Tender, juicy steaks start with this marinade! Whip it up in no time for max flavor with minimal work. With a simple blend of oil, garlic, soy sauce, fresh herbs, and savory seasonings, this marinade is as easy as it is delicious.
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This Is The Best Steak Marinade Because…
- It’s great for any cut of steak, especially tougher cuts like skirt, flank, or chuck.
- It’s made with ingredients you likely have on hand.
- It tenderizes the meat and adds lots of flavor.
Why Use A Marinade
A marinade is great for tenderizing and flavoring steaks. However, I personally don’t marinate prime cuts of steaks that are known to be tender, like filet or ribeye (I season them and grill them, as in this ribeye recipe).
- Tenderize: Marinades contain acidic ingredients like wine, vinegar, lemon juice, or a combination. Acid breaks down the tough fibers of the meat, making it tender.
- Flavor: Marinades usually contain salt, herbs, aromatics, & bold flavors that flavor the meat.
- Caramelize: Sugars in a marinade help with caramelization to give that nice brown crust we all love.
Ingredient Tips for Steak Marinade
- Acid: I like to use balsamic vinegar to tenderize the meat, but any vinegar will work. Lemon, lime, pineapple, and orange juice are all great acids to experiment with!
- Fat: I use olive oil as it’s what I always have on hand, but any light-flavored oil works. Oil helps the seasonings adhere to the meat and keep it tender while it cooks.
- Flavor: Garlic, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and Dijon help to build depth of flavor in this steak marinade.
- Herbs and Spices: Parsley, rosemary, pepper, and thyme give a rich, savory taste and a wonderful aroma. They also help to tenderize the meat and make it more flavorful!
Variations
- Replace soy sauce with coconut amino acids for a lower-sodium marinade.
- Add your own favorite herbs, like Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, or Montreal steak spice can be added to the marinade.
- No fresh garlic? Use garlic powder instead!
Did You Know?
You should always marinate in glass or plastic, not in a metal bowl, as the acid can react with the metal. A freezer bag works well, too, for easy cleanup.
How to Make Steak Marinade
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl or freezer bag (full recipe below).
- Add the meat and marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours (longer for tougher cuts).
- Remove marinade and grill steak to desired doneness.
Storing Steak Marinade
Store leftover marinade (that hasn’t touched any meat) in a tightly covered container or jar in the refrigerator and use within 3 days, or freeze into ice cubes and pop one or two out as needed.
Steak Night Sides That Always Work
Did your family love this Steak Marinade recipe? Leave a rating and comment below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil or light flavored oil
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 clove garlic minced or more to taste
Instructions
- In a glass bowl or freezer bag, combine olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, parsley, rosemary, pepper, thyme, and garlic.
- Add up to 2 pounds of steak and marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
- Remove steaks and discard marinade.
- Grill or broil to desired doneness.
Notes
- Steak marinade is perfect to use on those tougher, less expensive cuts of meat.
- Marinate meat in a non-metal (glass or plastic) container or a freezer bag in the refrigerator.
- Discard used marinade or boil it at a rolling boil for a few minutes to ensure it reaches 165°F.
- Freeze marinade in ice cubes trays so you can pop out as little or as much as you like when it’s time to marinate a steak-this way the marinade stays fresh!
Marinating Times
- Filet mignon or ribeye are perfectly tender without marinating but can be marinated for 30-60 minutes for flavor if desired.
- New York strip or sirloin can marinate for about 4 hours.
- Tougher cuts of beef, such as flank steak, skirt steak, or even chuck can marinate longer, up to 24 hours (I usually do it the night before for the next day’s dinner).
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dressing, Sauce
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I have been looking for a steak marinade for thick top sirloin steak and this recipe is the one I have been searching for. I marinated the steak for 1 hour, put it on the barbie and it was perfectly tender and great flavour.
So glad you loved this Susan.
This is an amazing Marinade. And I always add my extra seasonings.
