Grilled Steak

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Cooking steak on the grill can feel intimidating, but not to worry — your perfect grilled steak guide is here! I’m spilling all the secrets for grilling sirloin steak (or any cut, for that matter), so you can cook the best grilled steak every time. Plus, check out my tips for choosing the best steak to grill and seasoning variations!

No grill? Learn how to cook flank steak, New York strip steak, or sirloin steak in the oven instead! Or, try my air fryer steak!

Ingredients You’ll Need

This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for cooking sirloin steak on the grill, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

Choosing The Best Steak For Grilling:

Although you can choose almost any cut, top sirloin steak is one of the best choices for its quality and value. However, you can use the same method for filet mignon, New York strip, ribeye, chuck eye steak, and other quality cuts.

Here are a few other qualities to keep in mind when choosing the best grilling steak:

• Thickness – Thin steaks get overcooked easily, so look for steaks at least 1 inch in thickness (or have your butcher cut them for you) — 1.5 inches is preferred.
• Marbling – Marbling is the distribution of fat in the meat. Ideally, look for long, thin lines of fat instead of large hunks, so it keeps the meat evenly juicy. Cuts like filet mignon will be tender, but not as flavorful due to minimal marbling.
• Grade – From highest to lowest quality, choose between Prime, Choice, Select, or Standard.
• Cut – Different cuts of steak will have different textures and levels of juiciness. Porterhouse (also known as T-bone) and ribeye are popular in addition to sirloin due to their marbling, but New York strip is another popular option with slightly less fat running through it. Although skirt steak is a bit thin for this cooking method, it makes a good choice for carne asada.

Grilled Steak Marinade:

• Olive Oil – Keeps meat from sticking to grill grates, and helps create grill lines. Use any neutral oil you prefer.
• Worcestershire Sauce – Adds serious savory flavor to the beef.
• Coconut Aminos – This is a gluten-free soy sauce substitute, but you can also use regular soy sauce.
• Lemon Juice – Use fresh juice for best flavor, or bottled lemon juice for convenience.
• Garlic – Mince it fresh, or use a jarred garlic. If you don’t have it on hand, 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder will work as a substitute.
• Spices – Including Italian seasoning (I make Italian seasoning homemade), sea salt (or kosher salt), and black pepper.
• Compound Butter, For Serving – This is optional, but adds so much flavor to an already perfect grilled steak! Use your favorite herbs and watch butter melt over the juicy meat — it’s downright delicious.

How To Grill Steak

This section shows how to cook steak on the grill, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

1. Marinate. Whisk together marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour marinade into a large zip top freezer bag and add steaks, moving around to coat well. Refrigerate and marinate for 3-8 hours ideally, but up to 24 hours is okay.

TIP: Avoid marinating for more than 24 hours.

Meat will get mushy if marinated for too long. If you don’t have time to marinate, you can season steak simply and liberally with salt and pepper, and grill right away. But I find the marinade makes it much more flavorful.

2. Bring to room temp. If possible, remove steaks from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling to reach room temperature (leaving them in the marinade).
3. Heat. Preheat grill at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. It’s important for it to be smoking hot to get a proper sear.

4. Sear. Place steak on the grill and close the lid. Sear for 2 minutes, then flip and sear for an additional 2 minutes with the lid closed.
5. Finish. Reduce heat and continue cooking steak to desired doneness (see cooking times below).
6. Rest. Remove steak and transfer to a plate, topping with compound butter if desired. Tent with foil and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

How Long To Grill Steak?

For 1.5-inch steaks, sear for at least 2 minutes per side, then use the following grilled steak time chart to achieve your desired doneness. (The photos in this post are medium rare.)

The above internal temperature is your target for when to remove the steak from the grill — use a meat thermometer to check. (This one is super accurate so your steak doesn’t overcook, or better yet, use a probe thermometer like this, which will beep when ready.) The internal temperature will rise an additional 5 degrees while resting.

What Is The Best Grill Temp For Steak?

All steaks need to start on a super-hot grilling surface (500 degrees) to get a good sear. Then, lower the temperature and grill over lower heat until it reaches your desired doneness level: 120 degrees F (rare), 130 degrees (medium rare), 140 degrees (medium), 150 degrees (medium well), or 160 degrees (well done).

Tips For The Best Grilled Steak

Grilling sirloin steak is all about the technique. Use these tips for perfect steak on the grill every time!

