Homemade Steak Seasoning

My steak seasoning blend is a quick and versatile homemade spice blend that adds so much great flavor to any steak. It's perfect for grilled or pan seared steak, beef roasts, and burgers. Plus, this spice mix is just as flavorful when used to season pork and chicken!

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🤔 What Makes A Great Steak Seasoning?
• 🔪 How To Make Steak Seasoning
• 🥡 Storing
• 🧂 How To Season A Steak
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Comments & Reviews

I love bringing home a fabulous steak to cook up, and when I do, I want it to be perfect. One of the keys to really bringing out the best flavors in a steak cut of any quality is to use an amazing steak seasoning!

This perfectly balanced blend is just one of my many homemade spice blends and seasoning mixes to save you a trip to the store. Best of all, they also mean that you know EXACTLY what is in your seasoning.

🥘 Ingredients

Grab these pantry staple spices and mix them up for a handy, versatile beef seasoning blend. See below for notes on salt and more substitutes.

• Black Pepper (freshly ground) - 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper.
• Kosher Salt - 2 tablespoons Kosher salt - use less for other types of salt.
• Onion Powder - 1 tablespoon onion powder.
• Garlic Powder - 1 tablespoon garlic powder.
• Smoked Paprika - 1 tablespoon smoked or regular paprika.
• Dried Thyme - 2 teaspoons dried thyme.
• Dried Rosemary - 1 teaspoon dried rosemary.

If you're pan-searing your steak rather than grilling, you can also add fresh herbs and some whole garlic cloves to your pan to enhance the steak flavor even more!

🤔 What Makes A Great Steak Seasoning?

A good quality steak really only needs salt and pepper, but the addition of a few other herbs and spices can bring out the best flavors of your steak.

• The best steak seasoning always has salt and pepper as the core ingredients. I suggest coarse ground pepper (freshly ground) and either Kosher salt, Himalayan salt, Redmond salt, or table salt, depending on what you have on hand.

The other herbs are used in just the right amount so as not to overpower or take away from that wonderful steak flavor. Onion powder and garlic powder just go with steak.

If you like to pan sear your steaks with fresh garlic cloves, you can omit the garlic powder or drastically reduce the quantity.

The additional dried herbs, rosemary and thyme, are also herbs that are a classic pairing with steak. Either fresh or dried, both herbs highlight the steak flavors and add a lightness that works well with all of the savory elements in the seasoning.

• Paprika is another one of the savory elements you want to add to the spice blend. Not only does paprika add flavor, but it also helps the steak(s) to caramelize for a superbly colored steak.

I use smoked paprika. It's a spice rack essential for me and has become readily available at most grocery stores in recent years. You can use smoked or regular paprika in this steak seasoning blend.

🔪 How To Make Steak Seasoning

Making your steak seasoning blend is really easy. It's just a matter of combining your desired spices and dried herbs.

So, the first thing to consider is how much steak seasoning you want to make at this time. Scale the recipe up or down as needed.

1. Gather ingredients (freshly ground pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried rosemary and dried thyme) and an appropriate storage container. Something as simple as a ziploc plastic storage bag works, or a saved spice container that has been washed and dried.
   *I like my little apothecary bottles, but they were ordered online.
2. Use a bowl and combine the ingredients as you measure them out. Season your steak(s) and store whatever steak seasoning is unused.

🥡 Storing

Whatever you choose to use for storing your steak seasoning mix, it will last longer if stored in your cabinets, away from the light. I say the seasoning blend is best used within the first 3 to 6 months, but really, it will last longer if stored appropriately.

🧂 How To Season A Steak

• Start with a room-temperature steak, if possible. I like to allow about 1 hour for my steaks to come to room temperature. But at a minimum, try to set your steaks out for at least 30 minutes.
• The steaks will cook faster and more evenly if you are not having to heat up a cold steak.
• Don't season your steak until you're almost ready to cook it! A steak should be salted and cooked within three minutes of seasoning with salt, preferably immediately after adding the seasoning (containing salt).
• The best way to season steak is to start with less seasoning and add more as needed. It's difficult to remove seasoning if you've been a bit heavy-handed and overdone it!
• Sprinkle seasoning over both sides of the steak, and use your fingertips to apply pressure (but not rub) to the seasoning so it adheres to the steak surface. You can also place some seasoning on your tray or plate, then coat the sides of the steak. This is a wonderful addition to your fatty sections left on the sides of a steak, too!
• Once seasoned, transfer to a heated grill or pan and cook to your desired level of doneness.

📖 Recipe Card