The recipe for a perfect steak marinade reads a bit like an alchemical spell: a quarter cup of acid tamed by half a cup of oil, seasoned with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and thyme, and infused with salt and sugar, to break everything down and separate the fibers one from another. If you work out the right combo of these ingredients, you end up with the proverbial philosopher’s stone, as this is one of the secrets to cooking restaurant-quality ribeye steak at home. If you mess it up, you get a sour, somewhat mushy steak — a chemistry experiment gone wrong, in other words. However, regardless of the actual ingredients, most steak marinades follow a pretty specific formula and call for ingredients in four different categories, and while the kinds of ingredients are fairly broad, the categories are narrow. The four ingredient categories are acid, fat, seasonings, and aromatics.
Additionally, the more correct you get the proportions of the four components of the recipe, the more tender and flavorful the steak cuts will become (of course, it helps to opt for a flavorful steak cut that won’t break the bank). This should be the goal of marinade. You don’t want the flavor of the steak to get lost in the marinade but rather to be enhanced by it, and that’s achieved with the right ratios.
The oils and the acids
To remember the correct proportions of oils and acids (the first two components in your marinade), think a half of a half — that is, you should start with ½ cup of oil per pound of meat. The measurement of the acids should be half of that. In other words, if you have ½ cup of oil, then you’ll have ¼ cup of acid. Further, a full half of the marinade should consist of oil and the rest of the ingredients should be proportionate to that.
The fat in the oil moves the salts and other seasonings through the meat. It also infuses the meat with moisture. And of course, cooking oils bring their own flavor profiles to the marinade. Your marinade will taste slightly different if you make it from safflower oil (neutral flavor) versus a premium virgin olive oil (stronger flavor). So keep that in mind when you’re choosing an oil.
The same can be said of the acids you use in your marinade. It’ll taste different if you use lemon juice as the primary acid as opposed to apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. However, the acids in your marinade do more than make it taste good. Many cuts of meat have tough connective tissues running throughout them. The acids break those down, but too much is detrimental to the meat. While the half-of-half rule still applies to an extent, it’s okay to be more conservative with this. If the mix isn’t strong enough, you can always add more later. Subtracting the extra, however, is a different story.
Finishing it off with seasonings and aromatics
The seasonings and aromatics are the last two flavor components. Much of the time, it’s common to go with the usual suspects: maybe some Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Sriracha, rosemary, thyme, black or white pepper, and perhaps, some ginger. These will leave you with a steak you know will work with traditional recipes like the best sour cream mashed potatoes.
Most importantly, sugar and salt play a big role here. Many people believe that the role of salt is to break down the meat, and while that is true, there’s more to it than that. Salt helps the meat to retain its moisture by pushing the moisture out of the depths of the muscle tissue and closer to the surface. As for the sugars, they encourage the meats to develop that sweet, caramel coating that comes with the Maillard reaction.
On the other hand, it’s also possible to choose seasonings and aromatics because they fit a specific cuisine. For example, if you’re making a steak with an Asian flavor profile, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, Sriracha, or chili paste, and some brown sugar to go with a sesame oil and rice vinegar base may be called for. This is the kind of steak you’d serve with an Asian rice dish or something of that nature. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that some ingredients, like onions or garlic cloves, fall into the aromatic category and represent common flavor enhancers that aren’t specifically spices. They often contribute the herbal qualities in a recipe, as opposed to the spicy element. In short, they subtly balance the flavors from the other ingredients while infusing the marinade with their own essence.