This easy 3-Ingredient Steak Marinade recipe enhances the flavors of your cut and makes the perfect steak every time.
What Is A Marinade?
A marinade is a sauce made of three components that is used to slowly flavor meat or large pieces of fibrous vegetables.
The three necessary parts of a marinade are an acid, an oil, and flavorings. You can’t call marinade something that misses one of these.
As a result, you can’t make a marinade with less than 3 ingredients. This 3-ingredient marinade, however, packs a lot of taste in a simple and easy recipe.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Steak Marinade
All you need to make this easy steak marinade are simple, healthy ingredients.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Vinegar – you can choose from many options depending on the flavor you are after. Balsamic vinegar adds a light sweet flavor to the meat, while red wine vinegar has a tangier flavor without.
- Soy Sauce or Worcestershire sauce – both have a strong Unami flavor that marries very well with beef.
To make your steak marinade, simply combine all ingredients in a small jar.
Then, shake the jar vigorously to emulsion the oil.
How To Marinate Steak
You can place the steaks in a zip-lock bag with the marinade, close the bag and let them marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
Another option is to use a shallow bowl, place the steak in the bowl, pour the marinade over, and film the bowl with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to overnight, but no more than 24 hours. The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavor it will have.
For food safety, always marinate meat in the fridge. Don’t marinate meat at room temperature to avoid bacteria proliferation.
Add-Ons
Of course, a beef marinade shouldn’t be limited to 3 ingredients, and there are some delicious additions you can make to this recipe to further enhance its taste like:
- Minced garlic or garlic powder
- Pepper – black pepper or white pepper.
- Italian herbs
- Paprika – or other similar spices
- Onion powder
- A touch of lemon juice
Cooking The Meat
Once the meat has been marinated, you can cook it to the steak cooking level you prefer.
It’s a marinade that brings most of its flavors with a medium-rare or medium steak because that’s when the meat juice will blend with the sauce and the muscle fibers are still intact for a better taste.
The longer you cook the meat, the more the fat particles in the marinade will degrade and lose their flavor.
The cooking time of your steak will depend on the level you desire (from rare to well-done) but also on the thickness of your cut.
My cooking guide has a detailed table of cooking times per thickness, as well as the precise temperature you need inside the steak if you use a meat thermometer.
Best Side Dishes for Marinade
While a steak cooked with this 3-ingredient steak marinade will be the piece de resistance, it is best served with a side dish that will balance and complement it.
I recommend a salad or a roasted dish like any of the following side dishes:
Storage Instructions
This 3-ingredient marinade is made with very simple, plant-based ingredients.
As a result, it has the same shelf life as the earliest of its ingredients. Typically, you should be able to keep it in the fridge for several weeks in an airtight container.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 3 necessary parts of a marinade are an acid (here the vinegar), an oil (olive oil), and flavorings (the Worcestershire sauce).
You can’t call marinade something that misses one of these.
It’s actually not recommended to add salt too early in your beef cut.
In fact, salt absorbs the meat moisture and can dry out the meat. It’s better to add salt just before cooking.
You don’t have to marinate steaks, but it has many benefits to marinate your cut of beef.
It adds flavor to the meat, but it also tenderizes it as the marinate breaks the meat fibers.
It results in a softer meat texture.
You can have the best steak marinade. It’s only ever as good as the piece of meat you use it on.
This marinade is fantastic with most pieces of beef. It is best with a flank steak or an eye fillet that tend to release more juice and are more tender.
Absolutely! Using a bbq or a charcoal grill to cook a steak brings even more flavors as the flames tend to caramelize the outside faster.
This might just require a bit more cleaning than unmarinated meat.
The longer you marinate your steak, the tastier it will become. In particular, if your cut is quite thick.
Marinating for several hours leave the oil time to penetrate inside the muscle fibers, deep into the cut.
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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In a small bowl, whisk all the marinade ingredients together.
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Place the meat in a shallow bowl or in a zip-lock bag and pour the marinade over it.
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Film the bowl with plastic wrap or seal the bag firmly.
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Place the meat in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and no more than 24 hours. The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavorsome it will be.
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Remove from the marinade and place on a hot grill or barbecue.
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Cook your beef following our steak cooking level instructions.
Serving: 1servingCalories: 254.5kcal (13%)Carbohydrates: 3.6g (1%)Fiber: 0.2g (1%)Net Carbs: 3.4gProtein: 0.1gFat: 27g (42%)Saturated Fat: 3.7g (23%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.8gMonounsaturated Fat: 19.7gSodium: 222.3mg (10%)Potassium: 145.5mg (4%)Sugar: 1.7g (2%)Vitamin A: 21.9IUVitamin C: 2.3mg (3%)Calcium: 26.9mg (3%)Iron: 1.3mg (7%)Magnesium: 3.9mg (1%)Zinc: 0.1mg (1%)
About The Author
Carine Claudepierre
Hi, I’m Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I’m passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I’m also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
