How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks
on Jun 12, 2023, Updated Apr 19, 2024
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Richly flavored, tender but with great chew, smoky from the grill, these steaks deeply satisfy those beef cravings.
Grilled rib-eye steaks are one of the go-to summer steak meals of summer and one of the first things I make to kick off the summer grilling season. Richly flavored, tender but with great chew, and smoky from the grill, these steaks deeply satisfy any beef cravings. These steaks would be perfect with Steakhouse Tomato Salad, Grilled Corn, Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad, or Mayonnaise-Free Potato Salad.
Rib-eye steaks go by different names in different parts of the country and the world. You might see it labeled Cowboy Cut, Delmonico, Spencer, beauty steak, market steak, or Scotch filet. In France (or at a butcher or restaurant with a French bent), the steaks might be called côte de boeuf or entrecôte.
Table of Contents
- Ingredients
- How to Buy Rib-Eye Steaks
- Testing for Doneness Without a Meat Thermometer
- How Long to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks Over Direct High Heat
- How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks
- How to Slice Rib-Eye Steaks for Serving
- FAQs
- Storage and Leftovers
- What to Serve With Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks
- More Grilled Steak Recipes
- How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks Recipe
Rib-eye steaks come from the beef rib part of the cow, between the chuck and the loin. They are essentially rib steaks with the bone removed. These steaks usually come between 1 and 1 ½ inches thick; 1 ½ inches of thickness is ideal, as the outside will be able to sear up while the inside remains pink and juicy.
How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks: Richly flavored, tender but with great chew, smoky from the grill, these steaks deeply satisfy those beef cravings.
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Ingredients
- Rib-eye steaks – The preferred thickness for streaks on the grill is 1 ½ inches thick, but adjust the cooking time up or down if you have thinner or thicker steaks.
- Butter
- Lemon juice – You can also use lime, but please use fresh!
- Parsley – I prefer flat-leaf (or Italian) parsley.
- Thyme – Fresh is best, and you can definitely sub in other fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary, or sage.
- Olive oil – Adds flavor and prevents the steaks from sticking to the grill.
How to Buy Rib-Eye Steaks
If possible, you want to buy them freshly cut from a butcher or the butcher counter at a good supermarket with a high turnover. You can get them cut to order at a butcher to your desired thickness.
USDA Prime is the top of the range, with only about 2% of the beef in this country earning that label. Prime beef has nice fat marbling throughout, which is what gives the rib-eye (and all tender steaks) terrific tenderness and a wonderful, incredible flavor. USDA Choice comes after that, which will be a bit leaner, with less marbling. Below Choice is the Select grade, which will be leaner still. Buy the best grade of beef you can find and justify — there is a difference!
Rib-eye steaks should be bright red with no dark spots. Steaks turn browner as they age, indicating they were not cut as recently. Do not buy or cook meat with a sour or off odor.
How Much Steak Per Person?
The average person will eat 5 to 6 ounces of steak for a meal. However, if you are grilling up big beautiful rib-eyes for a group of red meat lovers, plan about 8 ounces per person.
A rib-eye steak often weighs about 16 to 20 ounces or so. It’s obviously a lot of meat for one person, so you might think about slicing up your steaks before serving them. You can make the presentation look really nice, and also leave the bone on the serving platter with the sliced steak and let your family or friends negotiate who gets to nibble on that. (In our house, that’s pretty much always Charlie.)
Also, if the weather isn’t cooperating, you may be interested in cooking your rib-eyes on the stove.
Testing for Doneness Without a Meat Thermometer
First, let me just say that if you don’t have a good meat thermometer, and you cook a lot of meat, you should fix that! I like the Thermapen, which is a little pricey, but so very reliable. And there is a less expensive version available (the Thermopop) if that’s more within budget.
But if you don’t have one, you still can monitor the level of doneness! In his cookbook The Steak Lover’s Cookbook, author William Rice offers the following advice for testing doneness using the touch method. It will take some practice to become able to accurately judge the doneness of a grilled steak by touch. After a few tries, you will get to know just how well done your steak is with a simple poke.
- For Rare (120 to 125 degrees): Let one hand hang limp. With the index finger of the other hand, push gently into the soft triangle of flesh between the thumb and index finger of the hanging hand. It will offer very little resistance, give way easily, and feel soft and spongy. That is the feel of a rare steak.
- For Medium-Rare (125 to 130 degrees): Extend the hand in front of you and spread the finger. Press the same spot with the index finger of the other hand. The flesh will be firmer but not hard or springy and slightly resistant. This is the feel of medium-rare steak.
- For Medium (130 to 135 degrees): Make a fist and press the spot. It will feel firm and snap back quickly, offering only a minimum of give, as does meat cooked to medium.
Rice leaves it there, believing that cooking a steak past medium is not all that great an idea.
How Long to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks Over Direct High Heat
These times and internal temperatures take into account the fact that the temperature of the meat will continue to climb by several degrees once the steak is removed from the heat to a cutting board.
What Is Carryover Cooking?
