Herby Confit Garlic Butter Steak is one of my favourite ways to serve a big sharing steak. Think a beautifully seared, thick-cut côte de boeuf, with a deep golden crust, a juicy pink centre and plenty of butter packed with sweet, slow-cooked garlic and fresh herbs.
We don’t eat a huge amount of red meat at home, but when we do, I love making something like this. There’s something so satisfying about bringing a big steak to the table, slicing it up and letting everyone help themselves. And while the steak is delicious in its own right, the confit garlic butter really takes it to another level.
The best part? Most of the work goes into making the butter, which you can prepare well in advance. When you’re ready to eat, all that’s left is to sear the steaks, finish them in the oven and give them a good rest before slicing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A beautifully cooked sharing steak. Searing the steaks before finishing them in the oven gives you a gorgeous crust while allowing you to control how the centres cook.
- The most delicious garlic butter. Slowly cooking garlic in olive oil transforms its sharp, pungent flavour into something wonderfully mellow, sweet and buttery.
- Perfect for entertaining. A big sharing steak makes a lovely centrepiece, and you can prepare the butter ahead of time.
- Plenty of leftover butter. The recipe makes more than you’ll need for the steaks, which is no bad thing. It’s delicious on everything from roast potatoes to vegetables and warm bread.
Why Confit Garlic Makes Such Good Butter
Garlic and steak are a classic combination, but confit garlic brings something a little different to the table.
Confit simply means cooking something slowly in fat at a relatively low temperature. In this case, I submerge peeled garlic cloves in olive oil and cook them gently in the oven until they’re golden and incredibly soft.
The slow cooking mellows the garlic’s sharpness and brings out its natural sweetness. You end up with cloves so tender you can mash them with a fork, making them perfect for incorporating into softened butter.
I combine mine with fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme, plus a little of the fragrant garlic oil. The result is a deeply savoury, aromatic butter that melts beautifully over the hot steak.
You can make the butter ahead and refrigerate it for up to 4 days, or freeze it in portions for longer storage. The leftover garlic-infused oil is delicious for cooking vegetables or dressing potatoes, but make sure you refrigerate it promptly and use it within 4 days, or freeze it. Homemade garlic oil shouldn’t sit at room temperature.
Choosing the Right Steak
I use bone-in ribeye, also known as côte de boeuf, for this recipe. It’s a thick-cut steak with plenty of intramuscular fat, or marbling, which gives the meat its rich flavour and helps keep it juicy as it cooks.
A few things to look for:
- Good marbling. Look for fine streaks of fat running through the meat rather than a steak that’s completely lean.
- A generous thickness. A thick-cut steak is easier to sear without overcooking the centre. It also gives you that lovely contrast between a deeply browned exterior and pink interior.
- A weight of around 800–900g per steak. I use two for four people, although you could stretch them further with plenty of sides.
Don’t worry if you can’t find côte de boeuf. A thick-cut boneless ribeye is a good alternative, although you’ll need to adjust the cooking time according to its thickness.
Tips for Cooking a Great Sharing Steak
Cooking a thick-cut steak is relatively straightforward, but a few details make a big difference. My preferred approach is to sear it in a hot pan before finishing it in the oven.
- Pat the steaks thoroughly dry. Surface moisture makes it harder to develop a good crust, so use kitchen paper to remove any excess before seasoning.
- Season generously. A steak this thick needs a good amount of salt. I season mine just before cooking, then rub it with a little vegetable oil.
- Get your pan nice and hot. You want a deep golden-brown crust, which develops through the Maillard reaction. Sear the steaks for around 2 minutes per side, including the fat edges where possible. If your pan isn’t big enough for both, work in batches.
- Use a meat thermometer. After searing, I finish the steaks in a 200°C (180°C fan) oven with generous knobs of confit garlic butter. For medium-rare, I aim to remove them when the thickest part reaches around 48–50°C, allowing for the temperature to rise as they rest. Cooking times will vary depending on thickness, so a thermometer is far more reliable than the clock.
