Ditch The Marinade — You Don't Need It For A Savory Ribeye Steak

Bringing home a nice cut of beef, there is always a desire to do right by that steak and turn it into a really excellent meal. This can create a temptation to try to amplify the flavor by, for example, submerging it in a marinade for a few hours before cooking. While there are certainly some excellent steak marinades out there, as well as cuts of beef for which this is a good plan, generally speaking, you want to keep things simple with a ribeye.

To understand why marinating ribeye is a mistake better avoided, we need to look at what that process really does to steak. It can be a great way to add a lot of flavor to beef, but there is a second aspect: tenderization. If you take a look at this tenderizing steak marinade recipe, you'll notice it is loaded with ingredients both to enhance the flavor of the meat and help reduce the amount of time you spend chewing. Soy and Worcestershire sauces amp up the umami. Garlic and pepper improve the aroma. Additionally, the acidity of the lemon juice and balsamic vinegar break down the meat a bit, softening it for the plate. With a nice cut of beef like a ribeye, none of these steps are necessary, really.

So long as you know how to choose a good ribeye, preparing it requires no more than a good cook and a heavy sprinkle of salt to make a delicious dish. The strong marbling of this cut keeps the meat juicy, flavorful, and tender, ensuring an excellent meal even if — perhaps particularly if — it is not tinkered with too much.

With a tougher cut of steak, a marinade might be a good move, but for something as lovely as a ribeye, you are better off keeping things simple. That said, there is nothing wrong with wanting to get creative with your seasoning — just stick to dry spices.

At its simplest, pepper is a one-ingredient dry rub for steak with a perfect crust. Like classic steak au poivre, a thick coating of pepper on the outside of your ribeye can make a truly excellent crust. No one can raise much of an argument with a coffee-rubbed steak either. The simple effect of bitter coffee, spices, and a touch of brown sugar is to subtly enhance the flavor while providing a killer caramelized crust. If you are a fan of a particular store-bought steak rub, that's fine too, though you should always salt the meat before applying the dry rub. This both seasons it and helps the spices to permeate the meat.

If you want to give your ribeye a bit of pizzazz without overcomplicating things, you can simply finish it with compound butter. Steak-elevating cowboy butter was a social media star for a while, but there are plenty of options with a wide variety of flavor profiles. Ribeye doesn't necessarily need any extra fat, but a nice pat of butter flavored with herbs, alliums, and spices rarely goes awry.