The 35 best recipes for leftover steaks (2023)

FAQs

What is the best way to cook leftover steak? ›

Sliced thin, cold steak makes a fantastic topping on a salad. Or, put it between bread, along with tomato, mayo, and lettuce for a steak sandwich. It's also delicious simply sliced and eaten cold or room temperature along with yesterday's reheated sides.

Drizzle your meat with some leftover steak juices (or whatever your preferred steak sauce of choice may be). Cover the steak with a microwave-safe lid or plastic wrap. Microwave the steak on low to medium power in 30-second increments until your steak reaches desired temperature.

So, we're going to up your knowledge level even further with a few dishes oriented around steak that go beyond the classic grilling. Fajitas, tacos, quesadillas, and chilaquiles are excellent, classic Mexican dishes that steak is easy to add to (and preferable).

When stewed meat cools down, the gelatinous material from the collagen and tendons etc. that has melted during cooking begins to gel in and around the chunks of meat. As this happens, the various flavor compounds get trapped in the gel.

Preheat your oven to 275° and place a wire cooling rack over a large baking sheet. Cooking your steak on a cooling rack allows the hot air to circulate around the steak, giving you more evenly heated meat. Place your steak on top of the cooling rack and warm in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 110°.

How Long Is Leftover Steak Good For? Leftover steak is safe to eat after three to four days in the refrigerator—any longer and you could catch a foodborne illness from bacteria growth.

How long is raw steak good in the fridge? Store raw steak in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. However, pay attention to sell-by dates and the expiration date. Steak may remain fresh for a few days past their sell-by dates, but you should freeze steak before its expiration date if you won't use it by that date.

Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, steaks and chops may be kept 3 to 5 days. After cooking, meat, poultry and seafood can be safely stored in the refrigerator 3 to 4 days.

To heat up your steak on the stove, add a few tablespoons of beef broth to a nonstick skillet. Place the pan on medium heat. Once the broth starts to bubble, add the meat. Flip the steak after a couple of minutes to help it heat evenly.

What other ways can you cook steak? ›

PREHEAT oven to 250F. Place steaks on a rack over a baking sheet. Rub with 1 tbsp oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast steaks in the centre of the oven for about 20 minutes for medium-rare.

Choices like coconut oil and avocado oil do tend to have a distinctive flavor that could affect the final taste of your meat, but they are each a great choice for high heat cooking. Olive oil and canola oil are more neutral flavors and tend to be more commonly used.

The longer you cook a steak, the tougher and less flavourful it becomes. Keep it light and the taste and texture is enhanced because the fat is rendered and juice in the meat is retained. The combination of tenderness, meat juice and those delicate flavours work best in lightly cooked steak.

Most chefs regard beef cooked to medium-rare — with an internal temperature of 130-135F (55-57C) — as the best way to bring out flavour and retain moisture in tender cuts such as rib eye and top loin. Unlike rare, medium-rare allows time for the outside to caramelise and develop a sear.

Cooking steak to intentionally serve later at a cooler temperature is a nearly foolproof way to enjoy the beef's full spectrum of flavors. It also wards off dryness. Even if I think I've rested a steak enough to ensure the juices don't get lost when I slice it, cutting is a toss-up.

Grab a shallow baking sheet and place a steady cooling rack inside of it. This will help distribute heat evenly around the entire steak without you having to flip it. Put the steak on the rack and pop it in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches about 100-110°F.

One of the best methods for reheating a steak is by heating it in the oven for 20-30 minutes on low heat around 100 degrees. Then, sear the steak in a hot skillet with a little oil or butter for just 1-2 minutes on each side.

Information. Yes, it is safe to freeze cooked meat or poultry. After cooking raw foods that were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion.

If there is a slimy texture or a slippery film on your leftover steak then don't eat it. Even if the smell and the appearance are not obvious, this film is a sure sign that bacteria are growing on the food and the meat's quality is ruined. Simply discard the spoiled meat.

Is it safe to eat week old steak? ›

Raw steak lasts anywhere from 2 days to two weeks in your refrigerator. It all depends on its packaging. From the butcher counter, steaks are wrapped in plastic wrap and butcher paper, and then sealed with a rubber band or tape.

USDA recommends using cooked beef within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within 3 to 4 days.

This darkening is due to oxidation, the chemical changes in myoglobin due to the oxygen content. This is a normal change during refrigerator storage. Beef that has turned brown during extended storage may be spoiled, have an off-odor, and be tacky to the touch and should not be used.

According to My Chicago Steak, this form of graying, a process known as metmyoglobin, occurs when a protein in the muscle tissue called myoglobin interacts with oxygen. "Myoglobin's chemical compound contains iron, which after a few days of oxygen exposure, will oxidize," the company explains.

If you open a package of ground beef and find the interior meat looks gray, it's likely because the meat hasn't been exposed to oxygen. In that case, the meat is still safe to eat, provided it doesn't have any other indicators of spoilage (read more on that below).

