Steak Diane is a simple yet elegant dish of steak drenched in a sauce made of its own juices, plus cognac, butter, and aromatics. Like many old-fashioned American dishes, steak Diane has complicated origins, with influences from the U.S., France, and even Ancient Rome, with the latter possibly influencing the dish's name.

Steak Diane is thought to have been invented in New York by a Francophile chef, Beniamino Schiavon, and the dish of flambéed meat with a French-style sauce became popular in post-WWII America. Some historians have linked the name of Steak Diane to sauce a la Diane, which is named for Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt.

As the goddess of hunting, Diana was associated with wild game, and sauce a la Diane typically accompanied venison. The sauce consists of truffles, black pepper, and cream, which is quite different from modern Steak Diane sauce, but Lobel's Culinary Club says that Steak Diane started out as venison a la Diane before beef joined the picture.