This is one of my star dishes, rosemary garlic butter steak, one I’ve been making forever, and that just never fails. It uses few ingredients and can be ready in 20-25 minutes. Just follow the tips below and become a master steak cook.
Originally posted in 2012, the text and images in this post have been updated to serve you better. The recipe remains the same, of course!
About steak
Now, I live in Argentina, where meat is officially our national food (looking for an authentic chimichurri sauce anyone?). It is a serious business.
Barbecue has become the number one choice here, our favorite thing.
And while our grilling would be considered plain for most of you - no marinades, rubs or additions of any kind while being grilled, except for salt and pepper - the fat in the meat does the flavor trick, and making a great piece of barbecue meat is no beginner's luck, no matter how many condiments you pile afterward.
The meat here is very fresh, no fourteen or twenty-one days waiting for it to age. Why wait? Slap that piece of red on the grill or skillet and eat it! Make mine medium rare, please.
That said, I change it up a bit when I'm grilling meat indoors. So today's recipe comes with add-ons.
Few ingredients
- Steak: of course this is the star so buy the best you can afford, always.
- Rosemary: fresh is better, but in a hurry dried will certainly do.
- Garlic: fresh is the way because it can be chopped with the herb and salt.
- Butter: it gives the meat a great flavor, but oil can also be used.
- White wine: it's used to lift the bits that stick to the pan when the meat is cooked. It adds a great flavor, but use water if you want to, by all means.
Why Rosemary and garlic?
Rubbing garlic, rosemary and salt (image below) has been my easy way of adding extra flavor to steak without a lot of work. Or time.
It adds SO MUCH to the end product, it's one of those simple secrets that you'll be forever grateful for.
I discovered it almost by accident and it's become a staple. It takes just a few minutes to prepare and the results are extraordinary!
What type of meat should you use?
I have two cuts I swear by when making this garlic butter steak:
Sirloin strip steak:
Lean but flavorful and perfect for grilling indoors or out.
This is what I'm using today, and I stripped away most of the outside fat since I was making it in a skillet. When using the outdoor barbecue, I like to leave the layer of fat (see the second image here) so it chars slowly and adds even more flavor to the meat.
I don't know where you live, but here you can buy the whole piece of sirloin, a 5-6 kg (11-13 pounds) piece of meat that you throw directly on the barbecue and let it cook for a few hours. So amazing.
Rib-eye steak:
My favorite cut of meat when barbecuing outside.
It has two types of meat, lean and tender on one side, flavorful and chewier on the other.
This steak cut is amazing for marinating before cooking. It is a crowd-pleasing type of meat, at least in my experience.
I don't know where you live, but here you can buy the whole piece of sirloin, a 5-6 kg (11-13 pounds) piece of meat that you throw directly on the barbecue and let it cook for a few hours. So amazing.
How to cook it
They are few and simple, but make sure you use the right amount of heat so the steak doesn't burn. And read the tips below before.
First step
Rub the room temperature steak with the rosemary, garlic and salt mixture. Melt the butter on a skillet. Do so on a medium/high heat and add the steak when it foams.
Turn over
The steak must be turned over half way to cook evenly. This will depend on how thick it is, so it might take a few more or less minutes. See below how the bottom half is still red as opposed to the upper half.
Add liquid to deglaze
A splash of wine or water is added at the end to lift up the bits that are stuck to the bottom (deglazing). You can skip it, but it will add a small amount of 'sauce' for the steak.
Resting time
Take the steak from the pan and let rest for 4-5 minutes before cutting. This allows the juices that have gone to the edges during cooking to rearrange themselves, so that when you cut you will have a consistently juicy piece of meat. Otherwise, the liquid drips from the meat and onto the plate the moment you cut it. For me, this is a crucial step.
You just have to try this amazing steak. Let it be known that you can make amazing Steak and Chimichurri Sliders with this recipe also.
My tips for cooking the best steak:
- Temperature: always have the meat at room temperature. That way it’ll be more tender. If it’s frozen, defrost it overnight in the fridge. The less change in temperature while defrosting, the better.
