This simple recipe is one of my favorites. Whether you need an easy weeknight dinner or an elevated weekend one, this steak with soy butter sauce is perfect for the occasion.
Using a few simple tips, you can sear a steak to perfection right on your own stovetop. No grill required. While your steak rests, quickly whip up this incredibly flavorful soy butter sauce and in just a few minutes you will be sitting down to a truly delicious steak dinner any night of the week.
Let’s get started…
Begin by allowing your steak to come to room temperature. Let me explain why this is one of the most important steps in successfully cooking a steak…
A beautiful cooked steak always has a good sear. A great sear will help to both lock in flavors and ensure that your steak stays nice and juicy as it cooks. You need a nice hot surface to create that sear and if you do not allow your steak to come to room temperature, the fibers within the steak tense up as soon as they hit that hot surface.
I recommend setting your steak out 30-45 minutes before you plan on cooking it.
While your steak is relaxing, gather some olive oil, salt, black pepper and steak seasoning for cooking and seasoning the steak. You will also need 4 tablespoons of butter, a tablespoon of soy sauce, a very finely minced clove of garlic, and about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice for the sauce.
This recipe will make dinner for two, but it is easily doubled or tripled if necessary.
Once your steak has come to room temperature, add about a tablespoon of olive oil into a large skillet and place it over medium to medium high heat. Cast iron is my favorite surface to cook steaks on, but stainless steel and carbon steel skillets work great too.
Generously season your steak with salt, black pepper and your favorite steak seasoning (I love Lawry’s), but wait to add your steak into the skillet until the skillet is warm enough that you cannot comfortably keep your hand close to the surface for more than a few seconds. This tells me the skillet is properly preheated.
Carefully place the steak into the preheated skillet and allow it to cook for at least 6 minutes on the first side before moving it. Leaving the steak undisturbed will allow a great sear time to form and once it does, turn the steak over and allow it to cook to your level of doneness.
Here is a quick guide to cook times and internal temperatures for cooking steaks that are an inch thick…
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- Medium rare – 10-12 minutes total – 130 degree internal temperature
- Medium – 12-14 minutes total – 145 degree internal temperature
- Medium well – 14-15 minutes total – 155 degree internal temperature
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Once your steak is done to your liking, it is very important to allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting into it. This will give the meat time to relax and the juices time to redistribute, so they stay where they need to be once the steak is sliced. If you cut into a steak too soon after taking it off of the heat, you will notice a whole lot of juices on your cutting board and those juices should be inside your steak not left behind!
If you are concerned about your steak staying warm as it rests, you can gently cover it with foil, but the steam created by the foil can soften the sear on your steak, so keep this in mind when deciding to cover the steak or leave it uncovered as it rests.
While your steak is resting, let’s make the soy butter sauce…
We are going to make the sauce in the same skillet that you just cooked the steak in, so take a quick look at the bottom of the skillet and if you see that anything had burned, use a few paper towels to carefully wipe away the burned bits and then return the skillet to medium heat.
Add 4 tablespoons of butter and allow the butter to melt and lightly brown. Add some very finely minced garlic and cook, stirring consistently, for 60 seconds or until the garlic begins to smell fragrant. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and remove the skillet from the heat. Squeeze about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice into the sauce and give it a quick stir.
You are going to absolutely love this sauce….
Once your steak has rested, use a sharp knife to cut it into bite sized slices and then transfer it onto your plate and get ready to drizzle it in that glorious soy butter sauce…
As soon as your steak is nestled next to something delicious, spoon a generous amount of your soy butter sauce over everything and get ready to fall head over heels in love with this salty, buttery, umami filled sauce that took just a few quick minutes and adds something incredibly luxurious to your steak.
So, your steak is seared beautifully and drizzled in the most incredibly delicious sauce, but if you are at a loss for what to pair it with, here are a few of my favorite side dishes for this steak dinner…
Regardless of what you pair this steak with, you are going to love this soy butter sauce and how it can make any dinner feel a little extra special.
Steak with Soy Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 12-16 ounce New York Strip or Ribeye, room temperature
- salt, black pepper and steak seasoning
- olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 large clove of garlic, very finely minced
- 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Allow the steak to come to room temperature before cooking
- Generously season your room temperature steak with salt, black pepper and your favorite steak seasoning
- Add about a tablespoon of olive oil into a large skillet placed over medium to medium high heat and allow the skillet to warm for several minutes before adding the steak
- Once the skillet is preheated, carefully place the seasoned steak into the skillet and let it cook for 5-6 minutes undisturbed before turning over
- Continue to cook the steak until it is done to your liking (see tips above)
- Once the steak is done to your liking, transfer it to a cutting board to rest and reduce the skillet heat to medium
- If there are burned bit in the bottom of the skillet, use a few paper towels to carefully wipe them away before adding 4 tablespoons of butter into the skillet
- Once the butter has melted and brown just a bit, add a very finely minced garlic clove and cook for about 60 seconds while stirring constantly
- When the garlic is fragrant, add a tablespoon of soy sauce and remove the skillet from the heat
- Squeeze about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice into the sauce and stir to incorporate
- Slice your rested steak and drizzle with soy butter sauce
- Enjoy!
