Whether you want to know how to marinate the steak in a bag or how to make steak marinade without soy sauce, you have come to the right place. We’ll teach you how to make ribeye steak marinade as well as other things to marinate the steak in.
So the first question on people’s minds when they set out to make a steak is, “should I marinate steak?” The answer is yes, you can marinate steak, there is nothing wrong with marinating it, and you can get better results when the meat has been marinated. Marinating tenderizes the meat and infuses flavors deeply into the muscle tissues, which isn’t something you can do while cooking steak, not really. If you want a steak that has deep and complex flavors, you need to marinate it, full stop.
How do you marinate a steak?
First thing’s first: if you want to marinate any kind of meat, you need to marinate the meat safely. Always put your meat in a food-safe container, or if you prefer, you can also use a high-quality plastic bag like a zip lock bag if you want to marinate your steak in a bag. Avoid containers that have metal in them as this will likely react with the meat and the ingredients of your marinade.
Food-grade plastic or Pyrex is great for marinating meats. Reusable glass containers are top-notch for all things marinating and meaty. Marinating meat also takes place in the refrigerator and not outside, in-room temperature. Room temperature encourages the formation of bacteria and other nasty things in meat, so don’t do it.
When you marinate meat, always do it in the refrigerator to keep the meat safe for human consumption. Place your marinating meat on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and keep the temperature inside the refrigerator to below 40˚ Fahrenheit.
The kitchen counter is not the right place for marinating meat; remember that. Lastly, never reuse the marinade used for one batch of meat for another batch of meat.
Treat the marinade as waste and throw it out if you are not going to cook it as part of a sauce or glaze. Using the raw marinade as a glaze is also out of the question. If you are marinating barbecue meat, you can use the marinade as a brushing sauce, but never on its own, fresh from the refrigerator. You can end up with nasty stomach flu by eating that sauce raw.
Alternate Steak Marinades
Soy sauce is one of the most common bases for steak sauces, but you don’t need to use soy sauce if you don’t like it. You can use pre-mixed commercial meat sauces like A1 or even barbecue sauces for your steak. If you examine the ingredients of these sauces, they’re similar to each other anyway.
They use tomato sauce, salt, liquid smoke, and other ingredients to bring the flavor profile of the marinating meat up. If you know how to prepare marinades for barbecues, making steak marinade should be easy.
Some ingredients that you can try for a no-soy sauce marinade are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, black pepper, brown mustard, parsley, butter, Greek seasoning, garlic powder, chicken bouillon, lime, avocado oil, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, Knorr tomato bouillon with chicken flavor, cilantro, red wine vinegar, honey, Italian dressing, coconut aminos, and so much more. If you know how to balance your flavors and create a harmonious mix for your beef, you are going to succeed in creating the perfect marinade sans the soy sauce.
Marinating Steak
What is the best way to tenderize a steak?
Marinating is the best way to tenderize steak, hands down. This simple recipe can be used for ribeye and other cuts of steak. The ingredients are 1/3 cup of soy sauce, ¼ cup of lemon juice, ½ cup of olive oil or avocado oil, or any neutral oil for salads, ¼ cup of Worcestershire sauce, two teaspoons of minced garlic, one tablespoon of Italian seasoning, one teaspoon of black pepper or white pepper, half a teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of onion powder. Simply combine all of the ingredients and mix well before coating the meat on both sides.
You can use a Pyrex bowl or any food-safe container for marinating the beef. Place the bowl on the last shelf of the refrigerator and allow marinating for 24 hours. The current mix of ingredients is adequate for two pounds of meat, so if you are making more steak, you need just to double the quantity of the ingredients.
Some additional tips to make your marinating experience better:
- Every 1 to 2 pounds of meat requires at least a cup of marinade. The more, the better. However, you need to adjust the strength of the marinade by adjusting the ratio of the ingredients in the marinade. Adding to the base (tomato sauce or soy sauce) won’t cut it complete – you have to adjust the quantity of the other ingredients as well.
- Tender cuts of beef can be marinated for two hours, and these will be ready for cooking. However, if you are after tenderizing, a minimum of six hours of marinating is required. If you can marinate your beef in the sauce for 24 hours, do it, as you will get better results.
However, this should not be overdone as too much marinating can result in the eventual breakdown of the muscle tissue, and you will have mushy steak.
What we are after is flavorful and fork-tender meat, not mushy meat that breaks down with the slightest touch. The same rule applies when you are slow-cooking beef in a crockpot – if the meat is soaked for more than nine hours, the muscle tissue also starts to break down, and the texture of the meat becomes mushy. - It’s possible to store marinated steak for up to six months. First, marinate the meat normally in the refrigerator for six to twenty-four hours before packing the beef for long-term storage.
