The Ingredient Pairings That Make Cheaper Steaks Taste Gourmet

Sometimes it's not difficult to taste the difference between cheap versus expensive cuts of steak. But if you've bought a cheaper cut and want to make the most of it, there are several ways you can elevate the flavor and make it taste much more luxurious.

It's often a good idea to use a marinade to add extra flavor and tenderness to tougher cuts of beef. Allowing the meat to rest after cooking — Anthony Bourdain's tip for perfect steak — is crucial for the juiciest possible result every time. And cutting across the grain will give a more tender texture when it comes to serving. But beyond these culinary techniques, you can also incorporate specific ingredients to make a steak seem much more special.

From adding smokiness to your salt mixture for a tasty crust to amping up the richness with butter-heavy sauces, it's easy enough to enhance the savory flavor of any steak with a few easy steps. And you don't need to spend a fortune on hard-to-find ingredients, either — we're talking simple seasonings, everyday oils, and fridge-friendly dairy favorites, not foie gras or caviar. So why not give them a go next time you buy a budget-friendly cut of steak and discover the difference they can make?

While coarse salt is the best type of salt to season steak with, there's another type worth adding to the mix: smoked salt. It's undeniable that grilling steak gives it a superior smoky flavor and char, but you often get the most even crust from pan-searing. Well, smoked salt allows you to indulge in that delicious smoky barbecue flavor — all without needing the actual grill, making it a great option no matter how you're cooking the beef.

A trick that's used by some steak restaurants, one great way to infuse the meat with a beautifully smoky taste is to mix some smoked salt in with your regular salt and black pepper and use it to season the outside of the steak before cooking it for an unrivaled depth of savory flavor. Alternatively, apply a sprinkling of the smoked salt once the steak is cooked before serving it.

Egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and salt are simple enough ingredients by themselves, but combine them with a bit of skill and a lot of love, and you can create a silky-smooth hollandaise — a buttery sauce that will give any steak an upgrade. Its buttery richness works especially well with leaner cuts such as flat iron.

For even more flavor, try béarnaise, which is different from hollandaise since it also includes wine vinegar and fragrant herbs such as anise-like tarragon. The tangier and more aromatic result makes this a creamy sauce that can easily stand up to fuller-flavored cheaper cuts like skirt or hanger. it also makes a fantastic dipping sauce for french fries and is delicious when drizzled on roasted vegetables.

A great way to boost your beef is to drizzle a flavorful oil over it before you serve the steak. Herb oils are a classic choice — pine-like, earthy rosemary works especially well, but you could also try thyme, which is another great pairing with the meat, or basil oil to add a light, fresh finish to more robustly flavored cuts.

To keep things even simpler, just go for a drizzle of good quality virgin olive oil, which adds a rich flavor and luxurious mouthfeel to each bite of beef. Toasted sesame oil brings a warm nuttiness, or try something much punchier like chili oil or heady, pungent truffle oil if you like the taste. Think about what else you're serving with your steak and pick an oil from there. For example, if you're dining on green curry, coconut oil might make more sense than olive.

Blue cheese might sound like an unlikely ingredient to serve with meat, but it's the funky cheese Bobby Flay tops his steaks with for a bold flavor and a touch of sharpness. The simplest way to try the combo is simply to scatter some crumbles of the cheese over the top of the steak for the final couple of minutes of cooking — but there are other great ways to fuse the flavors, too.

You can make a blue cheese crust for your meat by mixing the dairy with panko breadcrumbs and broiling it until crisp for a thrilling contrast of tastes and textures. Or try adding blue cheese, such as Roquefort, to a creamy, brandy-spiked sauce for an elegant way to serve cheaper cuts of steak. Make a compound blue cheese butter by working it into your favorite brand of butter and topping the steak with a hearty slice right before serving. The salty, tangy flavor of the cheese goes especially well with cuts such as robustly beefy flat iron.

Don't limit yourself to blue cheese; butter makes most dishes feel richer and more decadent, and steak is no exception. To really take it to the next level, use a compound butter that's packed with flavor. It's not as difficult as you might imagine to make a compound butter — it's just a case of mixing your choice of ingredients with softened butter — but it will enhance both the taste and texture as it melts into the hot meat.

Garlic and fresh herbs such as grassy parsley add rich savoriness and freshness that complements both the butter and the beef. Or go for something a little more adventurous: Blend umami-rich miso and bright lemon zest with warm spices for a deliciously fragrant butter — as an added bonus, the lemon makes steak scientifically more delicious because of the way it triggers our taste buds. Or mix butter with chili paste, garlic, honey, and salt for a sweet, spicy, and savory dressing ideal for grilled flank. Serve the butter chilled and let it melt slowly over the hot steak for the ultimate bite.