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Home / Holiday Recipes / BBQ & Grilling / Grilled Tomahawk Steak

Grilled Tomahawk Steak

45 minutes mins
| 8 Comments |
5 from 18 votes
Jump to Recipe 06/18/21 | Updated: 06/18/21 | by Nora
Tomahawk Steak Image Pin 1

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!

overhead view of sliced tomahawk steak on wooden board with garlic herb butter and fresh parsley

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!

ingredients for grilled tomahawk steak with text labels
Ingredients for grilled Tomahawk Steak: Tomahawk steak, salt, pepper.

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):

  • female hand using paper towels to pat dry a tomahawk steak on a white plate
  • tomahawk steak on white plate, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • grilled tomahawk steak on grilling rack over hot coal
  • tomahawk steak covered with aluminium foil on white plate
  1. Pat the steak dry using paper towels, then season it with salt (and pepper, if desired) all over.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. Move the steak to a plate and tent it with foil. Rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
grille tomahawk steak on white platter sitting on wooden board, surrounded by steak knife, fresh parsley and garlic butter

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.

sliced tomahawk steak garnished with garlic butter and fresh parsley on white platter sitting on wooden board

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.

close up photo of sliced tomahawk steak

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!).

frontal view of sliced tomahawk steal on white platter with fresh parsley and garlic butter

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Or browse all of my beef 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

Printable Recipe Card
sliced tomahawk steak garnished with garlic butter and fresh parsley on white platter sitting on wooden board
Save Recipe Saved!

Grilled Tomahawk Steak

A grilled Tomahawk Steak is impressive to serve to company, though is simple to make with just three ingredients.
Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!
5 from 18 votes
Print Add Review

Recipe details

Prep 5 minutes mins
Cook 30 minutes mins
Resting Time 10 minutes mins
Total 45 minutes mins
Servings 4 servings
Difficulty Easy

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.
 
Internal temperature
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.
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
You’ll want to pull the steak from the grill once it’s about 5°F below your desired internal temperature. Rest it tented with foil for 5 minutes to allow it to finish cooking with carryover heat.
 
Grilling time
The grilling time will highly depend on the exact size of your steak and the length of your sear! However, use this as a rough guidance for an average sized tomahawk steak (2 ½ pounds in weight, 2 inches thick):
  • 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
Please note, these are estimates and I do not recommend cooking a tomahawk steak at home without a meat thermometer!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 472kcalProtein: 46gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 118mgPotassium: 608mgVitamin A: 34IUCalcium: 16mgIron: 4mg
Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings
About Nora 
When I got married to my professional chef husband, I realized I had to step up my game in the kitchen. Now I share my favorite foolproof family recipes here on Savory Nothings: Chef-approved, kid-vetted and easy enough for everyday home cooks like you and me!   Learn more.

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Comments

  1. Cathy says

    Oct 17, 2024

    5 stars
    I’ve made this twice and it’s always been delicious. Don’t forget to add the garlic butter.

    Reply
  2. Craig McEwen – SuperBowl XXII Champion Washington Redskins says

    Sep 1, 2023

    5 stars
    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!!!!

    Reply
  3. Markymarc says

    Sep 2, 2022

    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?

    Reply
    • Nora says

      Sep 18, 2022

      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.

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth L says

    Aug 29, 2022

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Nora says

      Sep 2, 2022

      Elizabeth, fully agreed about about the thermometer!! And glad the recipe worked out so well for you.

      Reply
  5. Mike Robbins says

    Jul 10, 2021

    Getting 2 of these to cook at beach next week. Hope they turn out as well as pictures

    Reply
    • Nora says

      Aug 3, 2021

      Mike, I hope they turned out well for you!

      Reply

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings

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Hi, I'm Nora! I wasn't always a good cook, but then I fell in love with a professional chef and learned my way around the kitchen. Now I share all my secrets to effortlessly great food here on my blog, bite-sized for home cooks just like me and you.

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