Pan Seared Buttery Garlic Ribeye Steak

You can make restaurant-quality steak with butter right in your own kitchen in about 10 minutes. It’s ridiculously easy and doesn’t require a grill or any fancy equipment. Seasoned with homemade garlic herb butter, this quick steak recipe is loaded with flavor. Pan-searing traps in all the juices and finishing in the oven creates a buttery soft, mouth-watering steak every time.

 

BEST Pan-Seared Steak with Butter

Pan searing is one of my favorite ways to make tender juicy steaks. It’s just so fast and easy, and most importantly, it makes a steakhouse-quality meal. You can serve this recipe to your guests and feel like a master chef!

Who doesn’t love a grilled steak, but sometimes that’s just not practical. And while you can always add some garlic butter to the top of a steak, it’s not the same as actually cooking it in garlic butter.

You’ll find that by basting the steak with garlic butter as it cooks in the skillet allows the butter and garlic to penetrate the meat resulting in an incredibly tender and juicy steak with that added flavor you can only get with BUTTER! This cooking method is also great with thick bone-in pork chops.

Both Mike and my new son-in-law love to grill and they can make an amazing steak. However, you know how much I like butter, so for those nights when you’re craving red meat and don’t want to turn on the grill, try this method where you’ll start off in the skillet and finish them in the oven and have amazing steaks in just 10 minutes.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes, there’s nothing better than steak and potatoes.

Best Cuts of Steak for Pan Searing

I prefer ribeye steaks when you’re going to pan sear them. They’re ideal because of their rich marbling which makes them incredibly flavorful and tender. The fat content basically guarantees juiciness and provides great flavor from the caramelization when pan-seared. 

But of course other cuts work well for pan-searing. You could use New York strip steaks, t-bones, porterhouse, filet mignon, and top sirloin steak. They’ll all make good options. The rule of thumb is to make sure your steaks are at least 1 inch thick, but even thicker, if possible. If your steak is thin, pan-searing will likely overcook it.

Pan searing and then finishing steaks in the oven is a great way to cook really thick steaks without over cooking.

Steak Doneness Guide

If you want to cook a juicy steak, it’s crucial to know how you like it cooked. I prefer to test my steaks with a meat thermometer so I know I’m removing them at the right time.

Pro-Tip for Cooking Steak
Remove your steak when it’s about 5 degrees below the temperature that you want it cooked. Your steak will continue to cook a touch as it rests.

Why You’ll Love Pan Seared Steak with Butter and Garlic

• Restaurant-Quality: Truly as delicious as any steakhouse, made in minutes in your kitchen.
• Rich Flavor: The combination of searing the steak in oil and butter, along with garlic and thyme, creates a rich and aromatic flavor that enhances and complements the taste of the steak.
• Buttery Tenderness: Adding butter to the skillet and continuously basting the steak with it helps to keep the meat moist and tender.
• Quick and Easy Preparation: This recipe requires very few ingredients and almost no preparation time, so it’s a convenient way to make homemade steak. 
• Budget Friendly: While steak is an expensive cut of meat, making it at home will save you so much over what you’ll be charged at your favorite steakhouse.

Basting steak in garlic butter sauce is like giving it a flavor and juiciness bath. When you spoon that melted buttery goodness over the sizzling steak as it cooks, it adds a rich, creamy taste to the meat and also helps keep it nice and moist. The butter seeps down into the meat for tons of flavor.

And let’s not forget about the garlic and herbs mixed in with the butter! Those add an extra kick of flavor that takes the whole dish up a notch.

Steak with Garlic Butter Recipe Ingredients

You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this perfect garlic butter steak recipe:

• Ribeye steaks – Make sure these are at least 1-inch thick. You’ll want them at room temperature. Leave them covered on a plate on the counter for about 30 minutes before you cook them.
• Garlic – You’ll want a whole garlic that you can slice in half.
• Fresh thyme – You’ll need four sprigs. If you don’t have thyme, try rosemary.
• Butter and vegetable oil

How To Make Tender and Juicy Buttery Garlic Steak

Step 1: Prepare and season the meat.

Let your steak come to room temperature, then season both sides with plenty of salt and black pepper. Preheat your oven, and don’t begin cooking until it’s fully heated.

Step 2: Start on the stove top.

Set a cast iron pan or heavy, oven-proof skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Add the oil, and once hot, add the steaks, garlic, and thyme. Let the meat cook for about 4 minutes without turning it.

Use tongs to turn the steaks over, and add in 4 tablespoons of butter. Place the garlic and thyme on top of the steaks so they don’t burn. Tilt the skillet towards you so the butter pools, and use a spoon to scoop it up. Spoon the butter over the steaks continuously for about 2 minutes.

Step 3: Finish in the oven.

Place the skillet in the heated oven for about 2 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak and how you want it cooked. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature, and remove the steak when it’s about 5° below the temperature you want it to be.

Step 4: Time to rest.

Remove the steaks from the skillet and set them on a clean serving plate. Tent the plate with foil and let the meat rest. This will let the juices settle back into the fibers of the meat so they don’t run all over your plate when you cut into the steak. Spoon the extra butter from the skillet over the steaks before serving.

If you’re serving this with mashed potatoes, pour some garlic butter over them too.

This recipe works great when you want to just cook 1 large steak to feed several people. You can slice it and drizzle the butter over the slices before serving.

A Few Recipe Notes

• Make sure you’re using a large skillet – large enough that the steaks have a bit of room between them and aren’t touching.
• Preheat your pan before adding the steak. You want to get a good sear on the outside, and that can only be accomplished with a very hot skillet. It’s also what will give your steak that drool-worthy golden brown color.
• Resist the urge to press down on the steaks as they cook. This forces the juice out of the steak and results in tougher, less tender meat.
• For more flavor try adding Montreal Steak Seasoning instead of Salt and Pepper.

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.