The Best Steak Marinade (2024)

Make the most delicious steak with this Best Steak Marinade and Steakhouse Butter. Make a restaurant style meal at home! Plus, learn how to grill a perfect steak!

A FLAVORFUL MARINADE FOR GRILLED STEAK

Sometimes steaks need a little extra love. Just a small boost of flavor. Sometimes it’s because it’s a cheaper cut of meat and sometimes it’s because there isn’t a whole lot of fat on them (and fat = flavor!) So, when that is the case, I break out my special marinade.

MARINADE INGREDIENTS: (FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE DOWN BELOW)

• extra virgin olive oil
• red wine vinegar
• steak seasoning
• minced garlic
• kosher salt
• pepper
• bone-in (or boneless) NY strip steaks
• gallon-sizeziploc bag

Note: Use your preferred steak seasoning brand. Montreal Steak seasoning or 21 Seasoning Salute (from Trader Joes) are my two favorites. If you don’t have red wine vinegar, just go with a regular white, distilled vinegar. Also, I just use the store-bought minced garlic. It works great for this and is a time saver!

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST STEAK MARINADE:

Measure all the ingredients into the ziploc bag. Seal the bag and squish all the ingredients around until combine.

Place both steaks into the bag and smooth it down to get most of the air out. Squish the steaks around in the marinade to make sure they are both fully coated. Pop the sealed bag into the fridge to marinade overnight or for at least an hour.

STEAKHOUSE GARLIC HERB BUTTER

Next up: Steakhouse Butter! It is full of fresh herbs and garlic. It not only works great on grilled steaks but it’s perfect for grilled chicken too! Just slice and put on top of a warm steak and it melts and then you can scoop up the flavor with each slice. So, so yummy!

STEAKHOUSE BUTTER INGREDIENTS: (FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE DOWN BELOW)

• salted butter, softened to room temp.
• minced garlic
• fresh chives
• fresh rosemary (or thyme)
• lemon juice
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

HOW TO MAKE STEAKHOUSE BUTTER:

Chop up the thyme leaves (not the stem part) and the chives. (I recently planted some herbs and have them in pots just outside my kitchen. This is one of the many things I love about spring and summer – fresh herbs!)You want them diced finely.Mix together the softened butter with the fresh herbs.

Add in minced garlic, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Stir really well.

Add butter mixture (the professionals call this a compound butter) onto some plastic wrap.

Wrap it up into a log. Then pop it into the fridge.

HOW TO GRILL THE PERFECT STEAK:

First, I put about 100 charcoal briquets (I like Kingsford brand) into a chimney starter.You don’t need any lighter fluid and it takes about 10-15 minutes forthe coals to get ready.

Put a balled up piece of newspaper into the bottom of the chimney and then light the newspaper in several spots. The chimney and coals will do the rest. I have a half propane/half charcoal grill. So I use the gas side to light up my chimney. Once the fire reaches the top of the briquets, they are ready! This is a good time to prep your steaks. Take them out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature.

Carefully pour the coals onto one side of the grill (this will create two zones: one for direct cooking and one for indirect cooking.)

See Also

The BEST Homemade Sloppy JoesThese Super Easy Slow Cooker Meals Will Satisfy All Season LongEasy Meatballs in Dijon Gravy | A Taste of MadnessPersian Inspired Herb and Beef Stew with Rice.

This two zone heating is perfect for any flareups (you can just move the meat over to get it off the high heat) but it also helps create those pretty grill marks!

Time to put the steaks on! Grill each side for about 2-3 minutes each. Then place them onto the opposite side of the grill where you didn’t place any coals.

At this point, I take the temperature of the steaks. 145F degrees is a medium-cooked steak. If you like them more well-done, then allow them to cook over the indirect heat for a few more minutes until the desired temperature is reached.

Take the steaks off the grill and allow them to rest for about 5 minutes. Pop a slice of your homemade steak butter on top and allow it to melt as the steak rests. Then serve it up with my favoritePotato Packetsand aCaesar Salad.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

• Steakhouse Baked Sweet Potatoes (+Video)
• Best Grilled Ribs
• Outback Steakhouse Baked Potatoes
• Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Steak Bites (+Video)
• Steak Tips With Peppers
• The Best Grilled Chicken Marinade (+Video)
• Crock Pot Baked Beans
• The Best Potato Salad

Originally published: May 2016
Updated & republished: May 2019