This Pan-Seared Steak has a garlic rosemary-infused butter that makes it taste steakhouse quality. You’ll be impressed at how easy it is to make the perfect steak – seared and caramelized on the outside, and so juicy inside.
Thank you to on behalf of the Beef Checkoff for sponsoring this garlic butter steak recipe. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.
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As everyone is staying home, working from home and homeschooling, people are cooking way more often and looking to improve their cooking skills. You all have been asking for more simple and delicious recipes that come together fast and have minimal ingredients. This garlic butter steak recipe is so satisfying and will impress your entire family.
The BEST Pan-Seared Steak
This 20-minute recipe is done on the stovetop in one pan (no need to finish it in the oven). This is one of our favorite steak recipes and we make it year-round because it’s such a quick and convenient cooking method. That garlic butter is lip-smacking good! Read on for great tips on how to improve , reduce food waste and you will love our ideas for easy meal prep with leftover steak.
Ingredients for Garlic Butter Steak.
It really doesn’t get any easier than this and you don’t need much to make a lip-smacking good steak. We used 2 New York Strip Steaks (pictured below), each weighing 1 pound and 1 1/4″ thick. Keep in mind a thicker steak will take longer to cook through and a thinner steak will cook faster.
Well-marbled steaks will give you the juiciest results. Our favorite steaks to cook on a skillet are:
- New York Steak
- Filet Mignon (Tenderloin)
- Top Sirloin
- T-Bone/Porterhouse
- Ribeye Steak
How to Pan Sear Steaks:
- Pat dry – use paper towels to pat the steaks dry to get a perfect sear and reduce oil splatter.
- Season generously – just before cooking steaks, sprinkle both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the pan on medium and brush with oil. Using just 1/2 Tbsp oil reduces splatter.
- Sear steaks – add steaks and sear each side 3-4 minutes until a brown crust has formed then use tongs to turn steaks on their sides and sear edges (1 min per edge).
- Add butter and aromatics – melt in butter with quartered garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. Tilt pan to spoon garlic butter over steaks and cook to your desired doneness (see chart below).
- Remove steak and rest 10 minutes before slicing against the grain.
Pro Tip: We prefer using a large cast-iron pan for best heat conduction, but a large heavy stainless steel pan will also work.
Steak Doneness Temperature Chart:
A steaks internal temperature continues to rise as it rests, so remove steaks from the pan about 5-10 degrees before reaching your desired doneness. Use this chart to determine steak doneness when testing with an instant-read thermometer. For example, if you desire a medium doneness steak, remove it from the pan at 135 degrees F, and it should rise to 140˚F as it rests. The USDA recommends cooking steaks to at least 145 degrees. Read more. Use the following steak temperature chart:
- Medium Rare (soft, dark pink inside): Remove at 125˚F for a final cooked temp of 130˚F
- Medium (soft, some pink inside): Remove at 135˚F for a final temp of 140˚F
- Medium-Well (slightly pink center): Remove at 145˚F for a final temp of 150˚F
- Well Done (very firm, little to no pink): Remove at 155˚F for a final temp of 160˚F
Pro Tip: Check the temperature using an instant-read thermometer, inserting it horizontally into the side of the steak, so it penetrates the thickest part of the center of the steak (without touching the bone or fat portions).
What to Serve with Steaks:
Steak is so versatile but our favorite sides for making the perfect steak dinner are:
- Roasted Asparagus or Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Oven-roasted Baby Red Potatoes.
- Another classic steak pairing is Corn on the Cob.
- Chimichurri Sauce is a quick way to add tons of flavor
Pro Tips for the Best Steak:
- Preheat pan 5 minutes before adding steak for a great sear with good color and flavor.
- Press steak down just as it hits the pan to ensure steak makes contact with the surface of the pan.
- Loosely cover and rest steaks on a cutting board 10 minutes before slicing so they don’t dry out.
- Don’t slice too thin, or the steak cools too quickly.
- Slice steak against the grain and at an angle for a steakhouse presentation
How to Buy and Store Beef:
We love buying larger packages of beef, which are often a better value in price per pound. Once we have our meal plan for the week figured out, we refrigerate what we plan to cook within 3-4 days and freeze the rest. To preserve the quality of our steaks, we vacuum seal since air is the enemy of food. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can also use a freezer-safe zip bag and squeeze out as much air as possible before freezing. To reduce waste, follow these guidelines:
- Refrigerate Steaks (at 40˚F) for 3-4 days from purchase date
- Freeze Steaks for 6-12 months*
- Refrigerate or freeze right after purchasing
- Place in freezer bags removing as much air as possible, or vacuum seal.
Steak Meal Prep:
Did you know 40% of all food brought home in America goes uneaten? Some of the things we do to reduce waste are to eat what we have in our kitchen and also to repurpose leftovers. Leftover steak is perfect for meal planning. Cooked beef can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen 2-3 months. We love using leftover steak to meal prep Steak Cobb Salad in reusable to-go containers. Here are some more great ideas for using up leftover steak:
- Dice or thinly slice cooked steak for tacos or Steak Fajitas
- Whip up some easy Cheesesteak Quesadillas
- Make a quick Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich
Love Beef? Visit for more great dinner inspiration and recipes.
Pan-Seared Steak with Garlic Butter
Ingredients
- 2 lbs New York Strip Steaks (2 steaks), or Ribeye or Top Sirloin Steaks (1 lb each steak, 1 1/4” thick)
- 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil, or any high heat cooking oil like canola or extra light olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Thoroughly pat steak dry with paper towels. Just before cooking, generously season with 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper
- Heat the cast iron pan until hot then add 1/2 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat. Once the oil is very hot, add steaks to the skillet. Sear the steaks on the first side for 4 minutes until a brown crust has formed then flip and cook another 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, turn the steak on its sides to render the white fat and sear the edges (1-minute per edge).
