Butter Basted Steak: Bring the Steakhouse Home

Butter basted steak is one of those foods that looks super fancy, but it’s really not that hard. We’ve all seen chefs on tv or on YouTube pouring that hot, bubbly butter all over a perfectly seared steak. It’s a great visual. It’s also fun to do, and you can do it too!

Now, while butter basting a steak really is not hard, there are steps you need to follow, and the timing is important. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Preparing Your Steaks

Fist thing’s first, pick out your steaks! For butter basted steak, you’re going to need thick-cut steaks. I recommend 1 and 1/2 inches thick. I have used this method with New York strip steaks, and ribeye steaks. The ribeyes were pretty perfect. They were tender, soft in the center, and had a hard, buttery sear on the outside. Both types of steaks take on the flavors of the herbs you add to the butter, but I feel like the ribeye steaks took on more of this flavor, probably due to the marbling.

That said, the New York strips were delicious, just not quite as flavorful as the ribeyes. They’re also quite a bit cheaper than ribeyes, so there’s that, too. I get my steaks at Costco. Their quality is very good, and the price is about half as expensive per pound as my local specialty grocer.

After you’ve got your steaks picked out, take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you’d like to start cooking. Season both sides with kosher salt. I added pepper, but I actually think it would be better to pepper the steaks right before they come out of the pan. The pepper kind of gets lost in the high heat cooking (the heat breaks down the pepper). Let the steaks sit on the counter and let the salt do its thing while you prep everything else. This is the dry brining method described in this post about roasting chicken.

Getting Your Ducks in a Row is the Key to Success

Now that your steaks are resting and seasoning, it’s time to prepare everything else. First thing’s first, if you don’t have either a probe or instant read thermometer, you’re going to have a very hard time knowing when your steak is done. Unless you have cooked hundreds of steaks, you just aren’t going to be able to tell by pressing it, unless it’s well done, in which case it will feel very hard and sad. I’m obsessed with ThermoWorks thermometers (not an ad, although I would advertise for them any day. I love them). I used my ThermoWorks instant read thermometer and my probe thermometer in this recipe, but you really only need one. I recommend this affordable instant read thermometer if you don’t have one.

Now that you’ve got your thermometer at the ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. It isn’t always necessary to finish the steaks in the oven, but I often need to, so it’s best to be prepared.

Next, preheat your pan. You can use any heavy bottomed pan for butter basted steaks, but cast iron is a classic for a reason. It holds the heat really well for an even sear. Whatever you do, make sure your pan is oven safe. Preheat your pan over medium heat until very hot.

While your pan is preheating, get out your stick of unsalted butter, garlic cloves, and rosemary (or any other woody herb you’d like). Also have a cutting board standing by. Once you start cooking, this goes pretty fast.

Cooking Your Butter Basted Steaks

Before you start cooking, decide how done you’d like your steaks. Here is a doneness guide I got from certifiedangusbeef.com.

Keep in mind that you will need to pull your steaks and let them rest on the cutting board when they reach five degrees below your desired doneness temperature. For example, if I’m going for a steak cooked to medium, I need to pull it at 140 degrees. This accounts for carryover cooking.

You’ll also need 1 stick of butter (I use unsalted, but salted would be fine too), fresh cracked pepper, several peeled cloves of garlic, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. Thyme is also very nice.

When everything is ready you will do the following:

1. Pat your steaks dry with a paper towel. This helps get a good sear.
2. Carefully add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your hot pan. Swirl it around. It might smoke. This is ok.
3. Add your steaks. Using tongs, grab the steak by one end, and lay the steak on the pan in the direction away from your body. Repeat with the other steak.
4. Do not touch them for 4 minutes. Let them sear.
5. After 4 minutes, lift one up to check the sear. If you’re happy with it, flip the steaks. You want a dark, crusty sear.
6. Insert your instant read thermometer, if using.
7. Let the other side sear for 2-3 minutes.
8. Add 1 stick of butter, the rosemary, and the garlic to the pan.
9. Grab the handle of the pan. Tilt it so that the butter pools toward you. With a large spoon, scoop up the butter and pour it over your steaks. You can do this as many times as you’d like. The garlic and rosemary will infuse with the butter and make garlicky, rosemary-y, buttery, tender steaks. Check the temperature.
10. If your steaks have reached 5 degrees below your desired temperature, pull those babies and let them rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes.
11. If your steak has not reached the correct temperature, put the whole pan in the oven. Check the temperature after 2 or 3 minutes. This goes fast.
12. When the correct temperature is reached, rest the steaks on a cutting board for 5 minutes. This would also be a good time to add pepper.
13. Slice and serve

Congratulations! You made butter basted steak! You’re a certified fancy person. Once you do this, you’ll realize it’s really not hard. You look really cool though.

Please send me your steak pictures on Facebook or Instagram! I love seeing what you guys cook.