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This simple ribeye recipe features pan-searing in a cast iron skillet, developing a perfectly seared exterior and tender interior. The blue cheese compound butter offers a savory and garlicky topping with a delicious blue cheese flavor that compliments every bite. A surprisingly delicious combination with an easy-to-follow cooking formula!
The ribeye, also known as the Delmonico steak or cowboy steak, tends to be a fattier cut with marbling throughout. The fat contributes to the flavor and juiciness, making it the most flavorful cut of beef I’ve prepared so far. Always buy bone-in or partial bone-in ribeye—the bone adds flavor and contains the juices when cooking.
You can’t go wrong serving steak with potatoes, so decide if you’d like some crispy roasted red potatoes or softer mashed potatoes. To get some green on your plate, I’d go with roasted brussels and bacon.
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Ribeye steak: sometimes labeled Delmonico steak. I prefer bone-in ribeye but you can also use boneless ribeye. Look for a cut that is roughly 1 inch thick. You can also use NY strip for this recipe.
- Oil for searing: opt for a little bit of vegetable/canola/or high-smoke-point oil such as algae cooking oil.
- Rosemary/thyme: always use fresh herbs. Dry spices are not a substitute for this recipe. tarragon is another nice option.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities below.
Step by Step Instructions
Temperature For Steak
Note, the following chart features estimated cook times based on pan-searing a 1-inch thick ribeye in a preheated and hot cast iron skillet. Always check with a digital thermometer as the steak cooks and remove steaks from heat 5 degrees below the final desired serving temperature.
| Doneness | Temperature Range | Cook Time (per side) |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 120°F to 125°F | 2 minutes |
| Medium rare | 125°F to 130°F | 3 minutes |
| Medium | 135°F to 140°F | 4 minutes |
| Medium well | 145°F to 150°F | 5 minutes |
Note: Cooking steaks at high temps in a skillet tends to get smokey. Open a kitchen window and turn on your kitchen’s overhead vent fan before you start to help with ventilation.
Let Steaks Rest
The legend, Anthony Bourdain once said, the most important aspect of cooking any steak is the rest period after you take it off the heat. Letting a steak rest for 5-7 minutes before cutting is critical for two reasons.
Juice redistribution: during cooking, the heat causes the muscle fibers in the steak to contract, pushing the juices toward the center of the meat. If you cut into the steak immediately after cooking, these juices will spill out, leaving the steak drier. Resting allows the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat.
Temperature equalization: resting allows the temperature inside the steak to even out. The outer layers cool slightly while the heat continues to transfer inward, resulting in a more consistent doneness throughout the steak. It’s important to always undershoot your final serving temperature when preparing steak, as the internal temperature will continue to rise as it rests.
More Steak You’ll Love
Enjoy this recipe? If you made this recipe, please leave a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ star rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments!
Pan-Seared Ribeye with Blue Cheese Butter
Ingredients
- 16-20 ounce bone-in ribeye steak, about 1 inch thick
- 1 tablespoon algae, vegetable, or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- 2 whole garlic cloves, optional
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Blue Cheese Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 sprig fresh minced rosemary, removed from stem
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, removed from stem
- 1 small clove garlic, minced (optional)
- salt, to taste
Instructions
For the blue cheese butter
- Combine butter, blue cheese, rosemary, thyme, salt, and garlic in a small bowl. Mix until fully incorporated. Roll in plastic wrap into a cylinder. Place in the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes and remove 5 minutes before serving.
For the ribeye
- Remove steak from the fridge 30-60 minutes before cooking. This is to bring the steak to room temperature and ensure your cooking times are more accurate. Season both sides liberally with kosher salt and pepper.
- Add oil to a cast iron skillet and turn up high, allowing the skillet to become hot first. Place the ribeye face down and sear undisturbed for 3 minutes. Flip the ribeye and sear for an additional 3 minutes for medium rare.
- Turn off the heat (remove pan from heat) and add plain butter, rosemary, thyme, and optional garlic cloves to the skillet. Once the butter foams, use a spoon to spoon the melted butter drippings over the steak.
- Place steak on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a slice of blue cheese butter. Can also do this as steak rests.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Really great except for the way it smoked up the entire common area of the house! Coughing. Eyes watering, friends leaving for the bedroom….. but extra delicious!!!! Will do it again!!!!
Oki have a question. How do you not keep the butter from burning and filling your house with smoke on high hear i heated my skillet on high added my butter and olive oil and promptly burned it ? Just confused.
First time I made this it came out perfect second time my house filled up with smoke and the alarms went off, what went wrong? ?
Cooking with cast iron tends to get a little smokey – you did nothing wrong. Try turning down the heat a tad and open the windows before searing.
So simple and one of my favorite recipes for the last year, no need to modify anything, always comes out perfect
Just made this recipe for my husband who’s home from a business training that lasted a month. This was a hit out of the park! He said it was the best steak he has ever had in his life! Made it with shrimp linguine with pesto cream sauce.
Looks so delicious. I don’t really like blue cheese. What can I substitute. I see someone used parmesan, but that doesn’t do it for me.
I may skip the cheese altogether, if I were you, and just use an herb butter instead.
Will look for iron pan and use it! Now, I don’t know why, but I don’t like rosemary. I love the scent, which is all over my garden, but not on beef. What’s a great substitute? Basil, Mint? Thank you!
I would try parsley or tarragon! Mint and basil probably wouldn’t go well with steak.
so good! Don’t think we will grill another steak again, thanks for the tip!
Skillet steak is no mistake, it’s the best way to go!
Your recipe is spot on
It’s a world class steak! I’ve been doing this for a few years and have been told by world travelers that they are embarrassed about how much they’ve paid for steaks that weren’t as good as mine. I primarily use a charcoal grill with cast iron plate over the coals but any heat source using this method will produce great results. Season the steak to your preference. I have a method for making steaks more tender but that’s for another post.