Grab a trusty flank steak let’s get to work. Or actually, let this easy Asian steak marinade do the work. The end result is a wonderful fresh flavor. Citrus inspired, the orange and ginger shine to brighten and deeply flavor this beefy cut of meat. With only a 4 hour marinade time, once that grill is hot, this is an oh-so easy steak dinner recipe.
You may be asking, should I marinate flank steak? I cook with flank steak a lot. I have grilled flank steak with and without a marinade. Either way can give you flavorful tender piece of steak. With just a couple of tricks, if you cook it right and if you slice it right
The great thing about flank steak is its ability to soak up any flavor profile you throw its way. The muscle grain in a flank steak runs in a single direction which makes it ideal for marinating and grilling.
A simple steak seasoning mix like Montreal Steak Seasoning is a beautiful way to flavor a flank steak before grilling.
Another example, my Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce isn’t marinated at all. But then my recipe for Tangy Grilled Flank Steak, a recipe I hold near and dear to my heart uses a 24 hour marinade that will produce an incredibly flavored steak dinner.
Simply stated, a marinade is used to help flavor and tenderize meat. Flank steak will most certainly benefit from a marinade especially if you prefer your steak cooked well done.
So what makes a good flank steak marinade recipe? Start with olive oil and garlic, add an acidic liquid and fresh herb of your choice. You can add a sugar product to flavor and tenderize.
So with or without a marinade, flank steak is a great choice for casual dinner. For this recipe I chose an Asian steak marinade that is simply out of this world.
Grilled Flank Steak
I absolutely love cooking with flank steak. Why? It’s quick to cook and loaded with beefy flavor. And did I mention, a lean cut of beef?
This long, flat steak comes from the belly-side of the steer. Lean and muscular. This means lots of flavor without much fat.
Usually a thin cut, it doesn’t take long at all to cook. So, the best way to cook flank steak? I prefer to grill it. Either in a stove-top grill pan or an outdoor grill. How do you grill flank steak? So easy,
Grilled flank steak may be just be the easiest steak dinner ever.
- Get those grill grates nice and hot. For optimal flavor and texture, I like to heat the grill to 450 or 500 degrees. Once those grill grates are sizzling hot, reduce heat to 350 degrees.
- Then add the seasoned or marinated flank steak. If grilling a marinated flank steak, remove the steak from the marinade and discard marinade.
- Flank steak grill time: Simply sear it over high heat about 6-8 minutes per side or until an instant-read thermometer registers 135 degrees.
- Remove the steak to a plate and then tent the steak with foil for 5 minutes. Done!
- Follow the same instructions for grilling indoors using a stove-top grill pan.
Looking to cook flank steak in the oven? Grab your broiler pan, or a sheet pan with a wire rack and fire up that oven broiler. Coat the bottom of the pan with foil for easy clean-up. Again, 6-8 minutes per side, or until a meat thermometer reaches 325 degrees. Let rest for 5 minutes under foil and slice thinly against the grain.
How to cut flank steak
The most important thing to know is how to cut flank steak. Using a quality sharp knife, slice it against the grain! The thinner the better.
It creates shorter strands of tender meat instead of longer and chewy pieces. If you don’t cut flank steak correctly it can be almost impossible to eat.
Flank steak is routinely used for tacos and burritos. Thin sliced meat, sliced correctly, makes flank steak easier to eat when you’re relying on your teeth rather than a knife and fork.
Ingredients for this Asian Flank Steak Marinade
- Maple Syrup: Please use pure maple syrup as opposed to the less expensive artificially flavored which contains high-fructose corn syrup and dyes. That’s why it’s thicker and stickier. Pure maple syrup only cost a few dollars more and it comes from real maple trees.
- Molasses: Molasses is a dark sweet thick syrup made from the extraction of sugars from sugar kane and sugar beets. Molasses has a warm sweet and smoky flavor. It gives this marinade a deeper rich flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Since we’re using molasses in this flank steak marinade, use light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar is stronger in flavor and will resemble the flavor of the molasses. Does sugar tenderize meat? Yes, sugar is a natural tenderizer and it helps the meat achieve maillard reaction. That toasty browned flavor that we love so much.
- Orange Juice and Zest: Adding an acid to any marinade, such as lime juice, orange juice or even vinegar, helps to tenderize the meat so flavor will penetrate the tissue easier. It also gives flavor profile and balance to any recipe.
- Garlic: Practice your knife skills! If you use a garlic press, you’ll be pressing more oil out of the garlic which will cause a stronger flavor. For a more sweet pure garlic flavor, fine dice the garlic.
- Fresh Ginger: Please use fresh ginger for this recipe as opposed to ginger powder from the spice shop. The flavor of fresh ginger will produce of more pure bright ginger experience. Use a microplane to zest and grate. I keep a large knob of ginger in the freezer. Just pull it out and zest. No need to even peel and remove the skin.
- Olive Oil: Olive oil is used routinely in marinades because of its ability to draw out the flavors in other marinade ingredients. Ginger and garlic is a good example in this flank steak marinade.
Orange Ginger Flank Steak Marinade Recipe
I hope you give this Asian steak marinade recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite marinade for flank steak, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
What to serve with this Asian inspired flank steak recipe? How about some quick pickled cucumbers. You’ll find the recipe for this Asian cucumber salad in the notes section in the recipe card below.
