Traditional Flank Steak Marinade

Why This Traditional Flank Steak Marinade Works

Once the steak sits in the marinade for a few hours, the soy sauce and vinegar start to work their way into the meat. The salty soy sauce loosens up some of the tight muscle fibers, and the acid in the red wine vinegar gently weakens them. Over time, the steak soaks in the liquid, so it doesn’t dry out as fast on the hot grill. Olive oil coats the outside, so the surface stays a little protected from the heat and doesn’t go tough right away.

While it grills, the outside browns and forms a crust, but the inside stays juicy because of all that liquid and oil that went in earlier. Honey and mustard cling to the surface and brown quickly, so the outside gets a nice color and a slight glaze instead of burning. After it comes off the grill, resting lets the hot juices settle back into the meat instead of running out. Slicing against the grain then cuts through those long fibers, so each piece feels tender when bitten.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the steak sit in the marinade for only an hour or two leaves the center of the meat mostly untouched while the outside gets all the seasoning. The result is a steak that tastes strong and salty on the surface but stays bland and flat inside, even when cooked perfectly.

Putting the steak straight from the fridge onto the hot grill keeps the center cold while the outside hits high heat. This often leads to a charred outside while the middle stays tighter and less tender, and it becomes harder to hit a true medium-rare.

Cooking the flank steak past medium on the grill dries it out fast. The lean meat tightens and squeezes out its juices, so instead of staying juicy and slightly springy, it turns chewy and tough from edge to edge.

Slicing the steak with the grain instead of against it leaves long muscle fibers in each piece. Even a nicely marinated and cooked steak will feel stringy and hard to bite through when the fibers run the full length of each slice.