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Recipes » dinner » barbeque » Buttermilk Grilled Steak

Buttermilk Grilled Steak

By Kate Morgan Jackson

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Marinate your steak in this glorious bath of buttermilk, garlic, rosemary and pepper for a tender and delicious barbecued supper.  Hurray for buttermilk grilled steak!

buttermilk grilled steak
So, let’s talk about buttermilk grilled steak. One of my favorite, favorite, favorite recipes on this here site is the one for buttermilk grilled chicken, and I’ve gotten lots of emails from folks telling them that it is their favorite way to make grilled chicken too.  (It gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling to know that there’s a nice big posse of folks all united in their love of buttermilk grilled chicken.)

Anyway, I figured what’s good for the chicken might be good for the steak as well.  It couldn’t hurt to try, right?  Yep.  It definitely didn’t hurt.

Here’s how you make glorious buttermilk grilled steak!

I took a very similar approach to the chicken version – I mixed up some buttermilk, a few cloves of mashed up garlic and some rosemary stalks that I rolled between my hands until they were crushed and the aroma of rosemary oil was wafting through my kitchen.

I also ground in a lot of pepper, because pepper and steak just need to be together.   I poured all of this into a ziplock bag, popped in a steak and went about my business for the rest of the day.

When suppertime rolled around, the Southern husband fired up the grill (the first time this year!  hurray!) and I fished the steak out of the bag.  He popped it on the grill for 5 minutes per side, which makes the steak come out on the medium rare side the way we like it.  If you like yours rarer, take it down by a minute per side – if you like it more well done, leave in on for a minute or two more per side.

Now comes the hard part.  Put it on a cutting board, put some foil over it, and leave it alone for at least 5 minutes.  I know you want to dig right in, but if you do all those delicious steak juices are going to run right out onto your cutting board.  If you let it rest, a lot of them will stay inside the steak where you want them.

Has it been five minutes?  Okay, slice!

buttermilk grilled steak
The steak will taste lightly of rosemary and garlic and pepper, and the buttermilk will have tenderized it perfectly.  I used a shell steak for this, but a flank steak would also be ideal for this recipe.

And with our first grilled steak, I officially declare grilling season Open For Business!

 

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Buttermilk Grilled Steak


★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Grill
  • Cuisine: American
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Ingredients

  • One 1/2 to 2 pound steak (shell, flank and sirloin all work well for this recipe)
  • 2 cups butermilk
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 4 fresh rosemary sprigs, rolled between your palms to crush the leaves
  • Fresh ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine buttermilk, garlic and rosemary. Grind in a generous amount of pepper. Pour into a zippered plastic bag.
  2. Add the steak to the bag, seal and turn it over a few times to make sure the steak is coated. Place in fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
  3. Heat grill to high. Grill steak for 4-5 minutes per side for medium rare.
  4. Transfer steak to cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
1780 g54.6 mg7.1 g2.9 g0 g0 g26.7 g74.7 mg

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Kate Morgan Jackson

Hi there!  I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover.  I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN!  My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too.  And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!as seen in logos

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Published on April 15, 2014

Good for: Father's Day, Fourth of July, Grilling Favorites, Labor Day

Last Post:
Salmon in Buttered White Wine Sauce
Next Post:
Spring Vegetable Risotto with Poached Egg

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Comments

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  1. Rachel says

    April 15, 2014 at 10:19 am

    Looks splendid. How do you clean your wooden cutting board of steak juice?

    Reply
    • Kate says

      April 17, 2014 at 8:09 am

      Lots and lots of hot water and dish soap. Better safe than sorry!

      Reply
    • Matt says

      November 8, 2020 at 9:46 am

      You don’t need to clean a cutting board because you should be serving the steak whole after resting it. The reason the cutting board is covered in juices from the meat is because it was unnecessarily sliced into slivers allowing the meat to rapidly cook & the juices to quickly leak out.

      Reply
      • Matt says

        November 8, 2020 at 9:51 am

        Allowing the meat to rapidly cool sorry, not cook. Unfortunately there’s no edit comment function.

        Reply
      • Kate Morgan Jackson says

        November 9, 2020 at 9:20 am

        Hi Matt and thanks for all the input! I tend to go back and forth in terms of slicing steak or serving it “whole,” depending on what I am using it for. I find that resting it under foil for 5 minutes or so keeps in a lot of those juices, and sometimes (like when I am using steak for a steak salad) I will drizzle any extra over the top. Also depending on the recipe, it tends to make the steak easier for folks to deal with on the plate. And last but not least, for purposes of the blog, some readers find it helpful to see what the steak should look like on the inside once it is cooked. That being said, I’m all for freedom of choice when it comes to slicing or not – whether piping hot or cooled off a bit, it’s still scrumptious. Glad to see my recipes are making it to Australia – a place I’ve always wanted to visit! :)

        Reply
  2. Joyce says

    April 15, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    I always balk at recipes that use buttermilk, because I hate buying a quart only to use a cup or so. Then I found buttermilk powder that can be reconstituted as needed! This looks great, and I’ll be trying it soon.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      April 17, 2014 at 8:08 am

      I always use any leftover buttermilk to make ricotta cheese. But that powder IS handy!

