You’ve chosen the perfect steak at the store. You’ve marinated the steak for just the right amount of time, you’ve cooked it to perfection, and now you’re resting your meat. But what to do with those steak drippings in the pan? Don’t throw them out! You can create a delicious one-pan steak sauce with those flavor-packed juices, making an excellent accompaniment for your meat. “The result is a rich, aromatic sauce that complements the steak perfectly,” shared Laura Ascher, recipe developer and owner of Cast Iron Skillet Cooking.
Food Republic spoke with Ascher for some expert insight into utilizing steak drippings rather than discarding them. She offered her go-to approach for turning the leftover juices into a scrumptious topping for your finished meat. “To make a flavorful sauce with steak drippings, I start by adding a bit of butter and beef broth to the pan and scrape the pan with a spatula until all the brown bits come free,” she explained.
This technique is known as deglazing a pan, and it simply means adding a liquid to break up and loosen the bits that become stuck while your steak cooks. A great deal of flavor is contained in these cooked food particles, which will significantly elevate your dish if utilized in the right way. This is the first step for transforming your meat drippings and other pan remnants into a tasty sauce.
Deglaze your steak pan to create a rich sauce
In addition to beef broth, wine or red wine vinegar are “excellent choices for deglazing a pan and creating a well-balanced sauce,” Laura Ascher explained. Alternatively, you can use orange juice to deglaze. Just add your chosen liquid to the hot pan once you’ve cooked your steak. “You’ll want to scrape up all those delicious bits (fond) that have stuck to the bottom,” said Ascher. “As the liquid hits the pan, it’ll bubble up and help lift those flavorful drippings. Let the liquid reduce a bit to concentrate the flavors, and then you’re ready to build your sauce!”
Once the juices have reduced to a thicker consistency, you can simply season them to taste – Ascher recommends adding minced garlic and fresh rosemary — and use them as-is to top your steak. “If you want to add a little dry wine, it works, but it can change the flavor profile, so I use it sparingly,” she instructed.
You can also employ other techniques to finish the sauce, such as thickening with flour or cornstarch. Another approach is a French method called monter au beurre, which means “mount with butter.” This is executed by incorporating cold butter into your pan after deglazing it (remove the pan from the heat first). When cold butter is added to the hot juices, the pan’s contents begin to thicken and emulsify. Swirl or lightly whisk the butter into the juices until the sauce solidifies a bit and develops a nice sheen. The max ratio to shoot for is ¼ ounce of butter per cup of liquid.
