Ribeye is one of my favorite cuts and is fun to cook on a grill. Cooking a steak with a spice crust is a bit different than cooking one that just has salt on it, the spices are forming the flavorful crust rather than just the meat browning. For this reason this technique is particularly well suited to gas grills as they don't often get very hot.

Spice Crusted Grilled Ribeye

Name: Spice Crusted Grilled Ribeye
Yield: Directions
Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients: 1 ribeye steak (bone-in or out, an inch-thick or more)*; Salt or Smoked Salt N8; Le Poivre; Fennel; Olive oil or other pure fat (melted tallow, clarified butter, etc.)

Servings

Directions are for 1, but you can make as many as will fit on half of your grill

Author:

Christian Leue

Ingredients

1 ribeye steak (bone-in or out, an inch-thick or more)*
Salt or Smoked Salt N8
Le Poivre
Fennel
Olive oil or other pure fat (melted tallow, clarified butter, etc.)

Directions

Season the steak evenly with salt or finely crushed smoked salt on both sides and allow to rest in the fridge for a couple hours. I like using smoked salt if cooking on a gas grill since it supplies a smoky flavor.
Coat the steak on both sides with Le Poivre and ground fennel. I like to use a ratio of about 2:1. The fennel adds a wonderful sweetness as it toasts.
Let the steak rest while you pre-heat your grill (set it up for indirect cooking with one side on medium and the other side off, goal is to have a steady temp of 200-225°F)
Coat sides of the steak with some olive oil or any other liquid fat (regular butter does not work well due to the water content so clarify it first), place the steak on the cool side of the grill, and close the cover.
Cook until the internal temperature of the steak is around 110-115°F in the center, (110 for an inch, 115 for 1.5 inches). I find a thermocouple pen thermometer is the quickest and easiest way to check this. You can do it by feel and instinct but you will occasionally overcook.
At this point remove your steak and get the grill hot.
Finish your steak on the grill, flipping frequently, until the spices are nicely toasted and the color overall is a rich brown. I tend to find that about 3 minutes of total cooking time on each side is about the right amount of time.
Remove the steak to a cutting board you can serve it on and dig in. No need to let it rest, the steak will just get colder and less crisp if it sits. You can spoon any juices that run off right back onto the steak, or sop them up with grilled bread

Recipe Note

* a note on beef: I eat a lot of steak and I've found that some of the best tasting beef is grass-fed from breeds that thrive on grass. My favorite breed so far is Murray Grey. It's not something you can easily find in a store but if you look around for farmers, and find one convenient to you, you'll be very happy you did.

Variations & Ideas:

Simple sides are great with a steak. Try grilled corn with butter and Shabazi N38, and/or cabbage and apple slaw. And now that it's peach season you can always try grilling peaches while you eat dinner so you have dessert ready.
I've had good luck using this same method with thick cut pork chops and double cut lamb chops.
Grilling doesn't produce pan dripping you can make a sauce from. I find that the meat always has plenty if juice on its own, but you can always try making a sauce like my dry chimichurri, the flavors are great together.

← Back to Recipes

My shopping cart

Spice Crusted Grilled Ribeye

Spice Crusted Grilled Ribeye

Category

Servings

Author:

Ingredients

Directions

Recipe Note

Variations & Ideas:

Sign up for our newsletter