packet from the store.

AWESOME. I’m so glad to hear that Lira, thanks for letting me know! N xx

Just tried this recipe for “brunch”.. really gooooood! the taste was just perfect. not too overwhelming! I added a pinch of cayenne powder though, I LOVE IT! Will definitely do this again! Thanks for the recipe!

Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nicole! N x