Perfect Grilled Steak with Herb Butter features a homemade steak seasoning and buttery herb finish. This easy sizzling grilled steak recipe is mouthwatering!
“I’ve been grilling steaks for 45 years and this is without a doubt the best recipe ever. My family raves about it!”
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I once interviewed an Iowa cattle farmer and asked him how often he ate beef. His answer? Every single day. That’s how good Midwestern beef is, and this Iowa girl knows her steak. My foolproof method for grilling them ensures juicy, tender steaks, every time, and I think you’ll agree after your first bite that my homemade steak rub and garlic herb-butter topping are worth the extra effort. This sizzling dish will impress but is easy enough to make every day. Fire up the grill!
Watch How to Make Them
Perfect Grilled Steak with Homemade Herb Butter
If steaks feel like restaurant-only food, or like they take too much guesswork to grill at home, I’m here to help you out with my fool proof method for grilling perfect steaks, every time.
Using my method, thick-cut steaks are rubbed with homemade steak seasoning then grilled and smothered with thick-cut, compound herb butter, which is fancy talk for butter mixed with fresh herbs, garlic, and steak seasoning.
You are going to want to put this butter on EVERYTHING.
#1 Tip for Perfect Grilled Steaks
The trick for grilling perfect steaks is to create two heat zones on your grill:
- Zone 1: screaming hot with a high flame.
- Zone 2: unlit and cooler.
Sear the steaks over the hot side to get a flavorful, golden-brown crust – plus those coveted grill lines – then move them to the cooler side to finish cooking all the way through. This creates a sizzling steak on the outside, and tender, buttery steak on the inside. I’ll show you how below.
Top Tips for Grilling Steaks
- Steak quality matters. To achieve perfect grilled steak, you need to start with good quality meat. Look for steak with marbling to ensure they stay juicy on the grill.
- Keep the lid down. From pre-heating the grill, to cooking the steaks, KEEP THE GRILL LID DOWN anytime you’re not flipping or moving the meat. Think of the grill like your oven. You wouldn’t bake a casserole with the oven door open, would you? Don’t cook your steaks with the grill lid open either.
- Let the steaks rest. It’s tempting to slice into a sizzling, hot steak right off the grill, but let them rest for 15 minutes to ensure all the juices don’t run out.
Pair it with Scalloped Potatoes
How to Make Perfect Grilled Steaks.
Step 1: Make the Steak Seasoning.
My homemade steak seasoning is light-years better than anything you have pre-mixed in your cupboard. I like using a mortar and pestle to make it, though a spice grinder works too.
To the mortar, add rock salt, whole black peppercorns, minced dried garlic, minced dried onion, fennel seeds, and red chili pepper flakes then grind them up with a pestle.
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Pin ItStep 2: Make the Herb Butter.
To a bowl, add salted butter that’s been softened to room temperature, finely minced fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, and garlic, plus a big pinch of the homemade steak seasoning.
That last addition is what totally makes the butter.
Mash with a fork to combine, then scoop the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape it into a log. Refrigerate until solid – overnight is great – or freeze for 20-30 minutes if time is of the essence.
Step 3: Prep the steaks.
These photos show 1lb bone-in strip steaks cut 1-1/2″ thick but you can use whatever steak cut you like best. Ribeyes are a treat!
Pat the steaks very dry with paper towels then drizzle both sides with a small amount of vegetable oil (olive oil will burn) and rub with a generous pinch of steak seasoning.
Don’t be afraid to add a lot – this is a TON of meat.
Step 4: Grill the steaks.
The best way to get sizzling steaks on the outside and juicy, buttery steak on the inside is to first sear them over a hot, high flame, then move the meat over to a cooler, unlit portion of the grill to finish cooking via indirect heat.
How to Grill Using Zones
- Step 1: Turn 1/2 to 2/3 of the burners on your grill to high (if you have 2 burners, light 1 – if you have 3 burners, light 2) then shut the lid and let the grill preheat for at least 10 minutes, or until it reaches 500 degrees. If you have a charcoal grill, heat your coals then move them to one side of the grill when they’re screaming hot.
- Step 2: Add the steaks to the lit portion of the grill then sear for 1-1/2 minutes on each side (if your steaks are thicker or thinner than 1-1/2″, adjust accordingly). Move the steaks over to the unlit portion of the grill then continue cooking until they’ve reached your preferred level of doneness. My 1-1/2″ thick steaks take ~7 minutes to reach medium.
Grilling Tip
KEEP THE LID DOWN when you are searing and grilling so you don’t lose all the heat you’ve worked to build up inside the grill.
Steak Temperatures for Doneness:
- Rare (cool red center): 125 degrees
- Medium rare (warm red center): 135 degrees
- Medium (warm pink center): 145 degrees
- Medium well (slightly pink center): 150 degrees
- Well done (little or no pink): 160 degrees
Step 5: Rest the Steaks
This step is essential for juicy steaks. Let them sit on a cutting board or rimmed sheet pan for at least 15 minutes. If you slice into the steaks too soon, the juices will all run out.
After resting, top the steaks with fat slices of herb butter and serve.
Juicy grilled steak perfection! That salty-seasoned crust and compound herb butter are mind meltingly-delicious.
