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What is Flank Steak
Flank steak is a lean, somewhat tough but flavorful cut of beef that benefits from the tenderizing effects of a marinade. It is best cooked medium rare and thinly sliced at an angle across the grain of the meat.
Prepared this way, marinated, cooked quickly at high heat, and thinly sliced, flank steak practically melts in your mouth. This recipe calls for grilling the steak, but if you don’t have a grill, you can prepare the steak in a large cast iron frying pan as well.
Video! How to Grill Flank Steak
What’s in the Marinade?
The flank steak marinade in this recipe calls for a lovely blend of soy sauce, honey, and garlic. It works wonderfully for this cut of meat.
For more Southwestern flavors, see our carne asada recipe. Do you have a favorite flank steak marinade? Or a grilling trick for flank steak? If so, please let us know in the comments.
Love flank steak? Try These Recipes
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Recipe
Ingredients
Marinade Ingredients
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Other ingredients
- 2 pounds flank steak
Method
1 Marinate the steak: Combine the marinade ingredients in a large non-reactive bowl.
Place steak in the bowl and turn so that it is completely coated with the marinade. (You can also place the steak and marinade in a freezer bag and place it in a bowl.)
Chill and marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
2 Prepare your grill for high, direct heat with one part of the grill for lower, indirect heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over the hot side and you can only hold it there for about a second.
3 Grill the steak: Remove the steak from the marinade and gently shake off the excess marinade from the steak (but make sure there is still a coating of it, you'll want the oil on it to help keep the steak from sticking to the grill).
If you want, sprinkle generously on all sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. The salt and pepper will help form a savory crust on the steak.
Place steak on the hot side of the grill. Grill for a minute or two on each side to get a good sear, then move the steak to the cooler side of the grill, cover and cook a few minutes more until done to your liking.
How do you know when the steak is done? One way to tell is to poke it with your fingertips. While the steak is still raw, test it with your fingers; it will be quite squishy. That's what a very rare steak feels like. Touch the tip of your nose and that's what a very well done steak feels like. Here's a visual guide, the finger test to check the doneness of steak.
Otherwise use a good meat thermometer (I recommend a thermapen.)
4 Rest the steak: When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat while the steak rests for 10 to 15 minutes.
5 Slice across the grain: Notice the direction of the muscle fibers of the steak; this is called the grain of the meat. Flank steak is a very lean cut that will be tough and chewy unless you cut it in a way that breaks up the muscle fibers.
So, cut the steak across the grain of the meat, at a steep diagonal, so that the slices are wide. I find it easiest to use a long serrated bread knife for this, but any long sharp knife will do.
If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak. Great also with salsa or horseradish sauce.
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Links:
Flank Steak Carne Asada here on Simply Recipes
Chimichurri Sauce here on Simply Recipes
Grilled Flank Steak with Black Beans, Corn, and Tomatoes from Skinny Taste
Beer Marinated Flank Steak with Avocado Cilantro Cream Sauce from the Beeroness
Flank Steak Tacos from Not Without Salt
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak
Excellent flavor and excellent directions from cooking it to carving it. I marinated about 8 hours and used a thermometer to check for done ness on the bbq. Loved it thanks!!
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This recipe had ingredients that were readily available and I made it twice within a month because my son, who doesn’t live at home heard it was delicious and asked me to make for him!
I don’t have an outside grill, so I cooked on a cast iron grill pan on my stove and it had grill marks and sear just like the picture.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
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This was delicious! My new go to for marinating flank steak…. really delicious!
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Hello,can this be marinated and frozen for later use? Thank u
Hi Cynthia,
Ooh, good question! I have read conflicting opinions of freezing raw meat in a marinade. Some sources say it’s fine for up to 9 months, while others claim a long contact with the acids in the marinade (albeit in frozen form) can cause the flesh to cook up mushy. I say pop the meat in the marinade, freeze it straightaway, and use it within a month and you should be fine. Other readers, I’d love to hear your experiences!
Amazing!!! For the next time has anyone ever used Avacado Oil? It has a high heat tolerance so I’d rather use that.
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Hi Amy, for what it’s worth, it’s a myth that extra virgin olive oil shouldn’t be used for high temperature cooking. Extra virgin olive oil is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols that actually help protect the oil from degrading under heat. For that reason, it is one of the best oils to use. See this article: https://olivewellnessinstitute.org/extra-virgin-olive-oil/cooking-with-olive-oil/ and this one: https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/why-you-should-stop-worrying-about-olive-oils-smoke-points Avocado oil is fine for high temp cooking, though it tends to be rather expensive.