Carryover cooking means that meat continues to cook after you remove it from the heat, so you want to take it out a few minutes early. I am a full-on broken record about this, but when I learned it as a young cook, it changed my world forever. Meat continues to cook after it leaves the heat, and the juices have a chance to reabsorb and not spill all over the cutting board.
| Thickness | Doneness | Time |
| ½ inch thick | Rare (125 F) | 1-2 minutes per side |
| ½ inch thick | Medium-Rare (130 F) | 2-3 minutes per side |
| ½ inch thick | Medium (135 F) | 3-4 minutes per side |
| 1 inch thick | Rare (125 F) | 3-4 minutes per side |
| 1 inch thick | Medium-Rare (130 F) | 4-6 minutes per side |
| 1 inch thick | Medium (135 F) | 6-8 minutes per side |
| 1 ½ inches thick | Rare (125 F) | 5-6 minutes per side |
| 1 ½ inches thick | Medium-Rare (130 F) | 6-8 minutes per side |
| 1 ½ inches thick | Medium (135 F) | 8-9 minutes per side |
How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks
- Make the herb compound butter.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high.
- Grill the steaks: Flip the steaks every few minutes to get nice cross-hatch marks until they are cooked to your desired level of doneness.
- Prepare the compound butter: Slice the chilled butter into 4 circles.
- Finish the steaks: Place the butter on top of the meat and let it melt. Slice the steaks and serve.
How to Slice Rib-Eye Steaks for Serving
Make sure to let the meat rest after you remove it from the grill. A rib-eye steak should sit for 5 to 10 minutes (longer for thicker steaks) before slicing. Use a nice sharp knife to cut the meat. A paring knife might be helpful for cutting the bone from the steak before slicing.
Slice steak across the grain to maintain the most tender texture. The thickness of the slices is up to you; we prefer pieces about ½-inch thick, but some people like thicker slices of about 1 inch.
FAQs
On the edge of a rib-eye steak, you’ll see a band of fat and meat that wraps around the center of the steak. Many steak lovers think this is not only the most flavorful part of the steak but actually the most flavorful part of the cow.
Start with a very clean and well-oiled grill. Place the steaks on the grill at about a 45-degree diagonal to the grate. Grill for about 4 minutes, then rotate the steaks a quarter turn (90 degrees) so the angle of the steaks on the grill is about 45 degrees in the other direction. This will create a diamond grill mark pattern. Flip the steaks and grill them steaks the same way, at a 45-degree angle to the grill bars, then after a few minutes, turn the steaks another quarter turn (90 degrees) so that the grill marks form the same diamond crosshatch pattern on the other side.
Compound butter should be chilled until it is firm. If you have shaped it into a 1-inch thick log, that should take about 30 to 45 minutes. It should be placed on the steaks when they are hot so it melts and coats the meat.
Storage and Leftovers
You can keep raw rib-eye steaks wrapped in their original packaging in the fridge for up to 5 days as long as the steaks are very fresh when purchased, well-wrapped, and a high-quality grade of meat.
If you plan to freeze the steaks, do it the day you purchase them and make sure they are very fresh. Remove them from their packaging, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and place them into freezer-proof zipper top bags. Make sure to label the package with the name and date. Press any excess air from the bag, then seal and freeze for up to 9 months.
Leftover cooked steak should be eaten within 4 days. Sliced or chopped, it’s a great addition to Caesar Salad or fantastic in Steak Quesadillas! Or make Greek Salad with Grilled Steak.
What to Serve With Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks
More Grilled Steak Recipes
- Grilled Mexican Rib-Eye Steaks
- Balsamic-Marinated Skirt Steak
- Chili-Rubbed Flank Steak with Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
- Marinated and Grilled London Broil
- Grilled Ranch Steaks
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How to Grill Rib-Eye Steaks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- 1 (1 ½-inch thick) rib-eye steaks (about 16 to 20 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper, and use a fork to mash the mixture until it is well combined. Turn the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to shape the butter into a log about 1 inch thick, and then roll up the log and seal it. Refrigerate until firm.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high. Rub the steak with the olive oil and salt the steak on both sides. Place the steak on the grill and let sit, without moving for 4 minutes. Rotate the steak a quarter turn and grill for another 3 or so minutes to form the cross-hatch marks. Flip the steaks, and repeat: cook the steak for 4 minutes without moving, then rotate the steak a quarter turn and let it grill for another 3 or so minutes, until you get those nice cross-hatched marks. Remove the steaks from the grill when the internal temperature is at 120 F for rare, 125 F for medium-rare, and 130 F for medium. The temperature will continue to climb as the meat rests before you slice it.
- While the steak is cooking, slice the chilled compound butter into 4 circles. As soon as the steak hits the cutting board, place the butter on top of the meat. Let it melt as the steak sits for 5 minutes. Give the top of the steak a nice grind of pepper if desired. Slice the steaks, season with a bit more salt and pepper, and serve.
Notes
- Compound butter should be firm after about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge.
- Leftover cooked steak should be refrigerated and eaten within 4 days.
