A Grilled Tomahawk Steak is impressive to serve to company, though is simple to make with just three ingredients. This large cut of steak is often eaten at restaurants, but you can easily make it at home, too!
I have seen Tomahawk Steak being reference as the “caveman steak” or “caveman experience”. I guess judging by its shape and size, it’s a pretty primal thing to cook and eat ? but it’s also delicious!
The large size of this steak means you’ll get more tender, juicy meat compared to smaller sizes. It’s obviously meant to be shared – and my chef husband always prefers one large steak to share between several people over individual, smaller steaks. Not only is it more impressive, but it’s also easier to cook to perfection!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Steak: The steak I used in the photos weighed 2.5 pounds, which is pretty much in the middle of standard tomahawk steak weights sold. Depending on the size of your specific steak, you will need to adjust the cooking time – I recommend working with a meat thermometer here, as this is not a cheap cut!
- Seasoning: I used salt and pepper from the beginning. If you prefer to season your steak with just salt prior to cooking, please feel free to do so!
- Extras: I pretty much always serve steak with homemade garlic herb butter. I didn’t include it in this recipe because it’s not part of the actual grilling, but I highly recommend it!
How to grill tomahawk steak
It’s actually not that complicated to grill this cut of beef – you just need to know the technique (and again, using a meat thermometer yields best results):
- Pat the steak dry using paper towels, then season it with salt (and pepper, if desired) all over.
- Over direct heat, sear the steak for around 3-5 minutes per side (do a quarter turn after about 2 minutes to yield pretty grill marks).
- Once a nice crust forms, move the steak to indirect heat and allow it to grill for 10-25 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 5°F below your desired level.
- Move the steak to a plate and tent it with foil. Rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Recipe tips
- Crust: You’ll want a nice crust to form on the outside of your steak while you’re cooking it over direct heat. My husband also lifts up the steak by its bone (hot! use grilling gloves!) and holds it to sit the edge on the grill for a couple of minutes before moving it to indirect heat. Since this is a thick cut it does have a wide edge, so this makes sense if you’re dedicated enough ?
- Temperature before cooking: Remove the steak from the refrigerator about 30-40 minutes before grilling it. For best results, steak should have time to come to room temperature before it hits heat. If you don’t do this, please know that the texture of your final steak might not be as tender as you’d expect it to be. It will also take longer to grill the steak, which results in a thicker well-done edge.
- Resting: Do not skip the resting, this is needed to help the meat’s juices sink back in before slicing.
Internal temperature for steak
Before we delve into the chart, please note that the USDA recommends an internal temperature of at least 145°F followed by a resting time of 3 minutes for the safe consumption of steak. However, this will give you medium-done steak which is usually more done than what you’d get at a restaurant if you let the chef do what he wants to do.
Here are average temperatures for different levels of doneness, use lower cooking temperatures than the USDA recommends at your own risk:
- 125°F: Rare
- 135°F: Medium-rare
- 145°F: Medium
- 155°F: Medium-well
- 165°F: Well-done
For reference, I pulled the steak for the photos at 125°F and allowed it to rest for 10 minutes. The final temperature was 135°F, which translates to medium-rare.
How to cut Tomahawk steak
You want to use a sharp-edged, long knife to slice this steak. Do not use a short/blunt knife, you’ll just be hacking away at an expensive piece of meat.
Always cut against the grain. If you look at your cooked steak closely, you can see the direction the fibres of the meat run. You want to slice exactly on the diagonal of the fibres for tender, even slices.
Serving ideas
You really don’t need that much to go with a good steak – we will often just have a tossed salad with a simple lemon vinaigrette or balsamic vinaigrette and a slice of crusty bread on the side. A summery corn salad or a tomato, cucumber, avocado salad are also delicious!
A classic side for steak are potatoes, so campfire potatoes, baked potato wedges, roasted baby potatoes, roasted fingerling potatoes or air fryer baked potatoes are great choices if you’re looking for something more substantial.
If you’re looking for a hot vegetable side, I highly recommend sautéed green beans or air fried green beans! I’m also partial to a good grilled corn on the cob (or air fryer corn on the cob… I don’t mind that much, I just really love corn on the cob!).
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
Grilled Tomahawk Steak
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 tomahawk steak removed from fridge and unwrapped about 30 minutes before cooking
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat grill on highest setting (or prepare charcoal grill).
- Pat steak dry with paper towels, then season with salt (and pepper, if desired).
- Sear steak on high heat (or over hottest zone of charcoal grill) for 3-5 minutes per side, doing a quarter turn halfway through for nice grill marks – you want to yield a nice crust here.
- Reduce heat to medium (or move steak to indirect heat on charcoal grill (to the side away from direct heat; or over ash-covered coal)). Cook steak for 10-25 minutes, flipping once, to 5°F below desired internal temperature (exact cooking time will depend on size/thickness and desired doneness – a meat thermometer is highly recommended! see notes for guidance).
- Once steak reaches desired internal temperature, remove to a plate and tent with aluminium foil. Allow steak to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing to serve. Internal tempreature will rise about 5°F per 5 minutes of resting.
Notes
- Crust: You’ll want a nice crust to form on the outside of your steak. My husband also lifts up the steak by its bone (hot! use grilling gloves!) and holds it to sit the edge on the grill for a couple of minutes before moving it to indirect heat. Since this is a thick cut it does have a wide edge, so this makes sense if you’re dedicated enough ?
- Resting: Do not skip the resting, this is needed to help the meat’s juices sink back in before slicing. It also helps to reach the final internal temperature.
- 125°F: Rare
- 135°F: Medium-rare
- 145°F: Medium
- 155°F: Medium-well
- 165°F: Well-done
- Rare: 18-22 minutes in total
- Medium-rare: 22-24 minutes in total (I grilled my 2 ½ pound steak in the photos for 24 minutes in total, with a 5 minute sear on either side).
- Medium: 24-26 minutes in total
- Medium-well: 26-28 minutes in total
Cathy says
I’ve made this twice and it’s always been delicious. Don’t forget to add the garlic butter.
Craig McEwen – SuperBowl XXII Champion Washington Redskins says
Nailed iT! 2-pound Tomahawk. Montreal Steak Seasoning. Like a Great “Game-Plan”, Executed “Your Playbook” and the Result was “World Champion” Quality Cooked (Medium-Rare)! Crisped-Crust/Fat. All-In with the “Hot-Hand Hold” to get the Edge. Foil-Tented finished it up! SCORE ONE FOR THE SAVORY NOTHINGS FAMILY!!!!
Markymarc says
As hot as my grill will go, for 18-22 mins, this tomahawk will be a hockey puck! I normally do ribeyeys after they get to room temp, 1 to 1.5 inches thick. 1.45 to 2 mins each side then let rest with a pad of butter and they’re perfectly rare to mid rare. My grill will go north of 600 degrees if I let it. Are you doing a lower temp?
Nora says
Did you see that the recipe only calls for high heat for 3-5mins per side? It’s just to char the outside. Then reduce the heat to medium. If you have a super power grill I’m sure you’ll know to reign it in a little. For reference, I mostly use a charcoal grill because I like the flavor best.
Elizabeth L says
Took the fear of ruining an expensive piece of meat. Came out perfect. I never grill without my meat thermometer!! One of my most used utensil during grilling season, lol.
Nora says
Elizabeth, fully agreed about about the thermometer!! And glad the recipe worked out so well for you.
Mike Robbins says
Getting 2 of these to cook at beach next week. Hope they turn out as well as pictures
Nora says
Mike, I hope they turned out well for you!