Love it
Made this twice and felt like there were some changes that could take it to WOW. I like things that are sweet and salty, love the contrast of those 2 flavors. So, the second time I added my own flair with more garlic, dried minced onion, brown sugar, smoked paprika and substituted lime for lemon juice and a splash of OJ. I think pineapple would work well too, might have to try that out next time. I love the aroma of the rosemary.
That sounds delicious, Ann. Thanks for sharing your additions!
Our favorite marinade recipe!
Will I have to say …. made this marinade this morning and let steak soak up all the flavors for about 6 hours (was not in a hurry to cook steak).
Steak was very, very tasty n’ flavor able. Very happy trying this out for the first time …
So happy you enjoyed it, Diana!
I have a question that may sound stupid but I have never used a marinade of any kind. once you remove the steak from the marinade do you wipe it clean or do you cook it with some of the marinade on it.
Well Nicole, that’s a great question! Usually the marinade is left on, unless the recipe tells you to rinse or blot it off. For steak, you’d leave it on. Enjoy!
I know the spelling in wrong but I will take it t he way it sound. It is an item to put into a Steak marinade. careameighsoviyoung. The receipe calls for 1/2 cup. I have never head of it and can’t find in groceries store
Hi Sharon, for this steak marinade we don’t use Cabernet Sauvignon (a dry red wine). But depending on where you are located you may want to check a liquor store or the liquor aisle at your local grocery store if you wanted to use it.
Cabernet Sauvignon – it’s a red wine
Not my favorite recipe. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either. Had a very strong, overpowering mustard flavor. It just wasn’t something I personally was a fan of.
It was easy to make and it tasted delicious ! The smell of the marinade reminds me of A1 steak sauce but it flavored the meat perfectly and all of my family enjoyed it ! Sorry no pics, didn’t think about taking pics until we were already eating ! Definitely will use this marinade again !
Can’t wait to try this. Planning to make sirloin strips (sirloin tips). Will this marinade work well? Thanks!
That’ll be delicious Stephanie! Enjoy it!
Tried it and it was delicious
Great recipe, we really enjoyed the steak marinated this way! It was sirloin so didn’t too long of a time but it came out super tasty after just a couple of hours. Will definitely save it and make it again.
Tried your steak marinade on a couple prime ribs steaks for my wife and I. Marinaded them overnight, brought to room temperature and put them on the barbecue – fantastic! My wife loved the steak prepared that way! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Rick! So happy to hear that you and your wife love the steak!
I doubled the recipe for a 4-pound eye of round roast that I cut into strips to aid in tenderizing. I added one additional garlic clove and 1/2 cup of pineapple juice to the doubled ingredients. After marinating for about 22 hours, I rubbed some cumin/paprika/onion powder mix on the meat and let it sit for about 30 minutes before submerging in unsalted beef stock in a roasting pan in the oven at about 200 degrees F. It was my best eye of round roast yet. Flavorful and most tender to date! Thanks for this recipe!
Sorry for autocorrect. I meant to say: I enjoy fresh Thyme on vegies not on beef. That could be the reason for you not liking the marinade Author. Its rather strong but its beautiful for veges and chicken.
Thanks for this recipe. We always use a marinade on our steaks before cooking. The use of ingredients must compliment to the type of meat that you’re going to marinate. That could be why Arthur wasn’t happy with the recipe. Each type of meat, beef, chicken, pork etc., must have the appropriate compliment of spices for it to flavor the food appropriately.
This recipe is geared toward cooks who already have good cooking skills or has a sense of flavor addition. I would recommend researching what spices go best with what type of meat that you’re looking to marinate. Veges of course can use multiple types of marinate. I particularly like the use of fresh type on various vegies.
Thanks and happy cooking.
You’re very welcome CJ. Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad to hear that you love the marinade.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It really gave the steak great flavor and tenderness!
Thank you so much for the recipe! Definitely try it, I already have most of ingredients.
So very delicious, Holly! Using this took our dinner to upper restaurant level. Thank you for making it available.
This recipe sucks! It overpowers the steak and leaves it in the dust!
Sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe, Arthur!