A good steak rub for grill use can take your steak from delicious to out-of-this-world phenomenal. We love talking about great steak seasonings and how to choose the right cut of steak, so we’ve included the five best steak rub for grill recipes you can make yourself below.
1. Texas Roadhouse Copycat
This recipe from The Cozy Cook is a dupe for the steak rub for grill used at Texas Roadhouse. If you’re a fan of the steak there, you’ll appreciate this multi-ingredient approach. It combines traditional favorites like garlic and brown sugar with spices you probably wouldn’t have thought would be good: turmeric and chili powder!
2. Classic Steak Rub
This rub from Allrecipes is similar, minus the turmeric, and adds oregano, smoked paprika, and cumin for a more savory, earthy taste that pairs perfectly with the brown sugar and caramelized grill marks.
3. Bobby Flay’s “World Famous” Steak Rub
If you’re a Bobby Flay fan, check out his “world famous” steak rub, used at several of his restaurants. Flay combines cumin and coriander–two great partners in the spice world–with dry mustard and Spanish paprika.
To take things up a notch or ten, he also includes chile de arbol, which lends an incredible smokey, rich heat that you can’t get otherwise. The chiles are optional, so you can skip them if you’re not a fan of spicy, but try not to leave them out because they’re worth it!
4. Best Ever Steak Rub
If you prefer lighter, more herbal notes in your steak rub for grill, try this recipe from A Whole New Twist. It uses steak rub standards like paprika and onion powder, but also includes rosemary, thyme, lemon pepper, and crushed red chili flakes.
Make sure, however, when you use rosemary, that you get cracked or crushed rosemary, and not whole, as you won’t enjoy chewing the spikey leaves when you’re biting into your juicy steak!
5. Bon Appetite’s Coffee Rub
Finally, this recipe from Bon Appetit calls for a dynamic new ingredient–finely ground coffee! The coffee’s acidic punch combines impressively with the coriander, hot smoked Spanish paprika, and ground ginger for something that’s incredibly exciting.