Simple steak marinade

Over the years, we’ve received a lot of advice when it comes to cooking steak. Some people say that steaks don’t need much seasoning to make them great and require only a brushing of olive oil, salt, and pepper. On the other hand, some chefs recommend marinating simple steak marinade in a flavorful liquid.

This is a great way to break down tougher steaks like flank or skirt steak, and it’s a sure-fire way to enhance the flavor of a less expensive cut of meat. While we sometimes opt to keep our steak seasoning simple, we often like the boost of flavor that comes with marinating steak. The marinade coats the outside of the steak with herbs and spices while keeping the meat juicy and tender as it cooks. You can make a complicated steak marinade with dozens of ingredients, including a ton of spices and herbs. For this 3-ingredient steak marinade recipe, however, we wanted to keep things simple and give you options for expanding if you like. The base steak marinade recipe has only three ingredients: soy sauce, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

From here, you can feel free to add any number of flavoring ingredients. One-third of a teaspoon of powdered onion or garlic would also be tasty, and a teaspoon of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano are a great way to add flavor to the outside of the steak. For the full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions, scroll to the bottom of this article. Do you have to use soy sauce to make a 3-ingredient steak marinade? One of the major ingredients in our 3-ingredient steak marinade recipe is soy sauce. This salty liquid is made from fermented soybeans and wheat, adding both savory flavor and salt to season the steak. But, because it’s made with wheat, it’s off-limits to anyone following a gluten-free diet.

If you want to skip the soy sauce, you can use several other ingredients that make a good substitution. The easiest one to use is tamari, a Japanese version of soy sauce that is often made without wheat. Be sure to double-check the bottle to ensure that it is actually gluten-free, as some versions of tamari contain trace amounts of wheat. A third option is to skip the soy sauce altogether.

You can simply use the other two ingredients with a pinch of salt, but you’ll need to increase the oil and balsamic by a half-tablespoon each to make up the difference in liquid content. What are the basic ingredients for a good 3-ingredient steak marinade? To marinate meat perfectly, your marinade has to have three components: salt, acid, and flavoring. Salt starts things off by seasoning the meat, giving it flavor in conjunction with other seasoning ingredients.

Another crucial marinade component is acid, which is seen in our recipe in the form of balsamic vinegar. The acidic ingredients help slightly tenderize the meat by breaking down tough muscle fibers and connective tissues on the meat’s surface. They also add a lightness that can balance out the meat’s heavy flavor. Many marinades also contain additional seasoning, including aromatic ingredients like garlic or onion, as well as spices and herbs. These additions can add extra flavor to the meat, but they’re not strictly required for our 3-ingredient steak marinade. What type of steak should you use for this 3-ingredient steak marinade?

When it comes to choosing the best steak for grilling, look for a tender cut of beef. The most tender cut is beef tenderloin, also called filet mignon. The filet comes from an underused muscle in the beef, so it has very little fat or connective tissue. You don’t have to go with an expensive steak, either. Top sirloin — the steak we cooked to test this 3-ingredient steak marinade recipe — is inexpensive and it has a great, beef-forward flavor. Other steaks that take well to acidic marinades like this one include flank steak and skirt steak. How long should you marinate steak with this 3-ingredient marinade?

You don’t need to marinate a steak for as long as you might think. In our first 3-ingredient steak marinade test batch, our top sirloin steak was in the marinade for only 30 minutes before cooking it. The flavor coated the exterior of the steak, seasoning each slice to the perfect amount of flavor. You certainly don’t want to marinate the steak for longer than 24 hours.

The acidic component of the marinade will work overtime. Instead of tenderizing the outside of the meat, it will turn it to mush. That’s not exactly the texture we’re hoping to use to describe our steak. How long should you cook the steaks on each side? Every steak is different, which means each steak’s cook time will differ slightly. The timing also depends on how well-done you like your steak.