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Steak Diane is traditionally made with a thinly pounded steak, and a cognac, butter, and shallot sauce that is flambéed right before serving to great dramatic effect.
What is Steak Diane?
Doing some research into Steak Diane, I found that the “Diane” part refers to Diana, the Greco-Roman goddess of the hunt, and “a la Diane” sauces were typically served with venison and game meat in centuries past.
It was probably New York hotels that popularized the flambéed steak version.
My Favorite Steak Diane Recipe
This Steak Diane recipe is based off of one I got years ago from my friend Heidi, who found a version in her local paper, the Carlisle Mosquito (great name for a newspaper, isn’t it?).
The recipe calls for pan-frying the steak, using the pan juices as a base for the “Diane” sauce—a sauce made with mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and cream—and then serving the steak with the sauce poured over it. No flames are involved.
Heidi’s husband Vaughn is a master at the grill, so they often grill the steak instead of pan-frying it, and just make the sauce separately. The sauce can be used over chicken or pork as well, and if you have leftovers, you can even stir it in over some pasta.
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Steak Diane Recipe
If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free broth
Ingredients
- 4 (6-ounce) center cut beef tenderloin steaks or another cut of your choice
- Salt
- 1/2 cup beef broth (see Recipe Note)
- 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup finely minced shallots
- 4 tablespoons cognac or brandy
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
Method
1 Salt steak and let sit at room temp: Sprinkle salt on both sides of the steak and set aside at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.
2 Mix broth, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, tomato paste: Whisk together broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and tomato paste; set aside.
3 Sear steaks in butter: Melt the butter in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel. Increase the heat to high and sear the meat for 1-4 minutes, depending on how thick the steak is. (You may need to cook the meat in batches.)
Turn and sear on the other side. Use the finger test to check the doneness of the meat. When the steaks are done, move to a cutting board and tent with foil.
4 Sauté shallots: While the meat is resting, sauté the shallots in the pan, 2 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring once or twice.
5 Deglaze pan with cognac: Add the cognac to deglaze the pan. Increase the heat and cook until the cognac is almost evaporated.
6 Add broth mixture, then cream: Stir in the broth mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the cream and cook for two more minutes.
7 Serve steak with sauce: If you want, thinly slice the steak to serve. Otherwise serve individual steaks. Drizzle warm Diane sauce over the steak and garnish with freshly ground black pepper and chives.
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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.
Steak Diane
Sauce was fantastic! Would definitely make again. :)
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Amazing sauce, I added a bit of garlic as well and this was easily the best method for cooking I’ve found anywhere,
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If you cook out the tomato paste after onion is opaque and before deglazing you’ll get more flavour our of it..
My family love this dish.
This is like Sunday dinner on a Thursday.
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Made this twice. Once with thin sliced beef tenderloin and tonight with the scraps from a whole beef tenderloin – little bits and pieces really – and both times it was tasty. I like that the cognac didn’t need to be flamed and that the recipe didn’t call for garlic. I sautéed some sliced mushrooms and added that at the end to the steak, served with baked potatoes and sour cream. Husband went back for second serving much to the dismay of the dog.
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