Your quest for perfect grilled steak ends right here. Enjoy!
Side Dish Ideas for Grilled Steak
- Healthy Chickpea Salad
- Creamy Parmesan-Garlic Orzo
- Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad)
- Baked Potatoes
- Healthy Mashed Potatoes
- The BEST Pasta Salad
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Gluten Free Potato Salad
- Best Baked Beans EVER
- Napa Sweet Corn Salad
- Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 2, 1 lb bone-in strip steaks cut 1-1/2″ thick, or your steak of choice
- vegetable oil
For the Steak Seasoning:
- 3/4 Tablespoon rock salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
For the Herb Butter:
- steak seasoning, see above
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
- 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh thyme
- 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
Directions
For the Steak Seasoning:
- Add the ingredients to a mortar and pestle then coarsely grind. Alternatively you can use a spice grinder, or add the ingredients into a heavy duty Ziplock bag, squeeze the air out, then crush with a meat pounder, rolling pin, or heavy bottomed skillet.
For the Herb Butter:
- Add the ingredients to a bowl then mash with a fork to combine. Scoop the herb butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap then shape it into a thick log and refrigerate until firm (if time is of the essence you can freeze for 20-30 minutes). Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.
For the steaks:
- Trim your steaks of any big pieces of fat to avoid flare ups on the grill then pat them very dry with a paper towel. Rub each side with oil then season generously with the steak seasoning, pressing it into steaks so it adheres – you should use most if not all of the seasoning. Set the steaks aside.
- Heat 2/3 or 1/2 of your grill burners (2 of 3 burners, or 1 of 2 burners, depending on how many burners you have) on high with lid down for 10-15 minutes, or until the grill reaches an internal temperature of 500 degrees. Add the steaks to the lit side then sear on each side until grill marks appear, 1-1/2 minutes, adjusting the time if your steaks are bigger or smaller than 1lb cut 1-1/2" thick. Keep the lid closed between flipping.
- Transfer the steaks to the unlit portion of grill then continue grilling for 7-10 minutes with the lid closed for medium doneness, or until they've reached your preferred level of doneness (see notes section below). Remove steaks to a platter then let them rest for at least 15 minutes. Top with sliced herb butter then serve.
Notes
- If you’re using a charcoal grill, move the hot coals to one half of the grill after pre-heating.
- Steak Temperatures for Doneness:
- Rare (cool red center): 125 degrees
- Medium rare (warm red center): 135 degrees
- Medium (warm pink center): 145 degrees
- Medium well (slightly pink center): 150 degrees
- Well done (little or no pink): 160 degrees
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
My husband fired up the grill. It was our first time using the grill in our new home, and this steak recipe was amazing! So good. I ended up having some leftover steak the next day with some lettuce and your Mediterranean salsa and garlic sauce recipe (from the chicken shawarma recipe I made a couple days ago.) Nowadays, whenever I make something new, my husband always asks, “is this another IowaGirl recipe?” ? Thanks again!
Ahh, I love it!! So glad you were able to break in the new (to you) grill with this recipe. Thank you so much for your nice note, and congratulations on the new house!!
I’ve been grilling steaks for 45 years and this is without a doubt the best recipe ever. My family raves about it!
Oh my gosh, what a compliment!! I am THRILLED to hear that, Henry!
Are rock salt and coarse sea salt the same thing?
Hi Christine! They’re not, but you could use maybe 1/2 Tablespoon coarse salt in its place.
Can this b done in the oven
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing dish.
I love steaks. It’s one of lazy dishes even on a bad day. I prefer air fryer steaks because of its crispy taste. I like the herb flavor you added. Will be trying some mints next. Thanks
Made steaks last night for our late Valentine’s Day dinner…I followed your directions exactly and my husband LOVED them! He wasn’t sure at first about putting butter on steak but he absolutely loved the steak this way..and me, too!
This steak looks really yummy and delicious :D
So, I have to be honest, I am not a steak person, never have been. My husband on the other hand, would have steak for dinner every night, but he also isn’t great at grilling his steak (he usually overdoes it). So when I found this recipe, I took over, and I did everything as written, and he said it was the best steak he had ever had. He also loved the addition of the herbed butter. We will be making this all summer long!
That is AWESOME!! So glad he loved the dish – thank you so much for your feedback, Emily!
Kristin, have you tried to sous vide the steaks in a ziplock bag with the butter and herbs, then removing and placing on grill to char the sides? Since doing this method I haven’t gone back! The bag keeps all the juices in while the steaks cook (and they probably even absorb half the butter as well). The result is unbelievable. I do 60 minutes at 60 degrees C (140F) in a slow cooker converted to a sous vide, then place for about 1 minute each side on a searing hot cast iron skillet.
Ok that sounds AMAZING!! My husband has been dying to sous vide something so we’ll have to give it a try. :)
I made this on Christmas Eve, New Years Eve and Valentines Day. This is a winning recipe every time.
So glad to hear that, Annie! Thanks for your feedback! :)
Damn! This is one of the best steaks I ever made. Thank you very much for the recipe.
Hi….! Thanks for this great guide but Will you please tell me should i use digital smoker to grill?