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World’s Best Steak Marinade adds so much flavor to your juicy steak. It helps to tenderize and infuse the steak with flavor and creates the best steak ever!
Steak isn’t just for fancy meals, you can have it any time of the week. Pair it with a Salad, Potatoes, and Asparagus for a meal that is restaurant-worthy, but better!
Steak Marinade Recipe
Today I am sharing with you the BEST steak marinade! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Steak can be a little intimidating to cook, it used to be for me. I think it was because steak is usually so spendy and I never wanted to mess it up. We all know that when steak is done right, it is insanely delicious. With this marinade, I have created a foolproof way of guaranteeing your steak will taste heavenly. It is the perfect blend of spices and herbs that enhances the natural flavor of steak without being overpowering.
If you do not have an air fryer to cook your steak then cooking steak in the skillet is the way to go! It puts that perfect sear on the outside and then you can watch it carefully and let it cook to your desired doneness. Adding butter at the end just adds that extra touch that is crazy luscious. This marinade is perfect for grilled steaks too, and I love grilling as much as the next person, but this way I can cook it all year long, even when it is too cold outside to grill. You have to try this marinade and cooking it in a skillet too!
What Do you Use to Marinate a Steak?
This steak marinade is packed with dried herbs, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. These ingredients all come together to give you such amazing flavor and the perfectly cooked juicy steak!
- Soy sauce: Adds a bit of salty and tons of flavor.
- Lemon juice: Adds acidity to tenderize and flavor.
- Olive oil: Help seal in juiciness.
- Worcestershire sauce: One of the best umami flavors for beef.
- Minced garlic: Use fresh for the best tasting.
- Italian seasoning: A go-to combination of outstanding herbs.
- Pepper and Salt: To taste, but do not leave it out.
- Red pepper: Adds a bit of spice.
- Steaks: I used rib eye, New York is also great
- Butter: Butter is truly the best thing to cook steak in! Hands down!
- Chopped Parsley: Adds a pop of color.
Let’s Marinate Some Steak!
The aroma this mix gives off before you add the meat is insane. You know it’s going to be incredible just from by the smell of it. Mix in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and a pinch of red pepper. Add steaks to a resealable zip lock bag or large bowl and pour the marinade on top. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
To Make the Steaks in a Skillet
- Cook it: Turn the skillet to high heat. Add the steaks. Cook on each side for 3 minutes or until outside is browned. Reduce heat to medium-high. Cook the steaks to the desired doneness. Mine took about 10 minutes flipping 3 times to get a medium-well.
- Top it: Top with butter and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
How Do you Make a Steak Tender?
There are two ways that I use to make a steak tender. Acidic tenderizers are a great way to get a tender steak. I include lemon juice in my marinade to help to soften the steak. it breaks down the tough fibers in the meat. If you are starting out with an already tough cut of meat, I will also break down the fibers by pounding the meat before I cook it.
Why is my Steak Tough and Chewy?
The muscle fibers in meat have to be broken down and the proteins turned into gelatin in order to make meat tender. This happens very quickly over high heat with tender cuts of steak like filet mignon, but tougher cuts of meat require slow cooking, usually in some sort of liquid to keep them from drying out.
How Long do you Marinate Steak?
As soon as your marinade is ready to go you add your steaks and let them soak up all of that delicious flavor. It also tenderizes as it marinates. The minimum to let these steaks marinate is 2 hours, but can also be marinated overnight. The flavor is seriously out of this world!
How Do you Know your Steak is Done?
Everyone loves their steak done to different degrees and using a thermometer is the way to go to make sure you cook it just right. Remember too, when your steak is taken off the heat it will continue to cook for a minute or two, raising the temperature about 2-4 degrees more. I often remove my meat right before it reaches that perfect temp.
| Steak Doneness | Internal Temperature | Center Color |
|---|---|---|
| Medium Rare | 130-135 °F | Pink |
| Medium | 135-145 °F | Some Pink |
| Well | 145-155 °F | Sliver of Light Pink |
| Well Done | 155-165 °F | Mostly Brown |
Cooking Steak in a Skillet Tips
I love to cook my steaks in a skillet. It only takes minutes to get that crispy brown edge and medium cooked inside. But you can also use this recipe to grill. It is perfect for both. It is going to give your steaks the very best flavor!
- Cast Iron: The best skillet to use is a cast-iron skillet. It distributes the heat evenly and browns steak beautifully.
- Heat it up: Use the largest burner on your stove and heat up the cast iron before placing the steaks in. This will ensure I good crusty sear. The oil in the pan should be shimmering almost to the smoking point.
- Dab the Steak: With a paper towel, gently dab the steaks dry. Do not worry you will not take off marinade that is already saturated into the meat. When the meat is dry it will make sure there is a good sear, creating that incredible flavorful crust. When they are moist, they tend to steam instead of sear, which will cause them to be soft.
- Add The Butter Last: Place the butter in the pan right before you are ready to take them out. You do not want your butter to burn, which it can easily with the high heat.
