Name: Easy Steak Marinade
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 133 min
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoon olive oil; 2 Tablespoon soy sauce; 2 Tablespoon lemon juice; 1 Tablespoon brown sugar; 1 clove garlic (crushed); 500 grams rump steak (approximately 2 centimetres thick)

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This five-ingredient easy steak marinade is my go-to for busy weeknight dinners. It turns any cut of steak into something truly yum a kid-friendly meal that your family will gobble up! Perfect for families looking for a quick, delicious dinner that doesn’t require a lot of time or effort.

Crockpot baked potatoes and garlic green beans are the perfect sides to steak on a busy weeknight.

Table of Contents

Marinated steak on a big plate sliced into thin pieces showing a medium cook inside held up to camera, dinner plate with steak, asparagus and potatoes on plate below.

Ingredients you will need

Ingredients for steak marinade on bench top with text overlay.

Ingredient Notes, Substitutes, & Alternatives

I love to provide swaps so you can make this marinade with whatever you have in your pantry but please note if you are using them the flavor profile of the dish may be a little different. Here's what you can use;

Soy sauce: Swap with tamari, gluten-free soy sauce, or coconut aminos if needed.
Olive oil: Any oil works here—just grab whatever’s in your kitchen, like avocado or rice bran oil. I would skip extra virgin olive oil as you are going to be cooking at a high heat the flavor that EVO adds to a salad dressing or sauce will be lost during the cooking process.
Brown sugar: I love to add a little sweetness to my marinade, it also caramelizes beautifully on the outside of the steak. You could use a little white granulated sugar, maple syrup, honey, or coconut sugar if you prefer.
Lemon juice: The lemon juice is the acid in the marinade, it helps to tenderize the meat. You can use other citrus juices or vinegar such as balsamic vinegar. If you are using another acid it will change the flavor of the marinde, I find lemon juice is mild and enjoyed by my kids.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is best, but jarred or garlic powder works too.
Steak: This recipe works well with non-prime cuts of beef steak. I usually use rump, steak .flank steak, or skirt steak when I am using this steak marinade, and cook prime cuts such as eye fillet, sirloin, ribeye, and porterhouse without a marinade. To make things a little confusing, I believe the cut I call rump my American readers might call sirloin, and then they call my sirloin, short loin. I also use this easy beef steak marinade with lamb steak and pork chops,

Steak Marinade Step-By-Step

Below are illustrated step-by-step instructions to make my Easy Steak Marinade recipe, if you prefer just the written instructions then head straight to the printable recipe card below.

MARINADE

Step one: Measure the steak marinade ingredients into a small bowl or mixing jug, whisk to gather with a fork.

Olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar garlic being stirred with a fork on bench top.

Step two: Place your steak in a shallow dish and pour half of the marinade over it. Flip the steak over and pour the rest of the marinade on top. Let it marinate for 2-4 hours or overnight.

STEAK

Step One: Preheat your BBQ to a medium-high heat. Grill the marinaded steak with the lid closed for 4 minutes on each side.

A piece of marinated steak being taken off a ribbed cast iron pan with metal spatula on stove top.

Step Three: Rest for 5 minutes. Slice across the grain.

Dinner plate with marinated steak, potatoes and asparagus held up to camera. A big plate of marinated steak sliced into thin pieces showing a medium cook inside, bowl of broccolini and asparagus in a bowl and seasons potatoes in bowl on benchtop.

Enjoy!

Tips & Tricks

Here is how you can make this Easy Steak Marinade perfectly every time!

I think the longer you can marinate the steak the better. I find marinating the meat overnight, flipping in the morning then cooking in the evening is perfect for flavor and quick weeknight dinner prep!
I generally use a bbq when cooking steak, but as you can see in these images sometimes the weather doesn't play ball and it's nicer to cook your steak inside. If this is the case you can use a grill pan on your stovetop.
If your steak sticks when you try to flip this can mean you haven't left it quite long enough to cook. Just be patient when flipping the steak—it will naturally release from the pan once it’s cooked on that side.
After resting and slicing the meat make sure you keep any of the delicious juices, Pour these over the sliced steak this will give it so much flavor, make it moist and saucy, and most importantly it will taste irresistible to kids.

Hand holding a small ramekin of marinate being poured onto steak on a big plate sliced into thin pieces showing a medium cook inside, asparagus and broccolini in a bowl and seasoned potatoes on a bowl on bench top.

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Steak Cooking Times

The cook times for steak depend on how you like your steak done. These cook times are based on a steak that is 1 inch thick (22mm).

Rare: 2 minutes per side, internal temp 120°F | 50°C
Medium Rare: 3 minutes per side, internal temp 130°F | 54°C
Medium: 4 minutes per side, internal temp 140°F | 60°C
Medium Well to Well done: 5 minutes per side 150°F-160°F | 65°C- 70°C

How To Make This Recipe Suitable For Baby-Led-Weaning

Strips of steak can be perfect for babies to suck and gum when starting complementary foods. They provide a valuable source of iron.
While this marinade isn’t ideal for first foods (due to soy sauce and sugar), you can easily adjust it by using low-sodium soy sauce and reducing the sugar.

Baby silicone plate with two slices of marinated steak a halved potato and piece of asparagus held up to camera. A big plate of marinated steak sliced into thin pieces showing a medium cook inside, bowl of broccolini and asparagus in a bowl and seasons potatoes in bowl on benchtop.

Marinated steak on a big plate sliced into thin pieces showing a medium cook inside, asparagus and broccolini in a bowl and seasoned potatoes on a bowl on bench top.

If you tried this Easy Steak Marinade Recipe please leave a star rating and let me know how you go in the comments below. I love hearing from you!