What if I told you this dinner comes together in under 30 minutes? Flat Iron Steak with Lemon, Soy and Crispy Garlic is tender, juicy and did I mention simple? Now with that said, you do have to marinate the steak a minimum of 4 hours but you can marinade all day and it’s only 4 ingredients. Easy to do in the morning, and ready to go when you get home from work. Make it easier by using frozen rice and veggies, and bam, done. I love rare steak, but you can certainly cook this to your desired doneness. But this the best part of this? Those charred, crispy garlic pieces..the BEST!

lemon soy flat iron steak with crispy garlic in bowl with rice and broccoli

Years ago, one of our friend hangouts with a great local Sushi restaurant named Kifune. It’s since closed, but it was a regular of us regulars 😂. We would close the place down and stay way after closing time. At that point, our very dear friend and Sushi Chef and we, the rowdy bunch carried on until dawn. How we miss those days! In any case, one of the most memorable dishes was the Asparagus in lemon, soy and garlic. They used to char it good with the garlic and it was divine. This steak is inspired by that dish. I’ve also used flat iron steak that is a flavorful and can withhold the marinade. Flank steak is excellent for this as is hangar steak. Top sirloin works too. So as you can see, the recipe is very versatile.

How to prepare Flat Iron Steak with Lemon, Soy and crispy garlic

For this recipe, I used two, 6oz Flat Iron steaks from Butcher Box. If you are not familiar with Butcher Box, this is a home delivery service for meats, fish and poultry. Two things I like about the service: the meats are grass fed and humanely raised. Second, they are portioned. We have been eating less animal protein, but better quality when we do. The bonus is it is delivered to the house. (Not a paid advertisement nor do I receive anything from Butcher Box. We just really like the service.)

Back to the flat iron steaks, so for a total of 12 oz, I used half a cup of low sodium soy sauce, the juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil, like La Tourangelle, 3 large cloves of garlic, sliced. I add a pinch of kosher salt when I am grilling the meat, just a pinch will do.

I marinated it for 4 hours today, but I have gone as long as 8 hours and it’s just as tasty. For longer hours, place in a ziplock bag so that marinade covers the meat evenly. I was home for this one, so I flipped the steaks midway.

flat iron steak, lemon, soy, garlic and sesame oil on plate — Flat iron steak, low sodium soy sauce, lemon, garlic and toasted sesame oil

flat iron steak with garlic slices — Flat iron steak, low sodium soy sauce, lemon, garlic and toasted sesame oil

When you are ready to cook, I prefer to cook them on a very hot cast iron skillet or stovetop grill pan. If you grill outside, use a grill mat so you don’t lose your garlic pieces. They are the best part 🙂

How long should I grill the steaks?

Place steaks on grill for 4-5 minutes initially so you get a good sear or char.
Flip steaks over and continue to grill 3 to 5 minutes for medium-rare or internal temperature of 135 degrees.
5-7 minutes for medium or 140 degrees
8 to 10 minutes for medium-well or 150 degrees.
Once removed from the pan or grill, allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then slice against the grain of the meat. For more on that, click here to see our tutorial in our Two Ingredient Tri tip recipe.

Serve with steamed rice and steamed Broccoli. And friends, I always have frozen rice and veggies in my fridge to make the weeknight dinner shuffle easier. There is no shame in this, we all work long days, even those of us who like to cook need help putting dinner on the table weeknights.

lemon soy flat iron steak with crispy garlic with chopsticks

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