Sous Vide Ribeye Steak with Herb Butter

Perfect restaurant steak is possible at home! Try this Sous Vide Ribeye Steak with Herb Butter. So easy to do, no overcooking & tastes incredible!

Guys, I’m back! Thank you for your patience. We’re all settled in. We’re 98% unpacked and we even got our tree. It’s starting to feel like home.

One thing I miss the most in this pandemic is dining out. We haven’t eaten at a restaurant since mid-March. Although we do many takeouts, not everything travel well in the car. Steak is definitely not takeout friendly. Who wants to bring home a cold, dry & overcooked steak? But cooking a perfect steak at home is possible! Sous vide is the way to go. What is sous vide? It is cooking food in bag in water bath with a precious temperature. That means you no longer have to guess if your steak is cooked or not. It will always be the exact doneness that you like and the same result every time.

Bryan loves steak, so we have cooked many over the years. The thing I hate the most about cooking steak is the smoke. Oh man, the crazy amount of smoke! Then it triggers the smoke alarm(s). Such a headache! Using a sous vide cooker to cook steak means majority of the cooking is being done in the water bath. All you need is to sear the steak at the very end, which takes only 1 – 2 minutes on a skillet. Even though there will still be smoke, it’s much more manageable.

Sous vide equipment is usually very compact. The one I used is from Anova Culinary. It’s slightly bigger than a rolling pin. It’s easy to store. When you need to use it, attach it to a large pot or a large food storage container. You’re ready to go.

My favorite steak cut is ribeye. It’s tender yet with good flavors. You can use any cut you like. I like to use bone-in for sous vide. The steak stays intact better during cooking and the weight of the bone helps to keep the meat submerge under water better. Also, don’t be afraid to use expensive meat. Since you can’t really overcook it, you won’t ruin your steak. Good quality meat does make a difference.

For this steak recipe, I also added a herb butter. It adds extra flavors, garlic, thyme & parsley. And of course, that butter makes the dish looks like it’s from a restaurant. This aromatic, tender & juicy steak is perfectly cooked and it’s incredibly easy to do. You may not be able to go to steak house for now, this recipe will sure satisfy your craving!

By the way, if you like sous vide, I also have a pork chop recipe, Sous Vide Pork Chops with Creamy Caper Mustard Sauce. It’s just as good!

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Sous Vide Ribeye Steak with Herb Butter

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword beef, herb butter, perfect steak, ribeye, sous vide dinner, sous vide steak

Servings 2 people

Author Lokness

Ingredients

• 1 (1½ – 2-inch thick) bone-in ribeye steak (or New York strip or T-bone steak)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil

Herb Butter:

• ½ stick unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled, smashed & minced)
• ½ tablespoon fresh parsley (minced)
• ½ tablespoon fresh thyme (minced)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

• Start with the herb butter 2 hours ahead. In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, herbs and black pepper with a fork. Transfer the herb butter to a plastic wrap. Press the butter into 1½-inch diameter roll. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. If you want to make the roll perfectly round, you can reshape it once it is slightly hardened, about 20 minutes or so.
• For the steak, pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Place the steak with 2 sprigs thyme in a sous vide bag or a large freezer Ziploc bag. Seal and set aside.
• Preheat the sous vide cooker in a large pot of water to the desired final temperature, 125˚F for rare, 130˚F for medium-rare, 140˚F for medium, 150˚F for medium-well & 156˚F for well done (I did 130˚F). Place the sous vide bag inside the water bath. Make sure the meat is submerged under water. Cook for 1 – 2½ hours (I cooked mine for 1 hour 15 minutes.).
• Once cooked, remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels.
• Meanwhile, in a medium cast iron or heavy skillet over high heat, heat until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Place the steak into the skillet, press down for a better seared. Cook until nicely brown, about 30 – 40 seconds. Flip and cook the other side, 30 – 40 more seconds. Turn the steak on the side and get a quick sear. Transfer the steak to a serving plate. Top with ½-inch thick herb butter. Serve.

Notes

1. If you want to have restaurant quality steak, definitely spend a little more and get good meat. No matter how precise the Sous Vide cooker is, it still can’t change the quality of the meat. If you want a good steak, you need to buy a good one to begin with. 
2. My sous vide cooker is Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano. You can find it on Amazon. 
3. For sous vide, you can use a large pot or food container like this. 
4. How to use Ziploc bag for sous vide: Prepare a large bowl of water. I used the water for the sous vide (before heating up). Get a large freezer Ziploc bag (more durable). Place the food in the middle of the bag. Zip the bag by leaving 1-inch opening. Slowly submerge the bag into prepared water, but leaving the opening above water. Pressure from the water will force out the air in the bag. Once the air is out, sear the Ziploc bag. Now, this is ready for sous vide.
5. Preheating sous vide cooker will take about 30 – 45 minutes.
6. If your steak is kind of floating and doesn’t submerge under water. Clip 2 metal blinder clips at the bottom of the bag. It will keep the bag down.
7. Sous vide steak do not need to rest, so you can serve right away.
8. You can definitely double the recipe. Just use 2 vacuum bags or Ziploc bags.
9. Leftover herb butter can be used on bread and cooked vegetables as well.