Simple and Delicious Sirloin Steak

This recipe from allrecipes.com is very easy and flavorful. Preparing this sirloin steak can be an enjoyable and positive cooking experience for college students. With the use of just a little bit of oil and a few seasonings, these steaks become juicy and mouthwatering. When I first learned about this recipe and how easy it is to make a delectable steak, I was astounded and fell in love with making steak. Surely, you’ll feel the same! Remember to be liberal with the seasonings as they bring out the flavor of the steak and make it much tastier! This meal makes for a great Sunday dinner or for any other fun occasion. Serve it with mashed potatoes and another vegetable of your choice for a wholesome and tasty meal.

Ingredient Cost Breakdown

Ingredient	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
Sirloin tender steak	4 (4 oz)	$10.74/16 oz	$10.74
Olive oil	8 fl oz	$2.88/17 fl oz	$1.36
Salt	To taste	–	–
Rosemary, dried	4 tsp	$3.97/1 oz	$0.68
Thyme, dried	4 tsp	$3.97/0.6 oz	$0.94
Total Recipe Cost			$13.72
Cost per serving (4 servings)			$3.43

Tips when Cooking Steaks

This recipe helps improve both food skills and confidence. I have found that making this recipe gave me confidence in making all steaks, not just this simple recipe. Because this recipe is subjective to the chef’s liking, it teaches the skills of having freedom and fun with a recipe while ensuring it is still prepared properly.

The fun part about making a steak is the freedom to choose how well-done it is. The different levels of doneness are rare, medium rare, medium, and well-done. From rare to well-done, the levels increase in brown color and decrease in tenderness. The more red and rare a steak is, the more tender it will be to the bite. Personally, I like my steaks right about medium-rare (shown below). It creates a perfect tenderness and juiciness without risking toughness. The easiest way to check for doneness aside from a thermometer is simply to cut a small slice down the middle of the steak. Usually, about a half inch slice at the thickest part of the steak is good enough to be able to peek into the inside of it and check for doneness. 

Another measure I use to determine medium-rarity is after the first side of the steak is done and the second side is cooking, if red juices start rising to the top of the slices that I’ve cut, then I know I only need another minute or two before the doneness is just right. With that being said, if your doneness preferences are more rare, then don’t cook quite as long after that point, and of course if your preferences are more well-done, then cook it for a little longer.

(Good brownness at initial flip)

Every steak and every cut of steak differs, and thus the tenderness and toughness of those steaks are also going to differ. In this case, we used a sirloin cut, which is one of the more tender cuts of steak. Cuts generally more tender than sirloin consist of ribeye, t-bone, top loin (New York strip), and tenderloin (like Filet Mignon).

Regardless of which cut is used, the way it is cooked and the way it is sliced both affect tenderness as well. It is often thought that meat should be cut with the grain, which is the direction of the muscle fibers. However, cutting against the grain in small pieces makes the steak have an even more tender texture. At the end of the day, regardless of what steak you’re making or how it is cooked, having a steak is going to make your day better, so quit reading this and get cooking!

Our Experience Cooking Steaks

The process of preparing these steaks was actually pretty seamless. It is easy and very straightforward to season and make. One part of cooking that can be forgotten about is the fact that cooking with hot oil can get messy. The oil is hot and starts to bubble when the steak is placed on it, thus it will splatter quite a bit. To avoid getting oil where it is unwanted, it is always good to make sure valuables are moved or put away and clothes are covered with an apron. Another good tip to use when placing food into hot oil is to lower it down facing away from yourself. This prevents splash back towards yourself when cooking.

Another potential obstacle with this recipe is finding the right meat. Every grocery store is different, and not all of them have the right cut of meat or a good price on meat. There area few ways in which that can be fixed: look up online or on store apps to see that they have the right cut of meat for the right price before making the trip there, or, if paying higher prices for the steaks aren’t as big of a deal, get any of the other cuts that are listed in the above paragraph.

All in all, making this recipe was really fun and delicious. It was as good, if not better, than I remember the first time or two I ever made it. Steaks always go great with potatoes and other vegetables as well, which is how many prefer to have it served. The only possible change I would make is using garlic salt instead of regular salt. Another asterisk I would add to the recipe is that any seasoning can be used; the ones listed are the simplest and provide a very unique flavor. Feel free to get creative and find seasonings that work for you and your unique taste preference.