The fart or eggy smell is the odor caused by the bacterial population on the raw meat.

If a perishable food (such as meat or poultry) has been left out at room temperature overnight (more than two hours) it may not be safe. Discard it, even though it may look and smell good.

Cola's high acidity and caramel flavor makes a surprisingly good meat tenderizer. Cola typically has a pH of about 2.7—for comparison, lemon juice has a pH of 2—making it acidic enough to break down some proteins without dissolving your meat.

Rest the meat

When steak cooks, the muscle fibers tighten. If you cut into those tight muscle fibers as soon as it's off the heat, all the juices pour out. That's why resting meat for 5-10 minutes is the secret for preparing a juicy and tender steak.

Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Aging is done by letting the meat sit (in very controlled conditions) for several days or weeks.

How do you keep meat moist when reheating? ›

Don't turn your oven on full blast, though. Instead, reheat food on a lower heat (around 200-250 degrees) and add a dash of oil or butter to keep the meat moist. This method normally takes 10-15 minutes.

The best way to cook a perfect steak is to pan-sear it and finish it in the oven. It's a great and super easy method. We're partial to a dry-aged top sirloin that's at least 1 1/2 inches thick, but you could cook a perfect steak with pretty much any cut. Thinner steaks don't need to be transferred to the oven.

While medium-rare and well-done steaks are America's most popular selections, men (26%) are more likely than women (20%) to choose a medium-rare steak. In contrast, women are statistically more likely to request a well-done steak (29%), compared to two in ten (20%) men.

According to Taste of Home, air fryers are great at cooking steak because of how consistently they heat food. While steaks traditionally get their crisp exterior being seared on a grill or pan, steaks made in the air fryer achieve the same results through the circulation of hot air.

Most big steakhouses broil their steaks, using overhead, infrared broilers that produce incredibly hot temperatures to cook steaks. Don't worry though, you don't need to go out and invest in one, but the principle is the same. You need incredibly high heat in direct contact with the meat.

It all comes down to temperature. The longer you cook a steak, the hotter it gets, and as it heats up, the muscle fibers get firm and all the juices cook out. The result is that the interior of a well-done steak is a uniform gray color, and the steak itself is tough, chewy, flavorless, and dry.

Steak and olive oil

Like butter, olive oil has a distinct taste and low smoke point. It also offers immense moisture and character depending on what kind of oil you buy. Even modestly priced olive oil can give flavour to a steak and if you like that flavour, this is definitely the way to go.

When cooking steak you need to oil the steak itself to ensure that perfect outer texture once cooked, and of course so it doesn't stick. Place your steak on a plate and drizzle the steak with oil on both sides, massaging in a little to cover all areas.

Do steakhouses put butter on steak? ›

Many steakhouses add flavor to a steak by finishing it with butter. Whether it's a small ladle of clarified butter on top or a basting of butter in a cast-iron pan, a little bit of butter makes a steak taste and look better (via Taste of Home). Another steakhouse tip is to rub a bit of garlic over a cooked steak.

Yes! As long as you've cooked your steak to a safe temperature in the first place (a minimum of 145 degrees according to the USDA) and stored it properly, reheated steak is perfectly safe and delicious!

Steak Reheating Method: Stovetop Sear

You simply warm some oil in a skillet, add the steak, and sear it, flipping every minute, until cooked to your liking. Results: The straightforwardness of this method makes it immediately appealing, and we do think it's one of the best ways to reheat sliced steak.

Can you eat steak without reheating it? Eating steak that is cold, or even room temperature, is perfectly safe, as long as it hasn't been in what the USDA calls the "danger zone" (the temperature range between 40°F and 140°F) for longer than 2 hours. (This is true of most any food.)

USDA recommends using cooked beef within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within 3 to 4 days.

The air fryer is a small convection oven that uses hot air to circulate around food, cooking it evenly and quickly. This is the perfect way to reheat steak because it will retain its juices and flavor, and won't dry out like it would if you were to reheat it in the microwave or in the oven.

Doing so will keep the steak moist and help it taste even better. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and microwave it on medium power for 30-second periods (max power will dry out your steak in no time), turning the steak in between. You should only need to do this a few times for the perfect, deliciously tender result.

Let your pan start to warm on the burner over medium-to-high heat, and once it's warm (but before it's hot), add enough oil to well coat the bottom of the pan. You want to keep your protein from sticking, but not add so much fat that it ends up frying.

Add 1T butter and 2T olive or canola oil to the pan and watch for the butter starting to brown. Place the steak into the pan and reduce the heat to medium, cooking the first side for 4-6 minutes. Turn the steak gently with tongs, then tilt the pan and baste the cooked side with pan juices.

Add a couple tablespoons of neutral oil. Sear the steaks on the first side for about a minute. Flip the steaks and add a big knob of butter to the skillet. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook the steaks, continuously basting with the melted butter, until seared on the second side, about 45 seconds.