This Reverse Sear Cowboy Steak is made with a thick piece of cowboy steak, grapeseed oil, butter, garlic, thyme and baked and seared to perfection.

Your Cowboy Steak should have excellent marbling throughout the entire piece. The marbling, or the fat, are the white lines that run through the steak. This is fat that renders down, adding flavor and tenderness to the meat as you cook it. The bone will give it so much flavor as well. I promise this steak will taste like restaurant quality steak and you won’t have to pay the price of eating it at a steakhouse!
When cooking steak, you want to measure the temperature before you cut it. For rare it is 125°F. If you prefer medium-rare it is 135°F. For medium it is 145°F. For medium-well it is 150°F and well done is 160°F (highly suggest you don’t go to well done). Always let your beef rest after cooking and seal it well. I like waiting 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. When you do slice, cut against the grain, which are the little lines running through the beef, so you will cut in the opposite direction.
If you like this steak, feel free to check out my Mexican Picadillo and my Milanesa!
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Bone-in Rib Eye/Cowboy steak
- Salt
- Garlic
- Butter
- Thyme
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Pat the steak dry with paper towel, and generously season with salt on all sides of the steak. You want to salt the steak one hour before cooking per inch thick the steak is. This means if I am cooking a 2 inch steak, I will salt my steak 2 hours before cooking. Some people even salt the steak overnight and this will bring in the most flavor!
- Transfer the steak to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet, and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the temperature reaches 125°F for medium-rare. Adjust the bake time if you like your steak more well done.
- In a cast iron, heat the grapeseed oil over high heat until smoking. Do not use olive oil as the smoke point is lower.
- Sear the steak for 1 minute and then flip.
- Add the butter, garlic, and thyme and swirl in the pan until the butter melts. Transfer herbs and garlic on top of steak and baste the steak using a large spoon. Keep basting for 1 minute and baste the other side for 30 seconds.
- Place the steak on a cutting board and wrap it in aluminum foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting.
Hint: Check the internal temperature (should be 125°F) before adding onto grill pan.
Substitutions
Rib eye: A rib eye and a cowboy steak is the same cut of meat. I would definitely get the steak bone in for best taste.
Garlic: The garlic infuses when you baste the steak. I would jut smash the garlic instead of mincing.
Herbs: You can use a variation of thyme, rosemary, or sage.
Variations
Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.
- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.
- Kid friendly - add on a sandwich like a steak sandwich.
Check out this Cast Iron Carne Asada (Skirt Steak)!
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!
Storage
This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
Reverse Sear Cowboy Steak
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
This Reverse Sear Cowboy Steak is made with a thick piece of cowboy steak, grapeseed oil, butter, garlic, thyme and baked and seared to perfection.
Ingredients
- 1 thick cowboy steak
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Pat the steak dry with paper towel, and generously season with salt on all sides of the steak. You want to salt the steak one hour before cooking per inch thick the steak is. This means if I am cooking a 2 inch steak, I will salt my steak 2 hours before cooking. Some people even salt the steak overnight and this will bring in the most flavor!
- Transfer the steak to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet, and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the temperature reaches 125°F for medium-rare. Adjust the bake time if you like your steak more well done.
- In a cast iron, heat the grapeseed oil over high heat until smoking. Do not use olive oil as the smoke point is lower.
- Sear the steak for 1 minute and then flip.
- Add the butter, garlic, and thyme and swirl in the pan until the butter melts. Transfer herbs and garlic on top of steak and baste the steak using a large spoon. Keep basting for 1 minute and baste the other side for 30 seconds.
- Place the steak on a cutting board and wrap it in aluminum foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- For rare it is 125°F.
- For medium-rare it is 135°F.
- For medium it is 145°F.
- For medium-well it is 150°F
- Well done is 160°F (highly suggest you don’t go to well done).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Reverse Sear
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 207
- Sodium: 72 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.5 g
- Protein: 34.5 g
- Cholesterol: 66 mg
Leave a Reply