Grilled Garlic Beef

Marinated and skewered, Grilled Garlic Beef is simple and easy to prepare, but the flavour is extraordinary! The quick-to-prepare marinade is loaded with garlic which both permeates the beef and tenderizes it too. The addition of the onions and sweet bell peppers round out the flavour.

I have a fascination with cooking meat on skewers – just like this Grilled Garlic Beef! It’s always been something that I loved to do, but have not been able to do much of it on an outdoor grill with the exception of the last three summers. You see, previous to buying our house, we only had our city apartment. Barbecues are not permitted on outdoor balconies, so my grilling was limited to an indoor grill. It’s just not the same, is it?

Now, in the case that you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can use use a stove-top grill pan, or an electric grill like this. I know it’s considered a panini press, but I own one of these and I use it for everything – especially when it’s too cold to go outside to grill. Even if you grill inside, be sure to skewer the beef, because everyone likes to eat food on sticks!

GRILLED GARLIC BEEF

Let’s talk about this beef! I love this recipe because it allows you to use the cheapest cut of steak or beef. Whenever I grill skewered red meat, I like the pieces to be quite large. This prevents me from overcooking the beef. You see, I want the beef to have nice grill marks and I want it to be a little charred. I love the flavour of those charred bits!

Using an actual steak for this recipe can be expensive because you will want the steak to be cut into at least one-inch cubes. Buying a steak that is that thick might be costly. If you can’t find a good sale on steak, you can use beef instead. Here are 3 of my favourite cuts of beef to marinate and how to do it right.

Flank Steak – This cut works well when marinated for at least 4 hours, but no longer than 24 hours. Be sure to grill it to medium or medium-rare and to slice it thinly across the grain for best results.

Skirt Steak – This is a long cut of steak with is cut from the underbelly. Skirt steak has less fat than flank steak, but is more marbled. Prepare it just like flank steak. Skirt steak is more flavourful.

Sirloin Tip Steak – This is one of those cuts that can be expensive or cheap, depending on the day. I tend to buy this whenever I find it on sale. It is moderately tender with a good beefy flavour and can certainly use a marinade to maximize the tenderness.

PREPARING THE BEEF

The key to really good beef is rather simple. You should always marinate the beef first. By doing so, you are not only injecting flavour into the beef, you’re also making it more tender. That seems basic enough, right? Well, there’s one more thing you’re doing as well. You’re ensuring that the beef doesn’t dry out on the grill.

I don’t know about you, Dear Reader, but whenever I grill meat, the animalistic caveman that lives somewhere in my subconscious whispers in my ear. He says, “Hey LB – it’s not going to taste any good unless it’s totally engulfed in flames!” You see, I’m one of those people who loves to have strong grill marks but doesn’t care to have overcooked meat. I find I can get both with a very hot grill and lots of flame.

The charred fatty bits of beef are the best part for me, but not everyone feels the same way. Likewise, not everyone likes their beef to be medium-well. If you’re one of those who prefer beef to be rare or medium-rare, I admire you!

Those of us who like tender beef, but would prefer not to have any trace of pink, suffer greatly. Why is it that a steak goes from medium-well to overcooked in thirty seconds? I have learned to combat that with marinating and high heat. While the high heat cooks the beef thoroughly, the flames help to get those char marks and flavour, but the marinade keeps the beef moist and tender.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MARINATING

When it comes to marinating beef, some of us think that it’s okay to marinate it all day or even overnight. That might work for some marinades, but not all. Let me explain. If you’re using a marinade that has acidity in it, then I would not marinate longer than two hours. The acid will react with the enzymes in the beef and actually toughen it. Since this particular marinade has no acidity, it’s safer to marinate the beef for a longer period of time.

My favourite marinades for chicken always use buttermilk. Buttermilk helps to make for a more tender chicken dish. The acidity of the buttermilk will break down protein structures in the chicken and help it retain moisture a whole lot better. But, my favourite marinade for beef is always olive oil based. The olive oil has the unique ability to pull the flavours from the other marinade ingredients and infuse them right into the beef.

Therefore, a marinade consisting of more mellow ingredients, like a mixture of olive oil, garlic, onion, and herbs, etc., would allow for a longer marinating time. For this particular marinade, I would highly recommend you allow the beef to marinate for at least two hours. But, to get the best results, try marinating your beef for 12 hours or overnight.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE:

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this Grilled Garlic Beef recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Beef – I’m using two pounds of ribeye. You can use flank or sirloin if you wish.
• Olive Oil – Once again, the olive oil will pull the flavour out of the other ingredients and infuse them into the beef. In addition, you won’t need to grease or oil your cooking vessel when you’re ready to grill, fry, or sear! Use a light olive oil, rather than a full-bodied olive oil.
• Garlic – Freshly minced garlic is best. You will get more flavour. This is garlic beef, so there is a lot of garlic!
• Soy Sauce – As a rule, we use low-sodium soy sauce. You can use regular soy sauce too, but if you do, cut back the salt to just a 1/4 teaspoon.
• Worcestershire Sauce – This stuff is like a miracle worker when it comes to imparting flavour. Use it often to get really good results in most of your savoury dishes.
• Thyme – Dried thyme – not fresh – works best in marinades.
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Bell Peppers – Any colour will do. Cut them into 1 inch pieces.
• Red Onion – Just like the bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces.

HOW TO MAKE GRILLED GARLIC BEEF

This is super easy. Measure all of the marinade ingredients into a mason jar. Put the lid on and shake it very well until everything is mixed together. Next, transfer the prepared beef to a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Pour the marinade over the steak and toss the beef well to combine with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, but longer is better. Don’t exceed more than 12 hours though.

Once the beef has marinated, it’s time to assemble the skewers. The most important thing to remember is that you should not pack the beef tightly on the skewer. My rule of thumb when preparing Grilled Garlic Beef is to skewer one piece at a time, making sure that each piece just touches the next. I do not push the pieces together, because this will prevent the beef from caramelizing properly.

Just like when you preheat your oven when you bake a cake, preheating a grill is vitally important for several reasons, but there are two I’ll discuss now. First, preheating a grill will prevent the beef from sticking. When the grill is hot, and the beef is placed on it, it will instantly begin to sear the meat. This sear not only adds flavour and looks pretty, it also prevents the beef from sticking.

Secondly, preheating the grill will pretty much eliminate the need to overcook! If you place the beef on a cold grill and turn on the heat, before the grill is hot, the beef has already started to cook from the heat building on the grill. This will overcook the beef and make it dry and not very appealing.

Once your grill is preheated to 400 degrees F, place the skewers on the grill and cook the beef for 2-3 minutes per side for a medium doneness. You can grill for more or less time but aim for a minimum temperature of 145 degrees F. Transfer the grilled beef to a serving platter and garnish with chopped parsley.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

When it comes to Grilled Garlic Beef, you cannot go wrong with summery side dishes. I say that, because most of us tend to grill in the summer months. Whenever I think of garlicky beef, I always think of potato salad and coleslaw. Now, if you were to serve coleslaw with this beef, I have a few options for you. If you want something spicy, I suggest my Jalapeno Buttermilk Ranch Coleslaw, or you could go with a more mild option, like this Homestyle Cream Coleslaw.

In terms of potato salad, my go-to is always this Vegetable Potato Salad. I grew up eating this one and it’s still my personal favourite to this day! This coleslaw and pasta salad combination is always a good choice! And, of course, who could go wrong with corn in the summer!? Load up on this Cream Cheese Corn!