Garlic butter steak bites
Juicy, deeply browned steak bites in sizzling garlic butter, piled on a peppery lemon arugula salad.
- 25 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $7.60 a serving
- 660 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 lb sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
- 4 cups arugula
- 1 lemon, halved
From your pantry
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 660 calories, 50 g protein, 6 g carbs and 49 g fat, and costs about $7.60 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No sirloin steak? New york strip steak or ribeye steak works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No arugula? Baby spinach or spring mix works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the steak into 1-inch , off any thick fat, then them very dry with paper towels.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Dolly’s tip: Dry steak browns. Wet steak steams gray, no matter how hot the pan is.the all over with most of the salt and all of the pepper.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large over high until it and just starts to smoke, then add the steak in one layer with space between the pieces.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Use two batches if it won’t all fit with space. Crowded steak turns gray instead of browning.2 minutes without touching, until a dark crust forms, then turn the pieces and sear 1 to 2 minutes more.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Turn the heat to medium, add the butter, garlic and pepper flakes, and stir for about 1 minute as the butter and foams, until the middle of a reads 145°F.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Small pieces overcook fast, so check one early. Pull the pan off the heat the moment it hits 145°F.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Take the pan off the heat, scatter the parsley over, and let the steak in the butter for 3 minutes.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 3 min
the arugula in a bowl with the olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and of salt.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Pile the steak over the arugula and spoon the garlic butter from the pan over the top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
