The Best Ever Steak Marinade

This is the BEST Steak Marinade! Easy, freezer friendly and so flavorful with lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce and herbs, it’s an essential recipe for summer.

I’ve been meaning to share my way of making steak marinade for about two years now, and I finally forced myself to photograph and publish raw steak in a plastic bag ?

My kids (and husband… and I!) love steak, especially when it has a lot of flavor from marinating in the fridge for a few hours. Or even better: I freeze steaks straight in the marinade, and then defrost them in the fridge overnight for extra easy dinner prep during those lazy summer months!

Watch the recipe video

Step by step photos

Recipe tips

• Use about 1.5 pounds of steak with this amount of marinade for best flavor intensity
• If you want to avoid single-use plastic, you can also marinate the steaks in a glass or stainless steel container with a lid. Just make sure the steaks are covered in marinade! You may need to double the marinade depending on the size of your container.
• You should always discard used marinade for food safety reasons, do not reuse it.
• If you’re using defrosted steaks from frozen, it is recommended you do not re-freeze them.

Best steak cuts to use

This marinade is versatile, so it’s great for a lot of different steak cuts!Flank steak, skirt steak, rib eye, strip… They all work great with this marinade!

Marinating time

Since most steak cuts are not tough cuts that need to be tenderized, you can get away with a relatively short time. This marinade is mainly meant to add flavor, there’s nothing much to tenderize in a good beef steak. The acid and salt in the marinade can actually start the cooking process of the proteins, so I recommend marinating for a couple of hours, and up to overnight.

You can get away with as little as 30 minutes if you’re in a hurry – there will just be less flavor soaked up by the meat, but it’s still better than nothing. But don’t worry if your plans suddenly change, I’ve even left steak in this marinade for a couple of days before, and it was still fine to eat.

Maximum marinating time: If you’re wondering about the maximum safe time you can leave marinated steaks in the fridge, according to the government’s food safety tips, you can marinate beef in the fridge for up to 5 days (I never do more than 2-3 though, because I’m a hygiene stickler). Read more here on food safety when it comes to marinating.

Freezer instructions

One caveat: You shouldn’t freeze meat you have already defrosted once – so if your steaks are defrosted, do not re-freeze them.

To freeze marinated steak, make sure to really get as much air as possible out of the ziploc bag with steak and marinade in it. Let the steaks marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours, then label the bags with the name and use-by date (freeze the marinated steaks for up to three months).

To defrost the steaks in marinade, put them in the fridge overnight. If you made a large batch, they may need closer to 24 hours to defrost. Cook the defrosted steaks the same way you would freshly marinated steak.

Serving suggestions

Throwing some steaks on the grill for dinner is so easy – just prep an easy side (like a pasta salad) in the afternoon, and dinner will be a breeze. Marinating steak only takes a few extra minutes, and it’s so worth the extra flavor you get out of it.

We love these steaks with a side of Greek Pasta Salad or Creamy Dill Potato Salad. But they’re also terrific with a hunk of crusty bread and some Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad, or Creamy Cucumber Salad!

We love this steak with potatoes (you can cook them on the grill, too!) and green beans – my easy sautéed green beans are another favorite we make again and again!

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Cooking on the grill is one of our favorite things to do for easy summer meals. We often make grilled chicken or foil packets (the Sausage and Potato Foil Packets are a always hit!), but this grilled steak is definitely in the regular rotation – mainly because we’re so in love with this marinade! I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much as we do.

More steak recipes

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe

More marinades

I first published this post in July 2019. I updated it on 06/04/2020 to make it better for you.