The Best Cajun Butter Steak Recipe with Cajun Butter Peppercorn Sauce
Servings: 2
Calories: 826kcal
Ingredients
- 2 10oz steak of choice ideally New York Strip
- 1 red purple onion cut into wedges
Cajun Spice Mix
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
Steak Marinade
- 2 cups neutral oil such as canola, plus extra if needed
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup vinegar I used apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cajun spice mix from above
Optional Cajun Butter Peppercorn Sauce
- 2 tbsp cognac
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp cajun spice mix from above
- 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Make and toast the cajun mix by combining all the spices together and toasting over a low flame until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
- Rub each steak generously with about 1.5 tablespoons of the cajun mix per steak, then chill in the refrigerator uncovered for one hour.
- While the steaks are chilling, combine the ingredients for the marinade in a container just large enough to fit your steaks. Add the steaks when ready, then cover with extra oil if needed. Marinate for between 6 hours and up to two days - longer is better.
- Heat up a large cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of high heat oil (not olive) until it’s just about smoking. Add the onion wedges and cook for 2 minutes per side, or until charred. Turn them with a flipper or tongs and cook the other side, then remove and set aside.
- Optionally season your steaks with salt. Add the steaks and cook roughly 3 minutes per side for rare or 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Rest the steaks while you make the cajun butter peppercorn sauce. If you are doing these in batches, turn your oven to warming/proofing mode (or just with the light on - no higher than 80ºF) to keep the steaks warm. Let the skillet come back to temp in between steaks.
- If you are making the cajun butter peppercorn sauce, reduce the heat to low and add cognac to the pan. Let reduce while stirring with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to deglaze, then add butter, cream, cracked peppercorns, and cajun spice mix. The resulting sauce will be a little grainy and not creamy like French peppercorn sauces, but delicious and spicy.
- Slice steaks and enjoy immediately.
Notes
Note: you can change the serving size to reflect the number of steaks you have.
Loosely based on Smith & Wollensky's Cajun Rib Steak recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 826kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.7g | Protein: 89.8g | Fat: 36.2g | Saturated Fat: 17.6g | Cholesterol: 304mg | Sodium: 1477mg | Potassium: 1594mg | Fiber: 5.8g | Sugar: 11.8g