- Salting: add salt right before it goes into the skillet. If you want to infuse some garlic and rosemary, rub them on the steaks, leave them at room tº for twenty minutes, and salt them at the last moment.
- Thickness: a steak should be two or three fingers (1.5 to 2 inches) thick if you want it medium rare with a good crust.
- Preheating: Make sure the skillet or steak iron griddle is preheated.
- Searing: the steak must be first seared - cooking it quickly over very high heat to seal in the juices - on both sides over high heat, but finished over medium/low (unless you like it very rare inside, almost raw). Otherwise, it will become flushed, as we say here, which means the outside is too dark before the inside gets a chance to cook properly.
- Resting: Always let it rest for 5 minutes after you remove it from the heat source. The juices go to the outer part of the meat piece while cooking, and resting redistributes them.
- Doneness: Never pierce or cut a steak to check for doneness because the juices will start to drip. To test them, lightly press them down with a fork or kitchen tongs. The more it gives, or the flabbier it feels, the rarer it's still is. When it's very cooked, the meat will hardly yield when you press it. I know many use a thermometer, and it's fine as long as the needle is thin.
Extra tip: did you know that the area below your thumb (yes, in your hand!), that thick mound that forms in the palm, is quite accurate when testing steaks? It's not perfect, of course, but it can help you start to feel when your steak is done instead of relying on a thermometer.
Rare: lightly join the tips of your thumb and index finger forming a circle with both fingers and press that area below the thumb (image above). It means that if you lightly press the steak while it's cooking (with a tong is fine), the pressure should be similar.
Medium rare: join the middle finger and thumb it gets a little tighter.
Medium well: touch the tip of your thumb with the ring finger
Well done: use your pinky finger.
Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
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Rosemary Garlic Butter Steak
The best and easiest recipe to cook a perfect steak! See notes for all my tricks.
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 sirloin strip steaks, about 7-0z each (1 to 1.5-inches thick, room temperature)
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- A splash of white or red wine
Instructions
- Mince garlic and rosemary.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste) and mince it a little longer. You can also do this with a mortar and pestle.
- Rub the paste over both sides of each steak.
- Heat a skillet over medium/high heat and melt butter. Add oil to prevent it from burning too much.
- Add steaks, season them with pepper and cook 1 or 2 minutes on each side.
- Turn it over, cook it 2 or 3 more minutes and add the wine (you can add extra garlic and rosemary now too to the skillet). It will steam furiously.
- Cook the steak 2 or 3 additional minutes for medium rare, remove steaks and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the wine until reduced and a kind of sauce if formed.
- Slice the steaks and serve them with the sauce.
Notes
- Temperature: always have the meat at room temperature. That way it’ll be more tender. If it’s frozen, defrost it overnight in the fridge. The less change in temperature while defrosting, the better.
- Salting: add salt right before it goes into the skillet. If you want to infuse some garlic and rosemary, rub them on the steaks, leave them at room tº for twenty minutes, and salt them at the last moment.
- Thickness: a steak should be two or three fingers (1.5 to 2 inches) thick if you want it medium rare with a good crust.
- Preheating: Make sure the skillet or steak iron griddle is preheated.
- Searing: the steak must be first seared - cooking it quickly over very high heat to seal in the juices - on both sides over high heat, but finished over medium/low (unless you like it very rare inside, almost raw). Otherwise, it will become flushed, as we say here, which means the outside is too dark before the inside gets a chance to cook properly.
- Resting: Always let it rest for 5 minutes after you remove it from the heat source. The juices go to the outer part of the meat piece while cooking, and resting redistributes them.
- Doneness: Never pierce or cut a steak to check for doneness. To test them, lightly press them down with a fork or kitchen tongs. The more it gives, or the flabbier it feels, the rarer it's still is. When it's very cooked, the meat will hardly yield when you press it. I know many use a thermometer, and it's fine as long as the needle is thin.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: main dish
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: Argentinian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼
- Calories: 513
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 685.9 mg
- Fat: 37.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.7 g
- Protein: 40.5 g
- Cholesterol: 171.6 mg
Erin Kitten says
Sorry to ask this again, but the link/video you posted is no longer available! What do you mean by rump steak. I googled and came across this - http://www.cooksinfo.com/rump-steak and just want to see if you mean part of the round (which is apparently the norm in North America) or part of the "rump" as is standard most places except where I am.