- Let it rest: However you cook your steak be sure to let it rest 5-15 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the steak. This way you won’t end up with all the good flavor on your plate instead of inside the meat.
More Delicious Steak Recipes
World’s Best Steak Marinade
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch of red pepper
- 1 1/2 pound steaks I used rib eye, New York is also great
- 2 tablespoons butter
- fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and a pinch of red pepper.
- Add steaks to a resealable zip lock bag or large bowl and pour the marinade on top. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
To make the steaks in a skillet:
- Turn the skillet to high heat. Add the steaks. Cook on each side for 3 minutes or until outside is browned. Reduce heat to medium-high. Cook the steaks to the desired doneness. Mine took about 10 minutes flipping 3 times to get a medium well.
- Top with butter and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Serves: 6
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Hi,
I tried your recipe left it overnight to marinate, Omg was the best steak I ever had in years I mean that from the heart thank you for sharing this with us.
Would this be good on NY steak ?
Yes, absolutely! It will be perfect!
if you don’t have lemon juice use balsamic vinegar. trust me.
I only wish I could attach the picture of last night’s steaks. This treatment for steaks is all that you said, and more! I chose Fillet Mignon, and the infused flavors turned the fillet into something so flavor filled, which is typically not the definition of a fillet….yes, fillets— always tender, but maybe not so flavor filled. So here is the ridiculous part of this easy to throw together marinade….this morning when typing out the recipe for future cooks, I realized that I completely forgot the garlic. This will not happen next time, but just saying that the marinade was still fabulous. Thank you Alyssa for sharing.
Brilliant
This is the best marinate for steak i would say taste is lovely
I want to make this for dinner tomorrow, but some part of me wants to add some brown sugar. Thoughts on this?
That sounds delicious and will add a sweetness to the steak!
Will this marinade work on beef tenderloin?
Yes! This is a great marinade for most beef!
I am an average cook but using this marinade made me look like Julia Child! Unbelievably delicious results.
This is seriously delish, but I changed one ingredient.
I always been told To follow up the original recipe first and then tweak it to your liking. But when I bought all the ingredients that I didn’t have I forgot to collect The Italian herb.
I didn’t have time to go and get it so I substituted this with a spice that I had to hand at the time!
I used Ras El Hanout it’s a Moroccan spice blend that’s widely available in most large supermarkets.
I think that Sumac will also work as well and may try that as well.
Anyway it was so good that the pepper sauce that I also served went mainly untouched.
Are you still haven’t tried it with the Italian herb but the second time I made it for my family I just couldn’t take the chance I’m risking that delicious marinade that I accidentally stumbled upon.
Just like to say thank you for your beautiful recipe it was a perfect 10.
Thank you so much! I am so glad that everything worked out!
Will definitely make again. Used on a cut of meat I had bought on sale that was a little tough first time I cooked it so second time I made it, I decided to try this marinade and steak was delicious. Will definitely keep this on stand by. No teriyaki flavor-just good basic flavors.
Will definitely do this again. Made this on a whim to marinade some steak for kabobs. I put it in the fridge for 24 hours and it was amazing. My family could not stop raving about it.
This is the best marinade I have ever had. My husband says please never use anything but this recipe from now on. Can this be used with chicken as well?
Yes, it can be! That is so nice of your husband. I am glad that you have found something that you both love!
My second time making this, very good. Can’t wait to try it out on my friends.
Highly recommend letting sit over night. Was so good my picky eater had seconds!
Hi
Just wondering if you have tried this marinate with Lamb steaks ?
Thanks
D
I haven’t but that sounds delicious!
Can you freeze steaks in this marinade? I’d love to know if anyone has tried it and what the results were.
Hugh, Its still a free country. Paige can say whatever she wants about a diet
Definitely the best marinade out there for rib eye steaks!
Thanks for this recipe. Just had our first home cooked steak as I have been very nervous about buying expensive steaks and having them turn out tough. Marinated Strip loin from Costco (Canada) and they were perfect, melt in your mouth! We will be having them again for sure.
Excellent steak, the best I have ever made. I avoided cooking steak all my life but not any more.
I followed the easy recipe and did marinate our ribeye bone-in steak overnight.
I cooked it inside in an all-clad large pan and it did not take 10 minutes at the end. Rather than another 5 minutes each side I cooked on medium each side after browning for 3 minutes. It was medium rare (about 1.20 m inches thick – 1 big steak) and it was tummy with grilled asparagus and fries. Key Lime gelato for desert which was perfect. Highly recommended (I omitted Worcestershire sauce by the way since I don’t care for it.)
Alyssa, used your recipe as a base (didn’t have worcestershire sauce, for example) and just wanted to thank you for you it, it was fantastic. I did New Yorks on the grill, did 300F for about 4 minutes on each side, and put a pan of veggies (brussels and carrots, also drizzled with the marinade) in there to roast and get smoked — those took 30 minutes because of the minimal liquid, but the results were worth it. Included the specifics here in case any of your readers ask you for the “live grill version” 🙂