How To Make A Cheap Steak Taste Like $40 With Just Garlic And Rosemary

Few cuts of meat look or sound as impressive as expensive cuts like ribeye or tomahawk steak. These dinner showpieces are delicious entrees, and they have a price point to match. You may want to impress everyone at a dinner party with tenderloin, but you don't want to break the bank. While there are many ways to prepare and season steak, you can elevate those cheaper cuts with skillful use of rosemary and garlic.

There are plenty of affordable cuts of steak, and with just a bit of seasoning, these cuts can taste as delicious as steak that costs two or three times more. Whether you're working with tri-tip, chuck eye, or flatiron, a little rosemary and garlic can go a long way toward turning these cheaper cuts into restaurant-quality dishes if you know how to balance the flavors.

There are many ways to employ these versatile ingredients, like adding them to steak marinades with olive oil, salt, and a splash of vinegar or acidity to brighten it all up and help the flavor penetrate the meat. Alternatively, garlic and rosemary can be used in a dry rub with salt and pepper. Just coat the steak, let it rest at room temperature briefly, then sear or grill as usual.

Basil, parsley, and other delicate herbs can be overpowered by the flavor of beef, but rosemary holds up with peppery and woodsy notes. The oils in rosemary infuse the steak as it cooks. Whether you heat the rosemary alongside the meat or just crush the leaves and use it to baste your steak with butter and garlic, the compounds in the herb will saturate the meat and provide that earthy, herbaceous aroma and flavor.

Garlic has a strong aromatic presence, but the sharpness of raw garlic mellows to a savory and sweet, almost nutty flavor that enhances and even amplifies the richness of a good steak when it's cooked. It marries well with so many other flavors, especially rosemary, to layer complex umami notes. Like rosemary, the oils in garlic can infuse into beef when cooking. By crushing the garlic with a knife to release its oils and rubbing the garlic on the meat, or adding minced garlic to butter for basting, you're building complex, delicious flavor.

A garlic and rosemary compound butter can add another layer of richness to your finished steak or complement side dishes like baked or mashed potatoes. You can also use compound butter for basting as your steak finishes cooking. However you choose to use them, these two simple, inexpensive ingredients can take even the most basic cut of steak to the next level.