Paul Newman's Simple Steak Marinade Starts With His Signature Dressing

Paul Newman was known for many things. His acting career, his philanthropic efforts, his brand of salad dressings, and even his other career as a race car driver. Seemingly a jack of all trades, he also published an easy steak marinade recipe that is a no-brainer to incorporate into your next casual steak night. Paul Newman's marinated steak recipe has been published in multiple books, including "Champions: Favorite Foods of Indy Car Racing" (via Jalopnik) as well as the "Best of the Best from the Midwest Cookbook". 

Paul Newman's recipe for marinated steak is incredibly simple. It should come as no surprise that the first ingredient is a half cup of Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing. The rest of the marinade is merely a large onion already cut up and two crushed cloves of garlic, plus salt and pepper. Simply combine those few ingredients in a shallow dish and add a large sirloin steak, preferably about and inch and a half thick, and turn the steak to coat it all over with the marinade. The recipe then calls for refrigerating the steak in the marinade for several hours, including flipping it over a few times to marinate evenly. After a few hours in the refrigerator, drain the marinade from the steak and then broil or grill it. 

This simple recipe is actually a wonderful one. The olive oil in the Newman's Own dressing coats the steak in a delicious fat that will be beneficial later when the steak is cooked over high heat. The vinegar in the Newman's Own dressing also helps to not only lend additional flavor to the meat, but acid in the vinegar helps to tenderize the steak as it marinates. The onion and garlic lend aromatic notes to the marinade, and some of those alliums that cling to the steak even after draining the marinade off will get crispy as the steak cooks. This marinade would also work well with chicken, hearty fish, or even vegetables.

If we could improve upon this simple recipe, we'd recommend lightly salting the steak before plunging it into the marinade just to make sure it's well-seasoned, and we also recommend pulling the steak out of the refrigerator a little while before you plan to cook it so it's not ice-cold when it hits the grill. Additionally, a grill is a great way to cook a steak, but instead of broiling it, use a hot cast iron skillet or even a stainless steel skillet if you don't have access to a cast iron pan. You could also switch up the dressing used in the marinade, using something like Newman's Own Italian dressing (one of the best store-bought salad dressings we've tasted). Although if you don't want to run out to the store just for a salad dressing, you could easily make your own vinaigrette at home and use that instead.

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Jalopnik.