Perfect, Easy Ribeye Steak that’s butter basted in a cast iron skillet with Rosemary. An error-proof medium rare in 20 minutes including rest time.
Ribeye Steak Recipe
The Perfect Ribeye Steak without a grill is made in a cast iron skillet and basted with herbs and butter. Yep, I said in a pan! Plus if you don’t want to use herbs you can even just add salt and pepper and use my A1 Steak Sauce (Copycat) recipe.
Cast Iron Skillet Ribeye Steak only takes five minutes to actually cook. It will actually take you longer to get the oven preheated than to cook your meal.
What are the benefits of cooking in a cast iron skillet? The searing in butter is, let’s face it, pure flavor. Getting a good sear on the steak is essential to the flavor, then the oven finished the cooking process on an even heat.
Why not cook the steak completely in the skillet? If you were to cook the steak through in your skillet the direct heat would overcook the outside of the steak to the point of toughness. This would result in a less tender crust on the steak as well as it being much drier.
Look at the cook on the steak below:
This red center runs through most of the steak because of the even cooking of the indirect oven heat finishing off the cooking.
Why use a cast iron skillet? Cast Iron Skillets are great conductors of high, even heat. If using a thin skillet you could scorch the pan or the steak. They also are nonstick when heated properly so the steak won’t stick to the pan. Finally, they’re perfect for finishing a dish in the oven.
Some tips/tricks for picking the right Ribeye Steak:
- Ask your butcher for a cut from the center of the rack if possible. The bigger the deckle the more flavorful.
- The deckle is the chef’s cut of the whole cow. It is the rib cap that wraps around the top of the steak, over the center eye of the steak.
- Ask for a thick, 1 1/2 inch cut of steak. You want a good thick cut to give you time to sear your steak and finish in the oven without overcooking.
- Season with a Kosher salt or sea salt and coarse ground black pepper. Using table salt and black pepper is just not going to give you the same flavor and will actually taste too salty.
- Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Cut the meat against the grain as you can see in the picture above.
Looking for more beef recipes?
- Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Flank Steak
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef (Sliceable!)
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Mongolian Beef
Tools Used in the making of this Ribeye Steak:
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Pig Tail Flipper: I use this to flip the chicken without damaging the skin and its super easy. I use this tool EVERY time I cook something that requires flipping, it is amazing.
Perfect, Easy Ribeye Steak
Perfect, Easy Ribeye Steak that is butter basted in a cast iron skillet in the oven with Rosemary. A Perfect error-proof medium rare in 20 minutes including resting time.
Ingredients
- 2 16- ounce ribeye steaks 1 1/2 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 3 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Add the butter to a cast iron skillet on high heat.
- Add the Kosher salt and black pepper to the steaks and add to the pan.
Sear the steaks on high heat for 30 seconds on each side.
- Add the rosemary sprigs to the top of the steaks and spoon over the butter onto the steaks.
Put the pan with the steaks into the oven for 4-5 minutes (if you'd like you can flip them halfway through - I don't and you can see how mine have cooked through.)
Rest for five minutes before serving.
This turned out perfect. It was so good, my wife wanted seconds, so I let her eat mine.
Thank you so much! Do you heat the skillet up in the oven first or just on the stove over high heat? If the latter, do you put the butter in when the skillet is room temp or when it’s heated?
Thank you again!!
You’ll want to add the butter to the cast iron skillet and then get it to high heat. No need to heat up the skillet in the oven prior. Hope this helps! Enjoy.
What would be the cooking times for a med well steak
Probably 8-10 minutes.
Well I have spent WAY too much time tonight looking at various options to cook my Ribeyes tonight — and this is the winner!! Love the comments. My steaks are 2″ thick though … so will give it a little more time all around. But can’t wait to try!! Will post after the fact unless you have a suggestion on thickness of steaks.
So glad you found this recipe, Deb.
I didn’t let my steaks get to room temperature, but left them searing 2 minutes on the first side, 45 seconds on the other side. Then followed instructions for oven. Best steak I’ve ever made. Highly recommend (and happy to use my cast iron skillet for yet another recipe)
Absolutely fantastic!!!! I am new to cast iron and this recipe was absolutely easy and yummy !!!! I had no smoke in my kitchen !!!! And the rib eyes were delicious!!!!! TYVVVVVM!!!!!!
So my husband said that this was the best steak I’ve ever made. It really was perfect. Thank you.