• Bring steaks to room temperature before grilling. They cook more evenly this way, versus cooking straight out of the fridge.
• Start with a clean grill. If you don’t, you’ll end up with burned bits on your steak.
• Get your grill hot. Preheating on a hot setting gives steak a better sear.
• Place steaks diagonally on the grates. It’s optional, but creates more appealing grill marks.
• Leave steaks in one place to sear. Otherwise, you won’t get good browning or clear grill lines.
• Flip with tongs or a spatula. Not a fork — the juices will run out!
• Check temp with a meat thermometer. A probe thermometer works best, but a traditional meat thermometer works fine as well.
• Allow steaks to rest. They retain their juices better if they sit for 5 minutes after cooking, before you cut into them.
• Cut against the grain. This breaks apart the muscle fibers in the meat, for a more tender texture and easier chewing.

Seasoning Variations

• Lemon Pepper – Omit worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and spices, and add lemon pepper seasoning instead.
• Montreal – Swap spices in the recipe card for Montreal steak seasoning.
• Balsamic – Use this balsamic steak marinade instead of the marinade above, grilling as usual.
• Chimichurri – Top steaks with chimichurri sauce instead of compound butter.

Storage Instructions

• Store: Cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Meal prep: Marinate steaks up to 24 hours before cooking. You can also just make the marinade up to 5 days ahead and store separately in the fridge.
• Reheat: Steak is best reheated in a 250 degree F oven until warm (25-30 minutes), then finished on medium-high heat with a small amount of oil on the stovetop for 1 minute on each side.
• Freeze: Wrap tightly or vacuum seal, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

What To Serve With Grilled Steak

Once you learn hot to cook a steak on the grill, the next question is what to serve with it. Try these mouthwatering sides!

• Grilled veggies – Cook your dinner all in one place with grilled broccoli, grilled asparagus (pictured above), or grilled cabbage steaks.
• Hearty salads – Try summery favorites like cucumber tomato avocado salad, cauliflower potato salad, or cilantro lime slaw.
• Leafy salads – Steak always pairs with rainbow salad, spring mix salad, wedge salad, or 7 layer salad.
• Classic steakhouse sides – Make mashed potatoes (or mashed cauliflower), creamed spinach, or sauteed garlic butter mushrooms to pair with your perfectly grilled steak.

More Easy Steak Recipes

If you liked this sirloin steak recipe, you’ll love these other easy ways to cook your favorite cuts — on the stove or the grill!

Easy Surf And Turf

Reverse Sear Steak

London Broil In The Oven

Perfect Filet Mignon

5 from 24 votes

Grilled Steak (Perfect Every Time!)

Cooking steak on the grill is EASY with the right method! Learn how to make a perfect grilled steak that's juicy and tender every time.

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 5 minutes

Marinating Time 3 hours

Total: 10 minutes

Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com

Servings: 4 (adjust to scale recipe)

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Ingredients

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Grilled Steak Marinade:

• 1/4 cup Olive oil ▢
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce ▢
• 3 tbsp Coconut aminos (or soy sauce) ▢
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice ▢
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning ▢
• 6 cloves Garlic (minced) ▢
• 1 tbsp Sea salt ▢
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper ▢

Steaks:

• 4 8-oz Sirloin steaks (at least 1 inch thick, preferably 1.5 inches) ▢
• 4 tbsp Compound Butter (optional, but recommended for serving) ▢

Instructions

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

1. Whisk together all the grilled steak marinade ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Pour the marinade into a gallon zip lock freezer bag. Add the steaks, seal the bag, and move them around to coat well.

3. Marinate for at least 3-8 hours, but no more than 24 hours. (More may result in mushy meat.)

4. If possible, remove the steaks from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to cook them to let them come to room temperature, but keep them in the marinade until right before cooking. (This will help them cook evenly.)

5. Preheat the grill to High for at least 15 minutes, until it reaches 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).

6. Place the steaks onto the grill. Close the lid and sear for 2 minutes. Flip the steaks over, close the lid again, and sear for 2 more minutes.

7. Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue to grill steaks with the lid closed until they reach your desired doneness. For 1.5-inch-thick steaks: 1-2 minutes (120 degrees F) for rare, 2-3 minutes (130 degrees F) for medium rare, 3-4 minutes (140 degrees F) for medium, 4-5 minutes (150 degrees F) for medium well, or 5-6 minutes (160 degrees F) for well done. Steak temperature will increase by an additional 5 degrees when resting in the next step. For 1-inch-thick steaks, they may be done to medium rare after step 6 without needing additional time at reduced heat.

8. Transfer the grilled sirloin steaks to a plate and place a tablespoon of compound butter on each. Tent the top with foil and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1 8-oz sirloin steak

Nutrition info includes half of the marinade ingredients, as about half is discarded, and does not include the optional compound butter.

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories 382

Fat 17.3g

Protein 50g

Total Carbs 3.8g

Net Carbs 3.4g

Fiber 0.4g

Sugar 2.1g

Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keywords: best grilled steak, cooking steak on the grill, grilled sirloin steak, grilling steak, perfect grilled steak

Calories: 382 kcal

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