      Reply
  3. Steve says

    April 16, 2014 at 8:15 am

    MMM. The 2104 grilling season??

    Reply
    • Kate says

      April 17, 2014 at 8:07 am

      Always good to plan ahead. :)

      Reply
  4. Phil says

    March 3, 2015 at 1:27 am

    That looks delicious! Oh and the juice, awesome! It is truly such a waste to just have the juice all over the cutting board instead in your mouth, lol. Thanks for the great post and recipe.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 3, 2015 at 6:11 am

      Can’t waste a drop of those delicious juices!

      Reply
  5. Andy says

    March 31, 2015 at 11:35 pm

    Your pictures are awesome and thank you so much for creating a printable recipes. It is so useful to be able to print and refer to it in my backyard. Mind sharing how you are able to create the printable recipes on your site?

    Reply
  6. Tweet says

    March 21, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Have you ever mairinaded it for less than 8 hrs? I want to make this today but only have 4 hrs to marinate….

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 21, 2016 at 5:26 pm

      Oh gosh, and I hope I’m getting back to you in time! Four hours should be okay – the longer the better of course, but that will be long enough to get some of the tenderness!

      Reply
  7. sasha says

    December 5, 2016 at 6:04 am

    these steaks looks awesome kate
    thanks for posting
    i will try it soon

    Reply
  8. Ann says

    July 3, 2018 at 4:32 am

    This is an amazing recipe. Have to it out this season

    Reply
  9. aman lodha says

    August 12, 2018 at 5:56 am

    this is really insane and amazing! can i have little more info about indian food? thanks

    Reply
  10. Paul says

    September 23, 2018 at 11:40 am

    Shoul I wipe the steak before grilling. Do I just dump the marinate or can I make a sauce with it

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Kate says

      September 23, 2018 at 12:23 pm

      Hi Paul! I usually DO pat steak dry before I grill it, but I don’t in this case because I want a little of the char and taste the marinade will give it. I have never tried making a sauce out of the marinade, and actually I think it might be too sour with the buttermilk, but if you try it let me know how it turns out and I will add it to the recipe! :)

      Reply
  11. Nathan says

    October 30, 2018 at 6:53 am

    Waiting 5 mins before slicing and eating was super hard! I just wanted to eat it there and then!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Kate says

      October 30, 2018 at 10:31 am

      Nathan! I can totally relate – that is always the hardest part of cooking any steak recipe…the waiting! Hope you loved it! :)

      Reply
  12. Sean says

    April 5, 2019 at 5:03 pm

    This recipe is the best! Absolutely love the flavor.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      April 8, 2019 at 10:33 am

      So glad you like it!

      Reply
  13. Heatercamp says

    October 21, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    That looks delicious. I will try this recipe soon. Are gas grills perfect for this recipe?

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      October 21, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      Yep, all kinds of grills are perfect for this recipe!

      Reply
  14. Embeya says

    November 24, 2019 at 9:40 pm

    Woooow…..Homemade!!! It’s the only thing that taste good! And so easy to do…

    I think I will look for these and try your recipe this weekend. Thank you for sharing!

    Dang Thai from Embeya!

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      November 27, 2019 at 8:57 am

      So glad you like it!

      Reply
  15. Edward says

    December 16, 2019 at 3:36 pm

    Those images are making me hungry again. I am going to try this for sure.

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      December 17, 2019 at 9:41 am

      Glad to hear it!

      Reply
  16. alex says

    December 20, 2019 at 2:27 pm

    I appreciate your recipe. I buttermilk chicken steak.

    Reply
  17. BBQgrills says

    October 6, 2020 at 2:27 pm

    delicious! this is really insane and amazing!

    Reply
  18. Graham Onions says

    November 7, 2020 at 6:34 am

    Its kind of really tempting me to make the dish and try it

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  19. Matt says

    November 8, 2020 at 9:41 am

    You never slice a steak before serving it. What’s the point of cooking a juicy steak & then resting it only to cut it into thin slivers so that it cools quickly & all of the juices leak out? I’ve never been able to understand this American obsession with destroying a good steak by slicing it into slivers before serving it instead of leaving it whole so that it stays warm & the juices remain where they belong; inside the steak instead of in a puddle at the bottom of the plate. Here in Australia we leave our steaks whole. If you served an Australian a pre sliced steak anywhere they’d tell you to take it back, redo it & leave it whole because grown adults grew out of needing someone to cut their food into little pieces for them when they were toddlers.

    Reply
  20. Ryan says

    November 26, 2020 at 12:43 am

    Hi Kate, That looks delicious. Let me try it for me. Awesome!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      November 30, 2020 at 10:54 am

      Thanks Ryan – hope you love it!

      Reply

Hi, I’m Kate! I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I’m so glad you’re here!

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