These tender and savory garlic butter steak bites are seared and then simmered in a deliciously rich brown gravy. With only a 10 minutes to prep, these steak bites are restaurant quality and are perfect for any weeknight meal!
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Why This Recipe Is Better Than the Rest:
✅ Tender & Flavor-Packed: Every bite is buttery, juicy, and packed with so much savory flavor!
✅ The Garlic Butter Gravy: Don't waste a drop! The rich, creamy gravy takes these steak bites to another level.
✅ It's a 30-Minute Dinner: I use simple ingredients and an easy cooking method means dinner is ready fast!
✅ Restaurant-Worthy at Home: Quality steak, fresh garlic, butter, and cream create an indulgent meal without the restaurant price tag.
Everything You Need to Know Before Making This Recipe:
1. Use a Quality Cut of Steak: For the most tender and flavorful steak bites, choose a well-marbled, high-quality cut, like New York Strip, ribeye, or T-Bone. A Prime steak will give you the best results, but Choice and Select cuts will also work. Look for quality steaks at your local butcher or at Costco.
2. Start With a HOT Pan: Make sure your pan is fully heated before adding the steak. When the cold steak hits a hot pan, it immediately begins to sear, helping create a flavorful crust while keeping the inside juicy.
3. Don't Crowd the Pan: Give each piece of steak plenty of room to sear. If the pan is overcrowded, the steak will steam instead of sear. For the best results here, cook the steak bites in batches.
4. Letting the Steak Sear = FLAVOR : Once the steak hits the hot pan, don't move it around. Let it cook undisturbed until it's ready to flip so it has time to develop a flavorful sear.
5. Adjust the "Spicy" to Your Preference: Cayenne pepper adds a subtle kick to the seasoning. Leave it out or reduce the amount for a milder flavor, or swap it for chipotle powder if you want a deeper, smoky flavor.
6. Add Mushrooms for Even More Flavor: Mushrooms are a delicious addition to these garlic butter steak bites. You can sauté about 1 cup of sliced mushrooms for 3–4 minutes, then remove them from the pan while you cook the steak. Add them back when you make the butter and cream gravy.
7. Don't Skip the Butter, Garlic, or Cream: These ingredients are key to creating the rich, savory gravy that makes this recipe so delicious. They work together to turn the flavorful pan drippings into a sauce that's perfect over mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles.
8. Leftovers & Reheat: Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, place the steak bites in a covered pan over medium-low heat and warm gently until heated through.
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
- Steak - the star of this dish with its hearty, rich flavor and tender texture from quick-searing on medium-high heat.
- Olive oil - works great, but if you have a flavored or infused olive oil, like garlic or rosemary, definitely use it because it adds more flavor!
- Butter - use unsalted butter. And make sure you use a good quality butter, like Kerrigold, because it adds a lot of richness to the gravy.
- Heavy whipping cream - this is for making the sauce. It creates a creamy, velvety-textured sauce when you combine it with the butter and steak drippings.
- Garlic - skip the jar version and always use fresh garlic cloves. It helps give the steak a bold, pungent flavor.
- Garlic powder, Onion powder, and Chili powder - these spices enhance the flavor when paired with the fresh garlic for a deeper aromatic flavor.
- Cajun seasoning - adds a spicy and zesty kick to the steak bites.
- Cayenne pepper - This is an optional ingredient, but if adds a subtle spicy flavor in every bite.
- Salt - to taste and it also really helps balance the overall flavors of the other spices.
- Brown sugar - Dark brown sugar works best for a touch of sweetness and a caramelizing effect as the steak bites brown.
recipe card
👩🏼🍳 Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients, exact measurements, and step-by-step instructions.
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🔪 How to Make Garlic Butter Steak Bites: Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, Cajun seasoning, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder.
Step 2
Using a spoon, mix well until well combined.
Step 3
Using a sharp knife, cut the steak into bite-size pieces, around 1.5-2 inches thick.
Step 4
Add the steak cubes to the seasoning bowl and toss well to coat. Set aside.
Step 5
In a large skillet, heat ¼ cup of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Step 6
In batches, add the seasoned steak bites and sear for 3 to 4 minutes per side, leaving the steak alone as it sears. Remove the steak bites and set aside.
Pro tip
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tip: If the skillet gets too dry and becomes smoky between cooking the batches of steak bites, just add in 1-2 Tablespoons more olive oil.
Step 7
Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 Tablespoon of butter to the skillet to melt. Slowly pour the heavy whipping cream into the pan.
Step 8
Slowly whisk until the sauce becomes slightly thick.
Step 9
Slowly whisk until the sauce Add the steak bites to the skillet and stir well to coat them in the sauce.
And now you are ready to enjoy a restaurant quality steak dinner in the comfort of your own home! There's no need to let the steak rest once done, so serve these steak bites and the creamy beef sauce over a bed of mashed potatoes, rice. or egg noodles!
Oh - and you'll want something to sop up the sauce with so try pairing this with my homemade ciabatta rolls or this peppery cheese bread! I can guarantee, you will enjoy every last drop of this savory, indulgent meal!
🙋🏼♀️ Questions I Get Asked About This Recipe
Butter only has a smoke point of 350°F so it burns too quickly when searing steak. When you sear your steak, you'll want to use olive oil or another oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil or canola oil, to lock in the juices without burning.
Use a heavy-bottomed pan that has good, even heat conduction, like cast iron, coated cast iron, or any heavy enamel pan.
Craving More Steak? Try These Recipes!
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Garlic Butter Steak Bites
Equipment
- Heavy Bottom Pan
- mixing bowls
- cutting board
- Butcher Knife
- measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 (4-6 ounce) New York Strip Steaks
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon butter, unsalted
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons chili powder, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Set aside.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the steak into bite-size pieces, around 1.5-2 inches thick.
- Add the cut steak to the bowl of seasoning and toss well to coat. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat ¼ cup of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the 6 cloves of chopped garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Working in batches, add the seasoned steak bites and sear for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the steak bites and set aside.Expert Tip: Add more olive oil if the skillet gets dry and smoky between batches.
- Reduce the heat down to medium and add 1 Tablespoon of butter to the skillet to melt. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream until slightly thick.
- Add the steak bites back to the skillet and stir well to coat in the sauce.
- Serve immediately over a bed of rice, egg noodles, or on their own.
Notes
- If you don't want to use New York Strip, try substituting a ribeye, Porterhouse, or a T-bone cut. For best results, use a high quality steak when making this recipe. While choice and select cuts work ok in this recipe, a prime quality steak will provide the best results.
- The cayenne pepper in the rub adds a bit of heat to this recipe. Feel free to leave it out or reduce it if you want the steak to be more on the milder side.
- Make sure the pan is HOT before adding your steak.
- Avoid crowding the pan. Cook the steak in batches so that each piece has space around it to cook evenly. Let the steak sit undisturbed until you're ready to flip it for the juiciest bites.
- Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat the garlic steak bites, add them to a pan and heat on medium-low, covered, until warmed through.
- If you don't want to use New York Strip, try substituting a ribeye, Porterhouse, or a T-bone cut. For best results, use a high quality steak when making this recipe. While choice and select cuts work ok in this recipe, a prime quality steak will provide the best results.
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