What is Flank Steak & The Best Way to Cook It

Familiarize your self with flank steak, one among our favourite cuts for quick meals loaded with plenty of daring beef taste. This versatile minimize is ideal for summer season grilling or sliced into skinny strips for varied recipes.

Welcome to Steak Cuts 101: A Complete Information to Understanding Scrumptious Minimize of Beef

Relating to the proper minimize for steak fajitas, mild salads, tender slices of beef for tacos, in a stir-fry, or grilled roulades, it’s exhausting to prime the flank steak. However at first look, this minimize can look odd and even be trickier to cook dinner, however when you begin including flank steak to the meal plan, you’ll shortly fall in love with this lean, reasonably priced minimize.

This flavorful and versatile lean minimize of beef is ideal for busy weeknights and fast meals. 

So what’s flank steak? Properly, it’s a protracted and lean minimize that comes from the stomach muscular tissues of the cow. It really works effectively in a wide range of dishes, from tacos to stir-fries. However how do you cook dinner it to get the perfect outcomes? We’ve acquired you lined with suggestions and tips that will help you make mouth-watering flank steak each time.

The Minimize: Flank Steak

Flank steak, minimize from the flank primal, is positioned on the decrease loin space of the cow, within the space behind the plate under the loin primal. It’s a well-exercised a part of the cow. Flank steak is the one minimize from this primal; it may also be labeled Jiffy steak, plank steak, or beef flank. It’s an extremely lean distinctive flat minimize of beef in how the grain of the meat runs longways by the whole size with minimal marbling for a lean steak with minimal fats.

As a result of distinctive grain of flank steak, the way you cook dinner and slice it’s integral to how a lot your visitors will prefer it. It’s much like different lengthy cuts from the stomach, like skirt steak, however is usually a bit extra reasonably priced and include extra vital weight to feed the household.

Round $8.99 to $9.99 a pound, this minimize is normally round 1 1/2 kilos to three kilos at your native grocery retailer or butcher. For those who can’t discover it regionally, try our checklist of the perfect on-line meat supply companies for the place we order meat online.

Prepare dinner Flank Steak

Flank steak is a well-liked minimize of beef that’s versatile and straightforward to cook dinner. It’s a lean and flavorful minimize that may be cooked in varied methods, similar to grilling, broiling, pan-frying, or baking. Nonetheless, cooking it completely might be difficult, relying on the thickness of the steak and desired doneness. Listed below are 5 simple suggestions that will help you cook dinner the proper flank steak recipe each time:

1. Marinate the Steak: Flank steak is a lean minimize of meat that may simply grow to be powerful and chewy if not correctly marinated. One of the best ways to tenderize the meat is to soak it in an acidic marinade for at the least 2 hours or in a single day. Take a look at our favourite go-to Flank steak marinade recipe.
2. Preheat Your Grill or Pan: Earlier than cooking your flank steak, be sure that your grill or pan is preheated to excessive warmth, round 400 levels F. This can make sure that the meat sears shortly and evenly on either side for the proper sear and tender medium-rare inner temperature. 
3. Don’t Overcook It: Flank steak must be cooked to medium-rare (130-135°F inner temperature). Any longer than that and it’ll grow to be powerful and dry. Use a meat thermometer to test the inner temperature as you cook dinner.
4. Let It Relaxation: After eradicating your flank steak from the warmth supply (grill, pan, broiler), let it relaxation for at the least 5 minutes earlier than slicing into it. This enables the juices to redistribute all through the meat, making it extra tender and with a greater beef taste.
5. Slice Towards The Grain: When slicing your flank steak, all the time minimize in opposition to the grain (perpendicular to muscle fibers) for optimum tenderness.

make Flank steak tender?

Begin by tenderizing the meat with a flank steak marinade. This step is necessary for 2 causes; 

1. The acid within the marinade helps tenderize the meat 
2. It additionally provides a richer beef taste to an in any other case gentle minimize.

Listed below are some recommendations on easy methods to marinate flank steak for optimum taste and tenderness:

1. Select the best marinade: The marinade you employ will decide the flavour profile of your flank steak. You possibly can go for store-bought marinades, however home made ones offer you higher management over the components and flavors. A very good fundamental marinade contains olive oil, acid (vinegar, citrus juice), taste enhancers (Worcestershire sauce) spices, herbs, and salt and pepper.
2.  Use an acidic ingredient: Utilizing acidic components like vinegar or lemon juice in your marinade helps break down the powerful fibers within the meat whereas including tangy flavors. Simply make certain to not overdo it or marinate too lengthy as a result of an excessive amount of acidity can flip your steak mushy. A very good ratio is 1/3 acid to grease.
3. Don’t skimp on salt: Salt helps carry out the pure flavors of meat and enhances them with different components in your marinade. Nonetheless, if utilizing sodium-heavy components in your marinade, like soy sauce, contemplate that when including further salt to the steak.
4.  Marinate for at the least 2 hours: For greatest outcomes, let your flank steak marinate for six to 12 hours (in a single day) in a sealed container or plastic baggie earlier than cooking it. This enables all these superb flavors to penetrate deep into the meat’s fibers absolutely. 
5. Dry it: Be sure that to take away the flank steak from the marinade and dry it fully with paper towels earlier than grilling or cooking it. The components of the marinade could cause flare-ups or burning on the meat.
6. Prepare dinner it completely (no strain): Once you’re able to cook dinner your marinated flank steak, bear in mind to grill or broil it shortly over excessive warmth in order that its exterior varieties a pleasant charred crust with out drying out its inside throughout cooking.

