Pan-Seared Steaks with Homemade Steak Sauce includes a primer on cooking steaks indoors along with a flavorful DIY steak sauce.

Pan-Seared Steaks with Homemade Steak Sauce

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

So, after a rough weekend, I am back on my feet after feeling  icky most of the time. I guess it happens to us all,  sooner or later.

Today my recipe is with a group of food blogging friends sharing recipes for Valentines Day. Steak is usually a good choice for me and Bill,  although sometimes we like other things, like shrimp or seafood. This year we are having a couple of whole lobsters I snagged for $6.99/lb. They are precooked and frozen. I am considering stuffing them, but have not decided 100%. I’ve seen a number of steaks on sale as well, although I still have a small steak stash in the freezer (I buy them when the price is good).

You’ll see a couple  different photos for this recipe as it has been in my private collection  for awhile now. Sometime back I decided to take a crack at the bottled steak sauces. I wasn’t really trying to make it taste exactly like one or another—just taste good to me. Turns out it tastes a bit like  A-1, but not totally, and also a bit like Heinz 57  (but also not totally). But  to me it tastes enough like either one to suffice, which is  o.k.  since I never could decide which one I liked better anyway. And most times I cook a steak  I won’t bother with anything beyond salt and pepper because if the beef is good, it stands on it’s own.

The potatoes in the photo are my salt-crusted jacket potatoes with loaded-topping.

Past the idea of sauce on a steak though, this is also good on grilled pork chops or mixed into a burger or meat loaf. You probably know all your best sneaky uses of steak sauce already.

As for steak, the one I prepped stove-top is a strip steak and the other was either a t-bone or porterhouse. Those two are some of my favorite steaks along with a ribeye. Did you know that on a Porterhouse or t-bone, the little section above the bone is beef tenderloin (aka filet mignon) and the bigger piece is a strip. So when you choose those, try to get one with a bigger piece of tenderloin. Make sure it is nicely marbled: fat is not bad running through steak as it cooks out and keeps meat moist and flavorful. Tenderloin is at once both leaner and more tender than the strip  which is far  more meaty. My other favorite, the rib-eye, can tend to be fattier which also means it’s the most flavorful steak, which everybody loves, but sometimes we choose more lean cuts (and sometimes we don’t). When cooking steaks you can choose bone-in or boneless except the tenderloin.  Rib-eyes do make an  appearance with  bone, often as huge roasts which you know as prime rib. Steaks with bones take  a little longer to cook but I actually prefer them.

Pan-Seared Steaks with Homemade Steak Sauce

• Servings: varies
• Time: 40mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Pan-Seared NY Strip Steak Ingredients:

• 3/4 inch thick NY Strip steak, about 8 ounces, at room temperature
• olive oil (drizzle lightly)
• salt and black pepper

Steak cooking method:

1. Heat cast iron grill pan or skillet in an oven at 500°F.
2. Place pan on stove top on high, cook steak on first side for 1-1/2 minutes then flip and do the other side 1-1/2 minutes.
3. Place pan in oven with steaks on it and cook for 2 minutes more or until a probe thermometer reads correct temperature for selected doneness.  (see temps below) 
4. Remove steaks from oven and let sit about ten minutes before cutting- use the time to finish up your veggies or whatever.

Doneness Temps:

• 125°F rare
• 130°F med/rare
• 140°F med
• 150°F med/well
• 160°F well

Signature Steak Sauce Ingredients:

• 6 ounce can Italian tomato paste
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method for sauce:

1. Combine ingredients and simmer 30 minutes or until thick.
2. Yield: 14 fluid ounces (1 3/4 cups)

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