Steaks are very tasty on their own that’s why salt, pepper, and olive oil are what you just usually put in them. However, sometimes we want our steaks to have a special flavor. Worry not because we will teach you how to marinate steak to achieve a unique taste. We will share some sample recipes for steak marinade that you can do with your steak.
Tips on Marinating Steaks
Using steak marinades can be a good thing for your steak. If you marinate your steak for a long enough time, it can penetrate the meat, giving it full flavor. Here are some tips on how to marinate steak. Thicker cuts of meat require a longer time of marinating. You have to make sure that it penetrates the meat enough to give the interior the same flavor outside.
One thing you can do to make sure that the marinade gets inside the meat is to poke some holes in the meat. It helps because the mixture has an entry point on the meat surface. Use your fork to poke some holes in the meat. It doesn’t have to pass through the meat, just enough for the mixture to come in.
Another thing to try is using plastic zip bags instead of plastic containers or glass containers. It makes it easier to massage the marinade into the meat. Using plastic or glass containers is also a good idea. Just make sure that your meat is properly submerged on the marinade, so every side is covered.
Lastly, after cooking the meat, dump all the extra marinade since it has been exposed to raw meat and it may have bacteria build-up. Use just enough amount for your meat. We don’t want to waste a lot of our ingredients.
Common Ingredients for Steak Marinades
Steak marinades can vary depending on the cook’s tastes. Before we teach you how to marinate steaks, let’s talk about the common ingredients used for steak marinades. These are the ingredients that you can see on most steak marinades.
Olive Oil
Like the simple way of cooking steak, our steak marinade still needs olive oil. Olive oil provides a lot of help in rounding out the flavor of our steak. It adds a layer of fat needed to cook our steak well. It also helps that olive oil have a mellow taste compared to other oil. This complements the flavor of our steak.
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is a good flavor enhancer for our steaks. Salt provides the necessary salty flavor, but soy sauce can give a unique taste to your steak. It also gets inside the meat easier than the salt. The caramelization of soy sauce also gives a nice color to your steak, adding an effect to it.
Lemon Juice
The lemon juice acts as the tenderizer for our steak. The acid of lemon juice tenderizes our meat, making the meat fiber loosen up and less chewy. This will help a lot in cooking tough meat cuts or thick steaks. It also adds a sweet, sour taste to our marinade, and it definitely gives our steak a unique taste.
Worcestershire Sauce
The Worcestershire sauce can help improve the taste of our marinade. It can be used as a marinade on its own. It has garlic, sugar, vinegar, salt, tamarind, and a lot more!
Garlic/Garlic Powder
Garlic or Garlic powder is a good addition to a steak marinade. Garlic powder is even better since you can use it even on dry rubs. It adds another layer of flavor, and it also improves the aroma of your steak a lot. The smell of garlic mixed with all the other ingredients just invites anyone to eat the food.
Sample Steak Marinade Recipe
Now that you have some idea about the ingredients we will use for our marinade, we can start teaching you how to marinate steak. We will share with you a sample steak marinade recipe. You can do this with a blender or try to do it by mixing the ingredients using a bowl and a whisk.
The ingredients for our recipe is one-third cup of soy sauce, one-third cup of fresh lemon juice, one-half cup of olive oil, one-fourth cup of Worcestershire sauce, one and one-half tablespoons of garlic powder, three tablespoons of dried basil, one and one-half tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, one teaspoon of ground white pepper, and optional hot pepper sauce and minced garlic.
Preparation
You first need to mix all the ingredients using the blender or bowl and whisk. Add the wet ingredients first. Add the soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, then the Worcestershire sauce. Next is add the garlic powder, dried basil, dried parsley flakes, and ground white pepper. Mix for 30 seconds. If you want to add some hot pepper sauce and minced garlic, you can add it now. Mix for another 10-15 seconds.
Prepare your meat by poking some holes in it. Use your forks. Place them inside a plastic zip bag, then pour your marinade. Close the plastic zip bag and avoid trapping some air inside. Massage the meat through the plastic. This will make sure that our marinade will penetrate the meat and make our steak tasty inside out.
After 5-10 minutes, when all the meat surfaces are covered with marinade, we can now refrigerate the meat. Ideally, you want to marinate for a whole day or overnight, but you can also do this for 6-8 hours. A longer marinating time will result in a tastier steak since it is submerged in our marinade for a longer time.
Conclusion
Marinating steaks can help you if you are having a hard time thinking about your family’s dinner plans. It is easy to prepare, and it will be good tasting for sure. Hopefully, this guide helped you in learning the tips and tricks on how to marinate steaks. Try doing it for your next dinner with the whole family or the next barbeque party. Learn more about steaks here!