How To Grill Steak

The perfect recipe for how to grill a juicy and flavorful steak. You can have a steakhouse worthy steak made right at home.

With this recipe, I hope to walk you through how to prepare the perfect steak right in your own kitchen or backyard.

The perfect steak for me has a great sear but is still juicy and tender. You can cook it to whatever your preferences doneness is, from rare to well done, but that is easy to achieve with different timing.

Choosing the Perfect Steak To Be Grilled

One of the most important steps to getting really juicy and tender steaks is actually buying the right kind of meat to begin with. If you buy something that is really lean or the wrong cut, it will be tough and chewy.

These steaks are best for the grill and for this method of cooking: strip steaks, NY strip steaks, ribeye, Porterhouse, T-bone, fillet mignon.

Choose a steak with plenty of “marbling” all over the steak. Those are the white lines across the surface of the steaks. They will melt as the steaks cook and make it really juicy and flavorful. The more marbling, the more tender the steak. It’s also important to get steaks that are thicker, about 1 1/2 – 2 inches thick. If they are too thin, they will also overcook easily in the center by the time you get a sear on the outside. Bone in steak is usually juicier.

Seasoning Steaks

When you buy good quality steaks, they really don’t need a ton of seasoning because they have a lot of great flavor already. I usually just liberally season the steaks on both sides and the edges with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

For different flavor variations, you can add your favorite seasonings, like dry herbs, paprika, cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper, chili seasoning, grill seasoning mixes, etc.

Tips For Cooking the Perfect Steak

1. Blot the steak very well on all sides with a paper towel so it’s really dry. (If the steak is wet, it won’t get the best sear.)
2. Season the steaks liberally on both sides with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
3. Make sure the steaks aren’t too cold before grilling them, have them hang out at room temperature for at least 15-20 minutes.
4. Preheat the grill for about 15 minutes on high heat to medium high, depending on your grill. Clean your grill grates with a wad of paper towels and holding them with a pair of tongs, dip them into a small bowl of oil and brush the grill grates 3-5 times. This will help to create a barrier on the grates, making them somewhat nonstick.
5. Reduce the heat to medium high, place the steaks on the grill at a diagonal to the grill grates to create pretty grill marks. If you want crosshatch marks, after the steaks have gotten a nice sear, rotate the steaks 90 degrees on the same side.
6. Don’t move the steaks until you get a great sear on the outside and only then flip it over to the other side, placing it on another part of the grill that has gotten hotter.
7. Use an instant read thermometer to get the perfect temperature for the steak. The steak will continue to cook and the temperature will still rise a few degrees when you take it off the grill, so keep that in mind. Rare: 115-120 F (It will be 125 F when you serve it), Medium-Rare: 120-125 F (130 F when served), Medium: 130-135 F (140 F when served), Medium-Well: 140-145 F (150 F when served), Well Done: 150-155 F (160 F when served).
8. Allow the steak to rest for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

What To Serve With Steak

Since I like keeping the steaks very simply seasoned with salt and pepper, they pair so well with many other things to give them extra flavor.

Some of our favorites:

Flavored butter (soften butter until it can be easily mixed and add garlic, shallots, lemon juice/zest, fresh herbs.) Lemon, Garlic and Herb Flavored Butter OR Shallot and Herb Flavored Butter

Chimichurri sauce

Sautéed mushrooms (saute mushrooms in butter or oil until golden brown, season with salt and pepper.)

Pesto Sauce

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