- Don’t skip the rest. Give the steaks 10–15 minutes before slicing. This allows the temperature to even out and helps the meat retain more of its juices.
One final tip: add another knob of that gorgeous garlic butter while the steaks rest. It’ll melt over the crust and mingle with the resting juices, creating the most delicious sauce for spooning over the sliced meat.
What to Serve with Confit Garlic Butter Steak
I love serving this steak with crispy roast potatoes and something green. The potatoes soak up all that melted garlic butter, while the vegetables provide a welcome contrast to the richness of the meat.
A few of my favourite accompaniments:
- Crispy rosemary roast potatoes: Golden, crunchy potatoes are particularly good with the garlic butter and steak juices.
- Charred tenderstem broccoli or asparagus: A little char brings out their sweetness and balances the richness of the steak.
- A simple rocket salad: Dress it with lemon juice, olive oil and parmesan for something fresh and peppery.
- Buttery mashed potatoes: If you’re after something especially comforting, you really can’t go wrong with mash.
More Steak Recipes You’ll Love
If you enjoyed this herby confit garlic butter steak, here are a few more steak recipes to try:
- Spicy Garlic Butter Steak: Juicy ribeye finished with a punchy gochujang garlic butter.
- Mojo Marinated Skirt Steak: A Cuban-inspired marinade with citrus, garlic, cumin and a little smoky chilli.
- Miso Nori Butter Steak: Steak finished with an umami-rich butter made with miso and nori.
Herby Confit Garlic Butter Steak
We rarely eat red meat at home but there’s something so special about a big sharing steak, seared to absolute perfection and finished with a herby confit garlic butter. I prefer sharing steaks to individual ones when cooking for a crowd because you can build up a very well-charred crust while keeping the insides beautifully pink.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- For the confit garlic:
- 2 large garlic bulbs
- 500ml extra-virgin olive oil, or more to cover
- For the herby confit garlic butter
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tbsp confit garlic oil
- 20g fresh leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
- For the steak:
- 2 x bone-in ribeye steaks/côte de boeuf (800-900g each)
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Making the herby confit garlic butter:
- Heat your oven to 150°C / fan 130°C.
- Break the garlic bulbs into individual cloves and soak them in boiling hot water for 5 minutes, then drain. This will cause the skins to swell up, which makes them incredibly easy to remove with a paring knife or even your fingers.
- Place the peeled garlic cloves in a small baking dish or oven-proof saucepan and top with olive oil. You want them to be fully submerged. Cover and bake for 1 hour, or until golden and tender.
- Allow the garlic and oil to cool briefly, then strain the oil into a clean container. Refrigerate the infused oil promptly and use within 4 days, or freeze for longer storage. Do not store homemade garlic-infused oil at room temperature.
- Smoosh the garlic cloves and place them in a mixing bowl with the softened butter, parsley, rosemary and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then mash with a fork until well-incorporated.
- Scrape the butter onto some greaseproof paper and roll into a cylinder. You can store it in the fridge for up to a week or pop it into the freezer, where it will keep for up to 2 months.
- Cooking the steaks:
- Remove the steaks from the fridge 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking. Pat them thoroughly dry with kitchen paper.
- Heat your oven to 200°C / fan 180°C. Generously season your steaks with salt and rub them with a splash of vegetable oil.
- Heat a large skillet or griddle pan over high heat until smoking hot, then add the steaks and sear for 2 minutes on each side.
- Top each steak with a generous knob of confit garlic butter and transfer to the oven. Cook until the thickest part reaches approximately 48-50°C for medium-rare, checking with a meat thermometer. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your steaks, so use the temperature rather than a fixed 20-minute cooking time as your guide. Add another knob of butter during the final 5 minutes.
- Take the steaks out of the oven, add a final knob of confit garlic butter and leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice the steaks against the grain then serve with your sides of choice – enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes more herby confit garlic butter than you need. You can halve the butter ingredients if you prefer, although I love having extra to use on other dishes. Refrigerate the finished butter promptly and use within 4 days, or freeze in portions for longer storage.
