This quick and easy flank steak recipe only has 5 ingredients and it’s broiled, which makes it the perfect steak to make anytime of the year.
We’re often asked, what’s our favorite beef recipe. We like food too much to pick just one. However, there are a few common characteristics that are true of all of our favorite foods — they’re all simple to make, they use fresh ingredients, and they taste good.
This Lemon Pepper Flank Steak fits those characteristics perfectly. It only has five ingredients, and as a bonus, the ingredients are things we always have on hand in our kitchen.
What is Flank Steak?
Flank Steak is a flavorful, versatile, and lean cut of meat that makes amazing dishes like this Lemon Pepper Flank Steak, Flank Steak Tacos, Flank Steak Fajitas, Steak Salad, Beef Stir Fry, Carne Asada Recipe, Chimichurri Sauce, and more. With home chefs, it’s known for its flavor, and also for how tough it gets if cooked improperly.
Flank Steak is a cut of meat that comes from the cow’s lower chest or abdominal muscle. It is very distinct because of grains that run the length of the cut. Flank steak has no bones, and is flavorful and very versatile. Although it used to be a less expensive cut, it’s become more popular recently because consumers want lean beef.
Flank steak is often confused with Skirt Steak. The main difference between the two is where they come from. The Skirt Steak is a thin, flavorful cut located in the diaphragm area of the cow, while the flank is located directly under the cow’s loin.
How to Cook Flank Steak
The best cooking methods for flank steaks are grilling, pan-frying in a skillet on the stove top, or broiling in your oven. For this Lemon Pepper Flank Steak Recipe, the steak is broiled. Here are a few helpful tips when broiling a flank steak:
- First, position your oven racks. When broiling, the steaks should be 3-4 inches from the heat. For most ovens, this will be the top rack position in the oven.
- Place Flank Steak on the rack of a broiler pan. Broiler pans have a section with low walls and a broiler plate lid, which is the cooking surface. If you don’t have a broiler pan, a rimmed metal pan or cast iron skillet will work as a substitute. Don’t use a glass pan because it will may break with the broiler’s high heat.
- For a medium-rare Flank Steak the broil cook time in the oven will be approximately 11–14 minutes. An instant read thermometer should read 130°F for medium-rare.
- After removing from the oven, rest your Flank steak for 5 minutes before serving. The temperature of the meat will continue to rise for as much as 5°F during this time, which is called “carryover cooking.” The final temperature will read 135°F.
Ingredients for Lemon Pepper Flank Steak
One of the many reasons we like this recipe is because it uses common, pantry ingredients:
- Flank Steak
- Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
- Lemon Juice
- Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- Garlic Salt
Steak Temperature Guide
Flank steak is best cooked rare, medium-rare, or medium. As with all cuts of beef, you want to use an instant read meat thermometer (this is our favorite) to ensure your beef is cooked to the appropriate temperature.
When testing your steak’s temperature, the temperature should register 5°F lower than the desired final temperature because the steaks will continue to cook and rise in temperature while resting. This is called carryover cooking.
For example, for a medium-rare steak, remove it from the oven at 130°F. Let the steak rest for approximately 5 minutes and tent with aluminum foil. As it rests, the temperature of the meat will continue to rise to 135°F .
Doneness | Temperature | Description |
Rare | 120-129°F | Cool, bright red center Soft to the touch |
Medium Rare | 130-134°F | Warm red center Beginning to firm up with red juices |
Medium | 135-144°F | Warm pink center; outer portions beginning to brown Completely firm to the touch with red juices |
Medium Well | 145-154°F | Slightly pink center Completely firm to the touch with brown juices |
Well Done | 155-164 °F | No pink or red Firm to touch |
Ground Beef | 160 °F | Fully brown throughout with no pink |
Note: The temperatures in this chart are final doneness. Take beef off the heat about 5-10°F before these temperatures are reached.
Slice Beef Against the Grain
With Flank Steak, cutting meat against the grain is critical to ensure the beef is tender. To find the grain of beef, look closely at the thin white lines on the meat.
Once you identify which direction the muscle fibers are running, cut perpendicular to the grain. Your goal when cutting against the grain is to cut through the fibers and shorten them. Ultimately, this makes it easier to chew since your knife has already done lots of the hard work for you by breaking up the muscle fibers. If you slice meat in the same direction as the muscle fibers (with the grain), you will have chewier pieces of meat that could have been avoided if it was sliced differently.
Lemon Pepper Flank Steak
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound Flank Steak
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to broil on high.
- Combine oil, lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning and garlic salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Pat flank steak dry with paper towels. Generously rub lemon pepper mixture over flank steak.
- Place flank steak on a broiler pan.
- Broil 10 minutes on each side or to desired doneness (use a meat thermometer to check desired doneness).
- Let beef rest 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
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ONE MORE THING!
Do you want to learn more about beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmer’s perspective.
Here are a few other links you may like:
- Easy Blue Cheese Steak Butter
- Pizza Casserole
- Prime Rib Roast with Garlic Herb Butter
- How to choose the best cut of steak (Top 4 cuts)
- What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
- Homemade dry rub (the secret 8:3:1:1 ratio)
- 53 facts about beef
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