If you do mean "rump" as understood outside of North America, can you help on if that would be closest to sirloin, top sirloin, tenderloin, or bottom sirloin? Thanks!
mushroom-banana says
hi paula, thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. i tried it last night and the flavors were great! the only thing was it came out more rare than what i usually eat so i had to bring it back to the pan to cook a little longer.
Rada Hugonet says
Thanks for the old tricks Paula!
Sam W says
Looks delicious! Is there anything to substitute for wine if we don't like wine?
Penny S. says
Another way to finish the steaks without cutting is to use a probe thermometer. (I have a Taylor brand) Preheat oven to 350, sear the steak in a cast iron grill pan, flip, insert the probe and pop it in the oven. Set the temperature you want the steak done at 5° lower since it continues cooking when removed from heat. The thermometer beeps when it's at the temperature you enter.
Anonymous says
Sure looks good,but what is rump steak?
Anonymous says
I tried this recipe and it is the very best steak I have ever eaten in my life, I cooked it for friends and they couldn't get over how perfect it is. thank you, thank you, thank you, I am now revered for my steak cooking brilliance.
Kristin says
The streak turned out so delicious! My husband and I give it 10 stars! Thanks for the recipe. It is a keeper for sure.
Kathy says
Love these flavors, and the results look delicious, thanks for the method. We'll be trying this!
Ruben says
This steak looks glorious OMG!
KelliLaLaLa says
Looks amazing! You say something in the end about wine, but u don't have it in the recipe? What kind of wine? How much?
deirdre murray says
Do you have to use the wine?
Paula Montenegro says
No, you can use a splash of water to deglaze the skillet.
Diana Graham says
Thank you for the brilliant recipe. It's obvious that it was written by someone who actually knows how to cook, but please translate "two or three fingers thick"? What does that mean, please? Thank you in advance for the answer.
wp_vknotes_admin says
Hi Diana! Two inches thick is the way to measure the height of a steak according to the french: put your index and middle finger together horizontally and measure them; that should be the thickness of the steak (my two fingers are 1.5 inches tall ). Some say it should be three fingers... Hope it helps!
Diana Graham says
Yes, thank you, that is just what I wanted to know.
Geoffrey Mann says
What do you mean by rump steak...in the U.S. it could have many definitions...thanks
Valeria says
¿Seria bife de chorizo? Yo tambien soy de Argentina.
Paula Montenegro says
Si, bife de chorizo, mi preferido!
Guyla says
Looks wonderful Paula!
GK Adams (The Life I Live...) says
In Texas, marinades are used too much in my opinion. It's like a contest on who can make the so-called best marinade or meat rub. I'm simple when it comes to ingredients used on my steak. I like to let the cut of meat speak for itself and only add salt, pepper, and garlic to bring out the flavor of the meat. Your preparation sounds perfect and only makes me want to expedite my travels to Buenos Aires and your kitchen.
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says
Paula, utter perfection there, all around! Love that wonderful pan that you used, it looks perfect for preparing/searing meat, especially steaks!
Have a lovely Monday!
Cakelaw says
Your steak is making my mouth water - yum!
Betsy says
There's an Argentinean restaurant in the town next to mine. I love the steak milanese there, with an egg on top! I'm glad to know this works well with steak. I think we'll grill steaks for tomorrow's dinner and dollop more of the leftover (and delicious) butter on top. I really enjoy chimichuri since discovering at the restaurant I mentioned. I'll give your recipe a try next time!
KarenP says
Oh, that steak looks delicious! Cooked just the way I like it, and I can imagine how good the flavors of the rosemary butter tasted with it.
Christy says
Beautifully cooked steak! I adore how cooking translates to so many cultures and the similarities within them -