- Reduce heat to medium and immediately add 2 Tbsp butter, quartered garlic cloves and rosemary to the pan. Spoon the butter sauce over the steak, tilting the pan to get butter on your spoon. Continue spooning the sauce over the steak for a minute or until the steak is about 5-10 degrees from your desired doneness (the temperature will continue to rise another 5-19 degrees while steaks rest).
- Transfer steak to a cutting board, loosely cover and rest 10 minutes before slicing into 1/2" strips to serve. Spoon extra butter sauce over sliced steak to serve.
Notes
- Medium Rare: Remove at 125˚F for a final cooked temperature of 130˚F
- Medium: Remove at 135˚F for a final temp of 140˚F
- Medium-Well: Remove at 145˚F for a final temp of 150˚F
- Well Done: Remove at 155˚F for a final temp of 160˚F
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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Fantastic recipe. The only thing I added was to set my steaks out on the counter 1 1/2 hours before cooking and added meat tenderizer while they sat out on the counter. The flavor was perfect as well as the doneness! Boyfriend raved! Thank you.
The temps are all wrong. Rare is 120-125. Medium is 140-150. If you cook to 145 for medium rare you’re getting an overcooked steak.
Tasted better than any supposed elite level steak house. I was thoroughly impressed with myself
I am looking forward to trying this butter- garlic- rosemary -steak for my family and myself. I want to take this opportunity to let you know how much I love you as a chef and a person with a bright personality, sweet, kind, playful heart, and so much beauty- inside and out! You are one of all time favorite food bloggers! I love watching your show and reading your recipes. Very professionally done. Your videos are great and well done. I love seeing the support from your family too (husband behind the camera, kids popping in, community, and church). I am a teacher by trade and went to culinary school just for fun. My grandma, mom, and aunt were all great chefs and we grew up with home cooked meals every night. Therefore, I know good when I see it! Lots of luck to you for continued success. Please keep sharing and posting! xoxox
The best steak ever!!!! Everyone in my family raved on how delicious it was!
The temps are off in this recipe. I followed your guidelines for medium rare at 145 degrees F for my one-inch steak, but got a well-done steak with some medium-well bits. So disappointing and I ruined my steak.
I researched it later, and the correct temp to remove from the pan for medium rare is 126 degrees F. Then, it rises to 140F while resting.
HI J, that’s such a bummer and I think maybe you misread the info here – the USDA recommends 145 and what I wrote was “These numbers reflect the final temperature after resting 10 minutes.”
This steak s delicious! Cooked to medium rare perfection. I did four minutes on one side and three on the other side. Tanks for the tip about using the tongs to turn the steak on its side to sear the fat. Next time I will probably do three minutes on each side, however the steak came out scrumtious. The butter, rosemary and garlic are a wonderful touch
If a steakhouse cooked all their steaks to 145 or more they’d by out of business in a week.
Regardless your temps said to cook to 160 for medium.
Sorry your steak was ruined, J. Natasha is correct. The USDA recommends a final temp of 145. A steak when resting rises about 10 degrees, so if you took it off at 135 or a bit less, your steak should be fine.
Maybe try again?
thanks for the recipe! i used 2cm thick ribeye steaks so it turned out way too salty at tue ends. and even though i cut the cooking time in half they turned out overdone (i wanted medium rare). but the best part was that i could use the strained leftover butter in the pan to make a sauce for the steak (i just added smoked paprika) and my family loved it!
Father’s Day & I’m so nervous to cast iron pan fry his 1 1/2” T-Bone steak he chose for dinner! He can’t grill, I don’t grill! I followed this recipe & the steak was fabulous! WE couldn’t believe it! Steaks were so tender with a beautiful crust on the outside! Thank YOU for this great recipe!! Keeper for sure!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Carolyn! Thank you for your great review!
Tried 4 minutes and 3 on the other side. Ended up well done.
Hi Ervira, it really depends on the thickness of your steak and how high the heat is.
Superb steak! Juicy and tender. This recipe is a “keeper”.
I’m so glad to hear that, Connie
Very nice and tasty look Too. I cannot wait to cook this recipe and serve with white patna rice served with a small salad and pickle chilli..
That would be a great combination! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Absolutely delicious and yummy recipe, Thank you for sharing
I dont have a cast iron pan what would you recommend for me to you? I look forward to trying this recipe because I always make over done steaks which ruins the meal.
Hi Sheila, We prefer using a large cast-iron pan for best heat conduction, but a large heavy stainless steel pan will also work.
I love you Natasha!!! Your recipes are my favorites!! Now I can cook the steak without worry. Thanks again
That’s wonderful to hear, Heather!
Didn’t change a thing and it was absolute perfection. I used avocado oil for the high smoking point and I’ve never had a better steak!
Love the way you present each recipe making fun to each.
Thank you.
Good to hear that you are enjoying them! Thank you!
Turned out great! However, I did marinate my steak in ACV, thyme and Worcestershire sauce after salting it on both sides with sea salt. Everything else was the same I just needed to make sure it was tender for a certain guest.
I make this at least once a month.
I’m not keen on garlic unless I’m making a pasta dish, so I add the crushed garlic from a jar.
Oddly enough, my dog Sam can’t wait for the steak. He leaves the room and checks if it’s done yet. He’s a connoisseur you might say.😊😅😅😅
Hello , can I cook inside round steak this way ? Or eye round steak ?
Hi Heather, I imagine that may work, If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
those are two of the toughest steaks, and are typically best used for pot roasts and stews. if you want a cheaper alternative to ribeye or ny strip go for chuck eye (sometimes sold as del monico).
Never could cook a good steak. This is now my go to recipe! Bravo!