If you want a fabulous juicy steak then you need to make this Whiskey Steak Marinade. This easy steak marinade is a combination of whiskey, garlic, lemon, and Worcestershire that brings out bold flavors in your juicy steaks. All your friends will rave about your steaks!
If you are an inspiring grill master then you defiantly will want to check out my other barbecue recipes. If you want to be king of the grill, you need to add this easy BBQ Coffee Dry Rub Recipe and Maple BBQ Dry Rub to your spice box. If you want to grill some seafood then try my Lemon Pepper Marinade. Need to sauce it up? Make a batch of Bacon and Whiskey BBQ Sauce or Spicy Coffee BBQ Sauce.
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😋 Why make this recipe
- It's all about the flavor! This recipe infuses mellow whiskey notes with earthy garlic and Worcestershire in each bite.
- When you follow this recipe's instructions, you are sure to get a tender juicy steak.
- This marinade can elevate a steak from good to wow, amazing.
🛒 Ingredients
Simple ingredients simmered together will elevate your steaks to a new level of flavor.
- whiskey: Choose your favorite brand
- brown sugar
- soy sauce: if you prefer you could use coconut aminos. If you are watching your salt intake then use low sodium soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- lemon juice: don't use the green bottle of lemon juice, freshly squeezed is best
- lemon zest: wash your lemon well before you grate the rind
- minced garlic: do not use the already minced garlic in a jar. Fresh minced garlic cloves are best
- black pepper: I like to use fresh course ground
- red pepper flakes: These are optional. If you like the taste of spicy heat add the red pepper chili flakes
🔪 Step by step instructions
- Peel garlic and finely chop garlic
- Wash the lemon and then zest with a fine grater.
3. Juice the lemon. I do this after I zest the lemon.
4. Pour whiskey, soy sauce, Worcestershire, and lemon juice into a saucepan. Add garlic, lemon zest, pepper, and brown sugar.
5. Bring marinade to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stirring continually to help dissolve the brown sugar, simmer until the alcohol has largely evaporated about 3 minutes.
6. Allow marinade to cool to room temperature.
7. Pierce the meat your plan to marinate thoroughly with a skewer or score it with shallow cuts using a sharp knife.
8. Place marinade and meat into a ziplock bag. Marinate beef for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
9. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry with a paper towel before grilling. Discard marinade.
Here is the secret to a great marinated steak!
To infuse the most flavor into a piece of meat, pierce the steak thoroughly with a skewer or score it with shallow cuts. This will help the flavors of your marinade penetrate the meat.
After marinating, be sure to wipe the steak dry before grilling by patting it with a paper towel piece. This will ensure the steak browns properly, forming a crust outside, and sealing the flavors into the meat.
💭Tip: How long to marinate steak
It is best to marinate steaks in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. You can marinate steak too long. If you leave the steak in the whisky marinade longer it will start breaking down the proteins in your meat. So be careful, you can
You need to have a more kiss-and-go relationship between meat and alcohol. Just a quick soak in a strong whiskey is enough to infuse the flavor.
🔀 Variations
You can change up the flavor of your whiskey marinade by using different brands of whiskey or bourbon. Jim Beam, Evan Williams, Maker's Mark, and Wild Turkey are all good choices to make a marinade with.
Jack Daniels marinade
You can use any brand of whiskey in this marinade recipe. If you are a Jack person, then, by all means, use it to infuse your marinade's flavor into your meats. Just for fun, why not try two marinade batches, one with Jack and one with a good bourbon. See if your guest can tell the difference.
Bourbon marinade for steak
Bourbon will give your marinade a slightly earthier flavor since it is stored in charred oak barrels.
🍽 Equipment for marinating
You want to be sure all your meat is covered in the marinade so I like to use Ziploc Marinade Bags. They are large enough for several pounds of meat and I am able to shake the bag easily throughout the marinade time.
FAQ ❓
You can use alcohol such as whiskey, to marinate meat. However, alcohol affects the meat's proteins. It causes proteins in the meat to contract and toughen. The net effect is a steak with an unpleasant brown color and a chewy surface.
The best way to add whiskey's flavor to a marinade is by cooking the marinade down first. Simmer it in a pan until the alcohol has mostly evaporated, and the flavors of your whiskey are highly concentrated. This process will make your marinade tasty without the problems caused by alcohol.
Steak tenderizer marinades are not the best way to tenderize a steak. Cutting steak into thin slices, pounding with a meat cleaver and cooking can tenderize meat better than doing a marinade.
Beef: Eye of round, Flank steak, Ribeye, New York strip, T-bone, Porterhouse, Filet mignon, Steak tips
Wild game: Venison, Elk, Bison, Wild boar
Chicken: Chicken breast, thighs, wings, and legs
Pork: Pork chops, ribs
Seafood: Shrimp
You can freeze meat with marinade. It would be best to put the meat and marinade directly into the freezer. Then when you are ready to cook your meat remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw for 12 hours in the refrigerator before cooking.
Steak dinner menu ideas
- Air fryer baked potatoes are my favorite way to cook a potato. The skin is crispy with a buttery soft potato on the inside.
- Next, choose some great toppings to go with your baked potato.
- Grilled Corn In Husk This is a great side dish while you are firing up your grill.
- Toss a classic Cesar salad
- Salted Maple Whiskey Caramels: For dessert, serve these little caramels with some sipping whiskey.
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Recipe
Whiskey Steak Marinade
Note:
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Ingredients
- 1/3 cup whiskey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon black pepper Fresh ground
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes optional; add more if you like it really spicy
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Instructions
- Peel garlic and finely chop garlic
- Wash the lemon and then zest with a fine grater.
- Juice the lemon. I do this after I zest the lemon.
- Pour whiskey, soy sauce, Worcestershire, and lemon juice into a saucepan. Add garlic, lemon zest, pepper, and brown sugar.
- Bring marinade to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stirring continually to help dissolve the brown sugar, simmer until the alcohol has largely evaporated about 3 minutes.
- Allow marinade to cool to room temperature.
- Pierce the meat your plan to marinate thoroughly with a skewer or score it with shallow cuts using a sharp knife.
- Place marinade and meat into a ziplock bag. Marinate beef for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Remove meat from marinade and pat dry with a paper towel before grilling. Discard marinade.
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Nutrition
🎥 Need more ideas?
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Update Notes: This post was originally published in 2016, but was republished with new photos, step-by-step instructions, and tips, in May of 2022.
Melissa.S.Hostetter
How long do you marinade the steak?
Gina Marie
Melissa, I usually marinate around 3 hours per 1/2 inch thickness of the meat. So If I have an 1 inch thick steak I will marinate in fridge for 6 hours. Thicker than that I just do it over night.
Matt Staley
Gina
I made a whiskey marinade once with 1 cup of whiskey and the whiskey flavor ended up being way over powering and ruined my dinner. How strong is the whiskey flavor using only one cup?
Gina Marie
For this recipe I only put in 1/3 cup. I think the brown sugar offsets the sharp flavor of the whiskey and you get a more mellow flavor in your meat. This is also very good with salmon on the grill. I just sprinkle a little of my coffee dry rub on top before cooking.
BBQ Coffee Dry Rub Recipe
Jazmine
When using this marinade how do you cook the steak?
Gina Marie
I grill them in the summer and also use Elaton Browns method which I love. Give it a try, you will be amazed. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe
Rodney L. Myers, Sr
Can this marinade be made ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for a period of time before using it?
Gina
Absolutely it can be made ahead of time. As you said, be sure to store it in the fridge. It should remain true to its flavor for a week or so.
Elizabeth Eckley
Great marinades