Oven Baked Steak

This Oven Baked Steak recipe is so easy to pull off, and results in perfectly cooked steak! You only need a handful of simple ingredients to cook this, plus plenty of garlic butter to serve.

Steak is one of the best meals, if you ask me. It’s such a wonderful special occasion entrée for those times you want to make a great meal without putting on an entire holiday dinner…

We love steak for birthday dinners, Valentine’s Day at home, anniversaries… Or for those times I feel I just want to make an ordinary day a little more special.

If I get a steak at a good price and decide to make it as part of a normal meal, I will mostly go for my Air Fryer Steak – it’s even more hands-off, less butter needed to yield juicy meat. But for those special dinners I just mentioned… nothing beats a perfectly seared steak that’s finished in the oven, with plenty of butter. Let’s cook some steak!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Steak: You can use pretty much any steak cut that cooks quickly. I used a bone-in sirloin steak. You can use boneless sirloin, top loin, New York Strip, Porterhouse, T-Bone, Ribeye… they are all great contenders here. Go for at least 1 inch thick, better 1.5 inches. I used one large steak, but you can also do several smaller; just keep in mind that your skillet needs to be large enough to comfortably fit your meat and it also needs to fit in the oven.
• Seasoning: I don’t put anything but salt and pepper on a good steak (then slather it in heavily seasoned garlic herb butter later, ahem). If you want to use a steak seasoning blend, go ahead.
• Oil: I use a bit of oil in addition to the butter for searing the steak on the stove without burning any butter (it gets very hot, and butter burns FAST in direct high heat settings; using oil here prevents this). I recommend a mild vegetable oil like sunflower oil that’s marked for high heat purposes.

How to cook steak in the oven

Steak may seem intimidating, but it’s really not hard to cook – the most difficult part is to pull it from the oven at the right time! It’s honestly just as easy to make as oven baked chicken breast, oven baked boneless pork chops and oven baked salmon. No special skills required!

1. Remove the steak from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Season it with salt and pepper and place it on a plate at room temperature.

2. Once ready, heat the oven to 400°F. Position the rack in the middle of the oven. Place a cast iron skillet (large enough to comfortably hold your steak or steaks) over medium-high to high heat on the stove and heat it until very hot, 3-5 minutes.

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3. Add the oil, then sear the steak 60-90 seconds on the first side, gently touching the steak down with clean fingertips a few times to ensure the entire surface has contact with the skillet (don’t smush or squash the steak, just gently hold it down). Flip, sear the second side for 30-45 seconds (it will have contact with the skillet the entire time in the oven, so I leave it less long), then pull the skillet from the stove.

4. Place the butter on the steak, then place the skillet in the oven. Bake for 4-8 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness. Once done, remove it from the oven, place the steak on a plate and tent with foil. Rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve!

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Recipe tips

Initial temperature: Don’t forget to remove your steak from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it. This is crucial to yield a juicy steak that’s not tough. You want to unwrap it, place it on a plate and season it. Then just leave it on the counter for 30 minutes until you’re ready to start.

Searing time: Stick to a short but hot sear. You really just want a nice, caramelized crust on the outside without the heating going too far inside the steak yet.

Thermometer: I highly recommend working with a meat thermometer, preferably one where you can stick the probe into your steak and then connect to the thermometer through an oven-safe wire. You leave the thermometer in your steak and close the oven door, then you can pull it at exactly the right time!

I recommend inserting the thermometer through the side of the steak, not the top. Makes for a cleaner presentation and it’s easier.

Resting: Do not skip the resting time, it’s crucial to retain the juices and ensure your meat is tender. I know it’s tempting to cut right into a sizzling hot steak… but I promise the rest exists for a reason.

Slicing: Always slice against the grain, not with the grain. It’s easier, looks neater and tastes better (granted, the tasting better part hasn’t been scientifically proven… but I stand by my opinion ?).

Internal temperature for steak

The doneness of your steak is best checked for with a food thermometer (affiliate link)- it’s really difficult to gauge it correctly in any other way, especially if you’re not experienced with cooking steak.

I definitely do not trust myself to cook meat correctly without a food thermometer, I use it for absolutely everything, including cake; it takes the guesswork out of cooking and baking! Get one! ASAP!

Here are the internal temperature recommendations for different levels of doneness:

• Rare: 125°F (red with red juices)
• Medium Rare: 130°F (deep pink with reddish juices)
• Medium: 140°F (light pink with clearer juices)
• Medium well: 150°F  (slightly pink center with clear juices)
• Well done: 160°F (fully cooked through, no longer pink at all)

The USDA recommends an internal temperature of at least 145°F for beef, for safe consumption, followed by a 3 minute rest. See full chart. I always choose medium-rare to medium when I eat steak, my husband eats steak rare to medium-rare. I do cook it to 145°F for our children. But it’s your personal choice to do what’s right for you and your family.

That being said, steak does cook quickly this way. The skillet is HOT and transfers a lot of heat to the steak. I choose a blazing hot sear and then a medium-high oven temperature (400°F) because the steak basically just needs the heat to go through it at this point. My steak was thick (1.5 inches) and reached 130°F after just 5 minutes in the oven.

Do not trust recipes that tell you to sear your steak, then place it in a 450°F oven for 20 minutes. I have tried several of them in the past, they were all inaccurate. Your steak will most likely be quite well done at that point, unless your steak is positively ginormous. Get a food thermometer (affiliate link). Cook your proteins accurately. They taste a LOT better this way!

Serving ideas

It seems like a no-brainer, but steak goes so incredibly well with all things potato:

• Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
• Baked Potato Wedges (or Air Fryer Potato Wedges)
• French Fries or Steakhouse Fries for a classic Steak Frites
• Mashed Potatoes (or Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes)
• Roasted baby potatoes, roasted fingerling potatoes, instant pot roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes… you name it, I’ll eat it with my steak!

As far as vegetables go, we have a few favorites:

• Roasted asparagus (or air fryer asparagus)
• Sautéed green beans (or air fryer green beans)
• Roasted broccoli (or air fryer broccoli)
• A tossed salad with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette or white balsamic vinaigrette

Plus, like I already said… Plenty of homemade Garlic Herb Butter!

More steak recipes

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe