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

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.

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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

A note about flank steak — Flank steak comes from the underside (abdomen). It’s a very distinct piece of beef because it has grains that run the length of the cut. It used to be a very inexpensive cut of beef, but it’s become very popular, and more expensive. Flank steak should always be sliced across the grain.

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Lemon Pepper Flank Steak Recipe