Add One Staple Condiment To Your Steak Sauce For A Spicy Upgrade

From buttery béarnaise to punchy peppercorn, there are so many sauces that can boost a steak meal — and sweet, salty, and tangy steak sauce is a classic. But if you want to spice up the dish, it's well worth adding sriracha. The hot Thai sauce is bursting with tasty ingredients such as chili peppers, garlic, and vinegar, as well as containing sugar and salt for a sweet-savory balance. The flavor both complements and enhances steak sauce, which often includes the likes of ketchup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning.

You don't need much of the bright red hot sauce to add a fiery tang to steak sauce. Just add a tablespoon of sriracha to a cup of ketchup along with a couple tablespoons of Worcestershire if you're making your own, or mix it into store-bought steak sauce.Add another teaspoon of sriracha if you want more heat. Brush the sauce onto the steak before cooking, and keep some back to serve alongside. If you can't get hold of the original, try an alternative to sriracha such as harissa paste or peri peri sauce.

For a different flavor profile, combine sriracha with other styles of steak sauce. Add ¼ cup of the tangy condiment to a cup of barbecue sauce to make a deliciously hot and smoky baste for steak. Sriracha also works beautifully in a creamy butter sauce to spoon over cooked beef; add some white miso for extra umami depth.

You can boost savory steak with spicy sriracha in many ways beyond sauces. Try marinating a New York strip — the best cut of steak to grill — in a mixture of the hot sauce and soy sauce, honey, grapeseed oil, cumin, and salt. The result is richly flavored meat with sweet, salty, and spicy notes, as well as a gorgeously tender texture. Add some lime juice and paprika for a burst of brightness and smoky depth.

Rachael Ray likes to use sriracha to boost the dressing for a succulent steak salad (per her website). Mix it with garlic, vinegar, mirin or sherry, soy sauce, and olive oil, and drizzle it over the sliced meat and a selection of crunchy vegetables. Alternatively, you could use the hot, tangy sauce to amp up regular mayo for a creamy — yet spicy — condiment on a steak sandwich. Just combine 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise with a tablespoon of sriracha paste; it also works well as a sauce for some roasted potatoes to accompany a steak dinner.

If you prefer your steak stir-fried, try adding sriracha to your favorite sauce — or make your own by combining it with ginger, soy sauce, and honey. Or just drizzle the bottled hot sauce as it is over steak tacos with tart lime juice and cool sour cream (or Greek yogurt). It may be simple, but the fusion of meat and heat tastes sensational.