Last Updated on November 26, 2024
Steak tips can be a quick, delicious dinner any night of the week, and one of our favorite methods involves a speedy roast in the oven. In this article, we’ve broken down how to cook steak tips in the oven, and answered some of your FAQs surrounding steak tips.
If you’ve never enjoyed this delicious, quick-cooking cut, it’s actually just tips of sirloin steak that have been conveniently cubed up. Steak tips are extremely popular in New England, though their reach is starting to grow.
You can enjoy steak tips alone, skewered on kabobs, or even in slow-cooked soups and stews. Below, we break down how to make steak tips in the oven. Keep reading for more.
3 Tips for Cooking Steak Tips in the Oven
1. Try a tenderizing marinade.
We all love a tender steak, and steak tips are no exception. You can use the same tenderizing marinades with steak tips as you use on top sirloin steak, flank steak, or skirt steak, complete with ingredients like citrus juice, vinegar, or pineapple puree. We go further into detail on tenderizing tricks for steak tips below, so keep reading if you’re interested.
2. Pan-sear your steak tips first.
We think the most successful method for cooking steak tips in the oven starts with a very quick sear on the stove. This allows you to build an unbelievable crust that’s difficult to achieve in the oven alone. When we say quick, we mean it! We’re talking one minute per side, which brings us to our next point…
4. It takes less time than you think!
Perhaps the best thing about steak tips? They can cook up in no time at all. If you use the oven method, you’ll spend a couple of minutes searing the tips on the stove, and just a few more minutes roasting them in the oven. Talk about a quick dinner!
How to Cook Steak Tips in the Oven
- Marinate or season your steak tips. Follow your preferred recipe’s instructions for this step.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- If marinated, pat steak tips dry with paper towels to remove excess marinade.
- Preheat a large cast-iron skillet (or another oven-safe skillet) on the stove over medium-high heat. Add your preferred high-temperature cooking fat.
- Sear the steak tips for one minute per side.
- Transfer the skillet and steak tips to the oven and roast for three to five minutes, until steak tips reach an internal temperature of 125°F.
- Allow the steak tips to rest for at least five minutes before serving.
Steak Tips in the Oven – FAQs
Q: How should steak tips be cooked?
A: There are a number of ways you can prepare steak tips, all to delicious effect. So far, we’ve covered the best way to cook steak tips in the oven. You can also grill steak tips at medium-high heat, turning them every so often until they’re lightly charred. If you’re not into the oven or grill, you can also use a griddle atop the stove, or simply pan-sear the steak tips in a cast-iron pan. Steak tips can also be slow-cooked in a stew or soup, so the crockpot or Instant Pot are great options too.
Q: What temperature should steak tips be cooked to?
A: We’d say steak tips are best served up medium-rare, which means you should pull them when you insert a meat thermometer and it reads around 125°F and then let them rest for a few minutes so they are close to 130°F when serving.
Q: How long do you cook steak tips for?
A: This will depend on your cooking method. As we detailed earlier in this article, it takes less than 10 minutes to pan-sear and roast steak tips in the oven. Other quick methods, like grilling or using a griddle on the stove, should clock in at a similar time. Slow-cooked dishes with steak tips, like braises, soups, and stews, will take hours. Just make sure you cook to your preferred doneness.
Q: What should I serve with steak tips?
A: Steak tips are so versatile. They can be the centerpiece protein of a meal, or work as a hearty addition to something like a stew, soup, or rice dish. How you serve your steak tips will totally depend on the marinades and flavorings you use, too. Here are a few ideas we think are delicious:
- BBQ steak tips with rice and stir-fried vegetables
- Grilled steak tips atop a fresh salad
- Citrus-marinated steak tips with broccoli rabe
- Coffee-barbecue sauce steak tips with sweet potato fries
- Steak tips in beef and wild rice soup
Q: How do you tenderize steak tips?
A: Steak tips are, after all, just tips of sirloin steak. Whatever works to tenderize steak, works here for tenderizing steak tips. Here are a few options:
- Marinate: A marinade that features acids or enzymes that break down muscle fibers in the meat is ideal. That means ingredients like lemon or lime juice, buttermilk, vinegar, as well as enzyme-heavy fruits like pineapple and mango. However, you don’t want to tenderize your meat too much. Follow the recipe when it comes to marinating time.
- Salt: Rubbing steak tips with a healthy dose of salt can help to tenderize them as well; salt helps break down the protein cells in the meat.
- Slow Cook: As with any meat, cooking steak tips low and slow will yield impressively tender results. You can do this in a braise in the oven, or in a slow cooker.
A Steak Tip Recipe You Can Make in the Oven
Sweet and Spicy BBQ Steak Tips
Do you love Korean barbecue? Channel the same flavors with these easy-to-make sweet and spicy BBQ steak tips, which are seared stove-top then finished in the oven. With a homemade Korean barbecue-inspired marinade, these can’t be beaten.
While the flavors are complex, the ingredients list is simple. You’ll make a marinade with maple syrup, tamari, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, fresh ginger, and sambal chili paste. After the steak tips marinate for a good four hours, you’ll pat them dry and pan-sear them to perfection. From there, transfer them to a hot oven for a quick roast, and they’re ready.
We’d serve these steak tips with a big scoop of rice and some savory stir-fried vegetables.
We hope you learned something about cooking steak tips in the oven! Here’s to juicy and tender steak tips every time.