More Grilled Flank Steak Recipes
One of my favorite flank steak recipes isn’t grilled at all, but cooked in a cast iron skillet. Check out Cast Iron Flank Steak with Onion Chutney. Sweet sticky and savory caramelized onions make a great topping for grilled flank steak.
- Grilled Flank Steak with Charred Caramelized Sweet Corn A perfect light Summer meal. Caramelized and charred sweet corn seasoned with jalapeno peppers, rings of shallots and lime juice is a great topping for flank steak.
- San Juan Grilled Flank Steak Flank steak is marinated overnight in a tangy spicy savory mix for flavor that comes alive on your grill.
- Smoky Pasilla and Citrus Grilled Flank Steak A recipe I found over and Food and Wine Magazine and one I want to try soon. Smoky fruity pasilla de Oaxaca chiles impart a deep flavor to grilled flank steak.
- Grilled Flank Steak Fajitas, Simply the best steak fajitas. It’s all about the marinade. A recipe from the most popular Mexican restaurant in Denver.
And if you’re looking for more beef recipes, don’t miss my beef category. You’ll find lots of great beef dinner ideas, including the most popular post on my site for a lineup of Grilled Hamburger Recipes.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
And, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter for more delicious recipes and cooking tips. Make it a delicious day … every day.
Orange Ginger Flank Steak Marinade, Grilled Flank Steak
Ingredients
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ⅛ cup molasses
- ⅛ cup brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic smashed and rough chopped
- 1 orange zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of crushed chili flakes
- 1 pound flank steak
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and place in a gallon sized Zip Lock bag. Let marinade for at least 4 hours. Remove steak from bag and broil about 7 minutes per side. Remove steak from oven and tent with foil for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Asian Steak Marinade For Flank Steak …It’s What’s for Dinner.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I am so hungry right now..looks perfect….
Thanks Norma. Appreciate the visit and the comment.
I really need to stop browsing your site, you make me want to try everything. Man, I got a thing for citrus (as you know). And a little spice and some ginger…did you just pick me up off the floor? cause I think I fainted.
That steak just screams “summer” to me!! I want to hit this on my grill after hanging out at the pool or lake all day.
What a wonderful sounding marinade for ribs or a flank steak, yum!
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my group ‘A’ SRC entry Loaded Potato Soup.
Lisa~~
Thanks for stopping by and the comment. This is a good marinade and surprising how the flavors really soak up into the meat. I’m heading over now to take a look at that soup.
This reminds me of an orange beef dish I like to order when I am out to eat– never thought to make it at home but now I can. Thanks, Lea Ann!
It’s a great little marinade Holly.
Sounds really good Lea Ann and now I’m awaiting the poblano mashed potatoes 🙂
oh yeah baby … those mashed potatoes are awesome.
Leave it to a Canadian to have a wonderful recipe that includes maple syrup 🙂 Flank steak is a favorite on the grill in the summer. This sounds great!
Susan, I didn’t even think about that. I should have used that line in my blog.
Yep, citrus and ginger reels me in, too. I happen to have open walnut oil (and will now put it in the fridge). 🙂 I love everything about that marinade and the poblano mashed potatoes sound divine.
Those potatoes will be blogged about.
What a great meat and potatoes meal. My boys would this.
Oops! I meant to say that my boys would “love” this.
Karen, surely you could stand to take a bite or two also? 🙂
Love this marinade.. simple and packed with flavor!!
Exactly Jenn.
That citrusy gingery combo – works everytime! 🙂
YES!
So glad to have you over and very pleased that you like my marinade recipe.
Thanks for a great recipe Jane. Love your blog.
This sounds like a great marinade!
It was a great marinade. The flavors really soaked into that meat.
wow… perfect looking steak, cooked just right …. and like the orange ginger flavor idea…
– now I just have to wonder, did the walnut oil make a big difference? you see, I have never cooked with it, so I am not being a smarty here, my guess is that it is delicate and would be better in a dressing than a marinade.
The walnut oil really does make a difference. You get a nutty and super rich taste with relatively little fat. Keep your bottle in the fridge once it’s open. Fantastic in a salad dressing.
Jane, I had the walnut oil in the fridge from a recipe I made this Summer. I was so glad to give it another try. I agree, makes for a great dressing.
I love Walnut oil. Had some in the fridge from a dressing recipe. You’ve got that one right Drick.
Yum, Looks good!
Thanks Pam.
That sounds delicious and I never would have thought of that flavor combo with beef.
Thanks for stopping by and the comment. As soon as I saw that maple syrup was part of the mix, I had to give it a try.
The marinade sounds perfect. I never know what how to cook flank steak properly but yours look amazing. I love the side of mashed potatoes and peppers. Great SRC choice!
Thanks Heather. I think Flank steak can be rather finicky. This piece was a little tougher than some. But nonetheless, it’s an easy fix. Thanks for stopping by and the comment.
Hi Lea Ann,
We will just love your Orange Ginger Steak. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Miz Helen
Thank you Miz Helen.
I love a good marinade and this sounds awesome. Great choice!
I agree Colleen. Thanks for stopping by and the comment.
Oh, yum – that looks so flavorful and delicious. I was assigned your blog this month and it was such a treat to look through your recipes – so many amazing and delicious choices.
Thank you so much for your kind words Shelley. Getting ready to head over and see what you chose. Thanks for stopping by and the comment.