Flank steak Recipes

Flank steak is a type of cuts of meat that takes effectively to greater temperature cooking. This makes it a sensible choice for a sizzling cast-iron skillet, grilling, and even broiling as a cooking methodology. To get you impressed, listed below are a few of our favorites recipes for cooking flank steak.

Flank Steak Marinade

On the lookout for an ideal flank steak marinade that is simple and provides that excellent punch of taste to your meat? This easy recipe is the place you wish to begin for tender juicy steak with tons of taste!

See the Recipe

Grilled Flank Steak

Savory grilled flank steak sliced skinny over mild cauliflower rice and topped with what I name ‘magic sauce’ aka, chimichurri could also be the perfect wholesome meal you might have ever tasted. Oh, and it is under no circumstances as difficult because it sounds. Make and impress the fussiest of eaters.

See the Recipe

Flank Steak Tacos

Whip up these superb flank steak tacos by marinating the meat forward of time, then grilling it with peppers and onions all sliced and piled into tortillas along with your favourite toppings!

See the Recipe

Carne Asade Nachos

These are excellent foil-packet nachos for tenting! Recent char-grilled carne asada with brilliant flavors layered onto absolutely loaded tacky tortilla chips with beans all nestled into aluminum foil and cooked over the campfire is an ideal base for each nacho topping you need. What do you place in your nachos?

See the Recipe

Flank Steak Pinwheels

On the lookout for a enjoyable spin on steak appetizers? Strive these bite-size Grilled Flank Steak Pinwheel pops in your subsequent social gathering with a wide range of dipping choices.

See the Recipe

Espresso Crusted Flank Steak Salad

This espresso crusted flank steak is grilled to an ideal medium uncommon for scrumptious slices over prime of a recent salad, or nevertheless you wish to serve it!

See the Recipe

Minimize Flank Steak

After you’ve masterfully cooked your tender flank steak to 130 levels F and let it relaxation for 10 to fifteen minutes, reducing the flank is the make-it-or-break-it step within the success of this minimize of beef.

That is due to the lengthy grain of the boneless minimize. The size of the grain makes it powerful to chew except you slice it appropriately.

• Begin by wanting on the steak and finding the grain. 
• Subsequent, rotate the steak, normally a few 45-degree angle, for simple reducing in order that the blade of the knife will slice in opposition to the grain alongside the shorter facet of the steak. 
• Then, slice the flank steak into skinny slices, about 1/4″ every. This helps break these lengthy powerful muscle fibers into quick little bites for the perfect mouthfeel and chew once you chew into the steak.

What’s flank steak good for?

That is the proper minimize of beef for dishes that use skinny strips of beef. Serve it as

• Vegetable-loaded stir-frys
•  Grilled tacos
•  Beer-marinated grilled steak fajitas
•  Stuffed grilled pinwheels
•  Blue cheese steak salads
•  Peppery arugula and steak sandwiches or wraps
•  Just about any dish that requires skinny strips of beef

Pairing Wine with Flank Steak: Skilled Suggestions and Pairing Ideas

When pairing wine with flank steak, specialists advocate selecting full-bodied purple wines with an excellent steadiness of tannins and acidity that elevate the eating expertise and intensify the marinade. Listed below are some skilled suggestions for pairing wine with flank steak:

1. Malbec: This Argentinean purple wine is thought for its intense fruit flavors and spicy notes, making it a superb selection for grilled or charred meats.
2. Cabernet Sauvignon: This traditional purple wine is thought for its daring flavors and excessive tannin content material, which makes it the proper match for wealthy cuts of beef like flank steak.
3. Merlot: A softer different to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot has decrease tannins however nonetheless provides loads of taste and physique that enhances the daring steak taste.
4. Syrah/Shiraz: This full-bodied purple wine has a posh taste profile that features darkish fruits, black pepper, and smoky notes – all traits that pair exceptionally effectively with grilled or roasted meats.

Pairing Ideas

When choosing your bottle of wine to pair along with your flank steak dinner, preserve the following tips in thoughts:

1. Contemplate the preparation methodology: For those who’re grilling your flank steak over an open flame or on a charcoal grill, contemplate pairing it with a full-bodied purple wine like Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah/Shiraz as they will stand as much as the daring flavors imparted by grilling.
2.  Match depth ranges: As a normal rule of thumb when pairing meals and wine – the depth degree ought to match; which means lighter dishes name for lighter wines whereas heavier meals want fuller-bodied wines.
3.  Experiment!: Everybody’s style buds are completely different so don’t be afraid to experiment! Check out completely different pairings till you discover one which fits your tastes greatest! We’re additionally not above an ice-cold mezcal margarita when serving flank steak as tacos.  

Flank Steak FAQs

Sources

Flank Steak by way of Beef It’s What’s for Dinner https://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/cuts/cut/2458/flank-steak
Skirt steak Vs. Flank Steak: How the Two Cuts Examine by way of Masterclass https://www.masterclass.com/articles/skirt-steak-vs-flank-steak-explained
The Helpful Information to Wine and Steak Pairing by way of Wine Folly https://winefolly.com/wine-pairing/the-handy-guide-to-wine-and-steak-pairing/