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I can’t remember the last time I cooked steaks on a barbecue. Truth be told, even when we were living with 3 small children in an RV (long story…) and I had a barbecue outside, still I would choose to smoke up the RV by pan searing steaks on the stovetop inside. Once you try pan seared steaks you will not go back!

I’ve always loved steak, it’s safe to say it is one of my top favourite foods. So when I moved out on my own and got married I used to buy them, marinate them, and cook them on the barbecue. They were… fine, but I always wondered how the steakhouses got them so juicy, tender, perfectly seasoned, and not overcooked. Inevitably on the barbecue my steaks would end up overcooked or unevenly cooked with unpleasant charred bits or squishy undercooked portions, and I never really liked the competing flavours of a marinade. Around this time I had started serving at a steakhouse part-time, while in University, and I sought to learn the secrets to a perfect steak. Guess what? You won’t find any barbecue grills or saucy marinades in the kitchens of upscale steakhouses!

How to cook the perfect steak

Cut Matters

If you want to get the perfect steakhouse steak at home, you need to get a good quality cut of steak. The more used muscle group cuts in the beef like flank, skirt, and sirloin steak are best used for meals like stir fry, fajitas, sandwiches, salads, etc. where they will be thinly sliced against the grain, disguising their tougher texture. To truly enjoy a steakhouse steak, you’re going to want one of the higher end cuts, such as:

• Strip Loin, also known as New York Strip - this is my go to steak for home cooking. It comes from one of the lesser used muscle groups in the beef, making it tender and flavourful. It characteristically has a long strip of fat down the side of the relatively lean meat portion. It has a rich, beefy, buttery flavour and I find the uniform cut very easy to cook properly. I like that the meat gets the benefit in flavour from the thick strip of fat down the side that melts as it cooks, basting the meat in flavour, but at the same time you get a nice lean piece of meat at the end without a ton of chewy fatty pieces throughout. Please, do not trim the fat before you cook the meat - that is your key to flavour! The Strip Loin tends to be the best priced at the markets among the higher end steaks, which seals the deal in my books. Look for Strip Loins cut 1.5" thick.

• Rib Eye - this is often known as the most flavourful cut of meat due to the rich fat marbling throughout the steak. You'll notice the fat marbles to a centre "eye", which is where the steak gets its name from. The ribeye is very tender, with a rich, buttery flavour. Due to the high fat marbling, Rib Eye steaks are notorious for flaming up on the grill. Our pan seared method is perfect for this cut of meat and keeps the flavour from the fat in the meat as you cook it, not feeding bursts of flames! My only drawbacks are that it is sometimes more fatty than what I'm looking for and often a bit out of my price range. If I see them for a good deal, however, you can bet I scoop them up! Look for Rib Eyes cut 1.5" thick.

• Filet, also know as Tenderloin - going by cut/flavour alone, this is personally my favourite cut of steak. The only drawback for me is the price. The filet is often the most expensive cut as it comes from one small tenderloin, the least used muscle in the beef. The Filet is the most tender cut of steak with a butter like texture. It is very lean, which I prefer, but you want to be very careful not to overcook it or it will become dry. If you like your steak cooked anything above medium, you'll want to go with a different cut of steak (ribeye would be the best flavour). Look for filets cut 2" thick. Because Filet steaks are thicker than Ribeye and Strip Loins, they benefit from a short cook time in the oven to finish them after they sear. See the recipe notes for instructions.

It’s all about the sear. We talked about this in my Perfectly Cooked Meat post. One of the main keys to juicy, perfectly cooked meat is a good sear in a hot pan. The issues with barbecue cooking for steaks are that the heat can be very uneven and hard to control, there are only thin grill lines of surface contact to brown the meat, and open flames are prone to flareups from dripping fat. On a smooth flat grill top you get even, deep caramelization across the whole surface of the meat, and the temperature is easily maintained and uniform across the pan. If you have a cast iron pan, now is the time to bust it out. It is an excellent conductor of heat which will get you a nice even cook across your steaks. Any thick bottom, flat and large frying pan will do. Make sure you get your pan nice and hot before adding the steaks, this will ensure a good sear.

Another tip from my meat post was to pat dry your meat – this is especially important to a good sear as wet meat will steam, rather than sear in the pan. We are definitely not going for steamed steak, so pat those steaks nice and dry!

There are differing valid opinions on this front, but I prefer to flip my meat only once when cooking. Especially with cast iron pans, when you add anything to the hot pan it will immediately stick to the surface. If you try to flip it too soon you will end up leaving some of the “crust” behind on the bottom of the pan, tearing the meat and leaving you a step behind in your pursuit of a nice seared crust. The most foolproof method, in my opinion, is to let the meat sear fully on one side, developing a nice brown crust, and then flip once the meat lifts easily from the pan to finish and sear the other side.

Generous seasoning makes all the difference. Now is not the time to think about cutting back on your salt intake. A good steakhouse steak is well seasoned. You don’t need multiple ingredient marinades or spice rubs. All you need is a generous shower of sea salt and some course ground black pepper. How much salt, you ask? The general consensus is about 3/4 tsp of salt per pound of meat. I don’t measure, I just eyeball it and make sure the entire surface of the meat has a good sprinkling of salt. You will get a feel for it the more you cook up steaks. I have never had a steak come out too salty, but I have had a few under salted. In that case, an extra sprinkle of sea salt before serving does the trick! If you’re really gung-ho, the meat will benefit greatly from salting up to a day ahead and resting in the fridge on a wire rack over a plate or tray. The excess moisture will drip down to the plate leaving you a nice dry exterior that will sear beautifully in the pan and be perfectly seasoned. Truth be told, I almost never have my act together soon enough to do this… but I most certainly advocate for you all to try it!

The perfect finish, butter. Ah, the magical answer to all things delicious. At the very end of the cook time we throw a generous knob of butter in the pan and let it baste the steaks in its browned buttery goodness. If you’re feeling extra fancy you can also throw in a few smashed cloves of garlic and/or sprigs of fresh thyme to flavour the butter. Realistically, I usually only do the butter and I find it to be absolutely perfect.

How to know when the steaks are done. The most foolproof and reliable way to know when a steak is done is to use a digital internal temperature thermometer. For medium rare you will get a read of 125F and for medium 135F. When I worked at the steakhouse, the chef showed me how he used the palm of his hand to determine doneness. I’ll link to an article that can explain it better than I can, but this has been the method I’ve used to determine the doneness of my steaks and it’s really never done me wrong. If anything I’ve had a few steaks come out slightly over cooked, but since I always aim for medium rare, it’s not the end of the world if they are slightly over. The more I’ve cooked steaks, I’ve gotten used to the spring back they give when I press down on them so it comes quite natural to go by feel. Go with the method you feel most comfortable with!

And there you go, the path to the perfect steakhouse steak is set before you, go and get it friends! Let me know in the comments what kind of steaks you tried and how it went for you, I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this method! Talk to you soon 🙂

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This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!

Lodge 12-inch Cast Iron Pan – My everyday go to, most used pan. I keep it on the stovetop because I use it so often there is no point in putting it away. I keep it nicely oiled and it is better than any non-stick pan I’ve ever had. It gives the best sear and I am happy knowing there are no weird chemicals or coating potentially going into our family’s food. The size is perfect for our large family. It’s just the best pan, trust me!

Maldon Sea Salt – This course, flaky sea salt with no additives is something I love to use when salt is the star of the show, as it is for these steakhouse steaks. It has a clean, fresh taste with no bitter aftertaste and I really notice the difference when I use it.