Grilled Steak Recipes: Easy, Healthy, and Tasty

Summer’s still in full swing, and you have every reason to hit the grill every chance you get. Here’s some grilled steak recipes you can throw together at any time to bring out your inner caveman.

Steak Is Health Food!

First thing’s first, I know a lot of you are thinking that steak shouldn’t be featured in a health blog due to its fat and cholesterol content. Our society has been conditioned to believe that red meat is inherently “bad.” No way, buddy. Steak is health food, and I’ll prove it to you.

First, people often assume that fat in the food leads to fat on the body, and that saturated fat is particularly insidious. Not so fast. Many cultures (including the French and coconut-chowing Tokelauans) have thrived on high-fat diets without the drastic weight gain and incidence of diseases of civilization such as diabetes and heart disease that we have in the United States.

As for cholesterol, our bodies will produce it even if we don’t consume it as a part of our diet. And besides, half the people with heart disease have so-called “normal” cholesterol levels, therefore it is clearly a poor determinant.

The fact is, meat (and red meat in particular) has always played a big part in the human diet and it is foolish to think we are somehow poorly adapted to eating it. Ever notice there aren’t any more woolly mammoths roaming around? That’s because our ancestors killed and ate them all.

I know I used to feel guilty when I ate red meat, so I just wanted to ease your fears and encourage you to up your red meat intake and fill the grill with deliciousness!

The Ingredients

• Steak of your choice (New York strip, porterhouse, t-bone, ribeye, and tenderloin are ideal)
• Salt and pepper

The Recipe

1. Set your grill up for high direct heat. For electric and gas grills, simply crank the heat up. For charcoal, get a nice layer of blazing hot coals prepared. To test the temperature, hold your hand just over the grate. You should only be able to keep it there for 2-3 seconds.
2. In the meantime, rinse the meat and pat it dry. Cover with salt and pepper.
3. Now throw the steaks on the grill! Flip them once halfway through. Here’s a table to help you figure out how long to grill them.

Steak Thickness	First Side	Second Side
1"	6 - 9 min	3 - 6 min
1 1/2"	7 - 11 min	4 - 8 min
2"	9 - 13 min	6 - 10 min

These times should be viewed as just a rough guide. There is no more accurate way to test the doneness of the meat than by pressing it with a finger to test the “give.” I suggest using the thumb test method to accurately determine this. By making a “ring” with your thumb and different fingers on your hand, you can change the muscle tension in the fleshy mound at the base of your thumb, which corresponds with the elasticity of different levels of doneness.

• Open palm: rare
• Index finger: medium rare
• Middle finger: medium
• Ring finger: medium well
• Pinkie: well

Here’s a video demonstrating this method:

The Variations

Like all of the recipes I post here at LMVM, I stress the importance of learning the basic recipe first that you can then improvise with to create literally hundreds of different dishes. I hate having to consult a cookbook all the time for really fancy recipes and encourage you to take this same low-maintenance approach. Here’s a few things you may want to try to change things up:

• If you want to save money on steak and buy cheaper cuts (flank, skirt, top round, shoulder) you’ll just need to tenderize them beforehand. To do this, cover them with salt (and I mean COVER) for up to one hour before rinsing, drying, and throwing on the grill.
• To add some more flavor, try marinating the steak overnight in the refrigerator. Throw them in a container or bag containing olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper, and any other dried or fresh herbs you want to add in.
• Coat the steaks in a dry rub before tossing on the grill. You can pick up a pre-made mix from the grocery store or throw together the dried spices you already have in your pantry.
• After taking the steaks off the grill, skip the commercial steak sauces that overwhelm everything (and don’t you DARE touch that ketchup bottle!) and stick with something a little more low-key to accent the steak. Mix together softened butter, chopped parsley, and minced garlic in a bowl to top it off. Alternatively, add a bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

The amount of grilled steak recipes you can create from this blueprint are endless. Enjoy making the most of your grill time before the snowflakes start fallin’!

Tagged as: grilling, meat, real food, recipes, steak