8 Easy Steak Marinade Recipes

Having a good, quick steak marinade recipe is essential during grilling season. 

Although we think most cuts taste amazing with only a little salt and pepper, a good steak marinade recipe is great when you want to give the beef an added flavor.  

Since we raise beef cattle, we eat a lot of steaks.

There are a few steak marinade recipes that we repeatedly use because they’re easy to make, they’re versatile for multiple recipes, they use common pantry ingredients, and they infuse flavor quickly. 

For some of these steak marinades, the steak needs to marinade for as little as 15-minutes to get the flavor.

What is a marinade?

A marinade is a way to enhance the flavor of beef. At its basic core, a marinade is a strongly-flavored liquid with herbs and spices that beef is steeped in until it takes on some of the flavors. Marinating can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as overnight

What is a steak marinade recipe made of?

A steak marinade recipe usually has four basic components:

• Salt – Kosher salt, sea salt, or something salty like soy sauce or Worcestershire.
• Oil – Because beef is naturally saturated with water, beef won’t absorb the oil in the marinade.  However, since herbs and spices are oil-soluble, they require the oil to release their full flavor.
• Flavoring – Spices and herbs are your friends and they’ll add a punch of flavor to any marinade.
• Acid – Depending on the desired flavor, many marinades have an acidic liquid like lemon juice or vinegar. The acid helps flavor the beef, but it does not tenderize it.

What steak cut is best for marinating?

What cuts of beef to use a marinade on is a matter of personal preference and the recipe you’re making.

Generally, marinades should be used on tougher cuts of beef from hard-working muscle groups, like flank, hanger and skirt steak.  

If you’re cooking a high-quality, flavorful cut of beef like a ribeye steak, we recommend not marinating it so that the beef’s natural flavor can shine. However, if you want to use a marinade on a ribeye or filet, you can. It’s entirely up to you.

How to apply a steak marinade:

• First, decide what steak marinade recipe you’re going to make. We’ve listed several of our favorites homemade recipes below, but a quick online search will result in hundreds of recipe options. If you’re pinched on time, you can buy one too (here’s one of our favorite store bought marinades from a local St. Louis restaurant).

• Next, make the steak marinade recipe. Most marinades use very simple pantry ingredients like olive oil, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

• If you want a deeper flavor, prick the surface of the meat with a fork before marinating. Less tender cuts should be marinated for anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours. The longer you marinade the beef, the stronger the flavor will be.

• Then, place the steak marinade and steak in a sealed plastic bag or glass container. Immerse the beef in the liquid, and refrigerate until it’s time to cook. Don’t use a metal container for the marinade since the acidic ingredients can react with metal.

• Once you’ve placed the steak in the steak marinade mixture, place it in the refrigerator for anywhere from 20 minutes to overnight.  Never marinate beef at room temperature for health safety reasons.

How much steak marinade do you need to make?

Usually, you need ¼ to ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of beef.

Can you over-marinate a steak?

Yes!

Many marinades have an acidic base, which can toughen beef if it soaks for too long. Never go over 24-hours with a steak marinade.

If using a recipe with tropical fruit like mango, pineapple or kiwi, only marinate for an hour or less or the meat will turn mushy.

In addition, there are food-safety reasons to avoid letting meat over-marinate. Raw beef should only be stored in the refrigerator for  3-5 days according to the Federal Food Safety guidelines. After this, dangerous bacteria can grow and you risk getting sick.

To prevent steak from becoming either tough or mushy from over-marinating, be sure to be mindful of the clock.

Do steak marinade recipes tenderize beef?

The jury is out on if steaks actually tenderize beef. Some famous chefs say steak marinades tenderize beef, but others say they do very little, if anything.  Based on our personal experience, we think marinades make a tough cut more flavorful, but they won’t turn a tough cut tender.

What to do with leftover steak marinade?

You’ll want to throw any leftover steak marinade away. It’s not safe to save it for future use or serve it as a sauce since raw beef sat in the steak marinade for several hours

Steak Marinade Tips:

• Always marinate steaks in the refrigerator, never at room temperature.

• Marinate in a plastic bag or glass container.

• If you want a deeper flavor, prick the surface of the meat with a fork before marinating.

• Usually, you need ¼ to ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of beef.

Steak Grilling Tips:

• Preheat the grill with all the burners on high and lid closed for 10-15 minutes.
• Once your grill is hot (approx. 450 degrees), place the steaks on the grill, close the lid, and sear your steak. 
• When ready, flip the steaks to a previously unused part of the cooking grate and sear the second side of the steaks.  The amount of time the steaks are on the second side should be about the same as the first side.  
• Test steak for doneness with an instant read thermometer
• When your steak reaches the target temperature, remove it from the grill. Remember, the temperature of cooked beef will continue to rise as it rests. Remove beef from heat when the thermometer reads about 5-10°F lower than the desired doneness.
• Let the steak rest for approximately 5 minutes for every inch of thickness. A one-inch steak needs about five minutes to rest.

How Long to Grill Steaks?

Whether you like your steak medium-rare, medium or well-done is up to you. However, the only way you can tell if your steak has reached your desired doneness is with an instant read meat thermometer.

Here are the temperatures you should look for. And remember, there is a USDA recommended safe temperature of 145 degrees to kill off any harmful bacteria.

8 Best Steak Marinade Recipes

Carne Asada Marinade

Ideal for use with Skirt Steak when making Carne Asada

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Ingredients

  

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice about 2 limes
• 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 jalapeño chile pepper seeded and minced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Instructions

 

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl or baking dish — olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, black pepper, cumin, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro in a bowl.
• Pour the marinade into a Ziploc bag or into a baking dish. Place the steak in the marinade and coat it thoroughly.
• Refrigerate the steak for 4 hours or overnight. If you’re using a baking dish, clover in plastic wrap before refrigerating.
• When you’re ready to cook the steak, remove it from the marinade. Place the steak on a hot grill, and sear each side. Make sure you start with an extremely hot grill. It should only take a few minutes on each side to sear the steak. Remove the steak when it’s at the desired doneness.

Beef Kabobs with Fig-Balsamic Glaze

Clover Meadows Beef

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

Kabob Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 boneless sirloin steak cut into 1 1/4 inch pieces (approximately 1 lb of steak); OR 1 package of beef labeled kabob meat (approximately 1 lb)
• 1 red onion sliced into 12 large pieces

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fig preserves chopped
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

 

• Soak four 10-inch bamboo skewers in water 10 minutes so that they don’t burn on the grill. Metal skewers will cause the beef to start cooking from the inside, which isn’t ideal.
• Cut beef into sixteen 1 1/4-inch pieces. Alternately thread beef and red onion pieces evenly onto skewers, leaving small spaces between pieces.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine fig preserves, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Reserve 1/4 cup for dipping. With the remain sauce, brush kabobs with sauce.
• Grill kabobs over medium heat. Grill covered, about 7-9 minutes for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness. Turn and baste with sauce every 2 minutes for even grilling.
• Serve with the reserved sauce for dipping.

Products We Love When Grilling Steaks:

One more thing!

Do you want to learn more about beef? Below are a few popular beef posts and recipes you may like. In addition, we have an entire ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a farmers perspective.

• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• Is It Done Yet? Why Every Kitchen Needs a Digital Meat Thermometer and the Best One
• 10 Best Beef Rub Recipes
• An Essential Guide to Beef ebook

Don’t Forget!

We have a weekly e-newsletter where we share about farm happenings, beef recipes, and when our next beef will be available to order. When you sign up, you’ll get a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer.

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