Grilled Skirt Steak

Name: Grilled Skirt Steak
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ pound skirt steak; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce; 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

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Skirt steak is not particularly tender, but its intense beefy flavor makes up for its textural shortcomings.

Briefly marinated in an olive oil mixture and quickly grilled, it's the perfect cut for meat lovers!

While I enjoy tender cuts of beef such as fillet mignon, ribeye steak, or New York Strip, the big beefy flavor of some tougher cuts such as flat iron steak, London broil, and flank steak is sometimes even more pleasing.

I love grilling a skirt steak because it's easy and stress-free. As long as you marinate it (just briefly) and grill it quickly, you'll be rewarded with a steak that might be a bit chewy but is very flavorful.

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Ingredients
Variations
Instructions
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
Serving Suggestions
Storing Leftovers
More Beef Recipes
Foodie Newsletter
Recipe Card
Comments

Ingredients

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

Skirt steak: Most weigh 1.5 to 2 pounds. They are readily available in most grocery stores.
Olive oil: Used for the marinade. This flavorful oil, combined with vinegar and spices, adds great flavor to the meat.
Red wine vinegar: The vinegar helps break down the meat fibers. I also like its sharp flavor.
Hot pepper sauce: It doesn't make the steak spicy. It simply adds an extra layer of flavor. It contains vinegar, too, so that's another tenderizing ingredient.
To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and ground cumin.

Variations

I love this recipe as is and almost always make it as written. But if you'd like to vary the basic recipe, using different spices is the best way to do that.

One spice that I didn't mention here but I really like is chili powder. Sometimes, all I use for the marinade is olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, a teaspoon of garlic powder, and a tablespoon of chili powder. It's delicious!

Instructions

Here's an overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. The detailed instructions are included in the recipe card below.

Cut the steak in half crosswise into two parts. This will make the ultra-long steak easier to handle and help it better fit on your grill.

In a small bowl, mix the marinade ingredients. Rub the mixture on both sides of the steak, massaging the marinade into the meat. Let the meat marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat your grill on medium-high heat. Grill the steak for about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare (2 minutes per side on a dual-contact grill).

Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice the steak across the grain and serve.

Expert Tips

This thin steak only needs a few minutes on the grill. You definitely don't want to overcook it. Three minutes per side should work for medium-rare (though it's worth noting that the CDC recommends cooking meat, poultry, and eggs thoroughly.)
I use a dual-contact electric grill, so I can make this recipe anytime, regardless of the weather. And it's ready even faster than on a regular grill. But you can use any grill you like, including an outdoor grill or a grill pan.
Because the tough muscle fibers run along the width of this steak, and you should sever them when you slice the meat, you can't just slice it crosswise as you usually would. Instead, you cut it into three or four manageable pieces, rotate each 90 degrees, and slice it, as shown in the images below. This way, you'll cut the meat across the grain, not with the grain, making the steak easier to chew.

Turning a piece of steak 90 degrees in order to slice it against the grain.

Recipe FAQs

Can I skip marinating the steak?

It's best to marinate it for at least 30 minutes. The vinegar in the marinade helps soften the tough muscle fibers that run through this cut.

Are skirt and flank steak the same?

They're very similar. Both are tough, flavorful, thin cuts with prominent muscle fibers.

The main difference is that in a flank steak, the fibers run lengthwise, and in a skirt steak, they run along the width of the cut.

Another thin cut of steak that I make often is flat iron steak. That part comes from the shoulder of the animal. It's well-marbled, less fibrous, and more tender.

How do you make skirt steak tender?

I have four tips for you:
1. Use a marinade that contains vinegar and massage it into the meat. This helps break down the tough muscle fibers.
2. Cook the steak briefly on high heat. Aim for medium-rare.
3. Let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it.
4. Slice it thinly across the grain.

Serving Suggestions

This is a truly versatile main dish that pairs well with many sides, but since I cook it on the grill, I like to serve it with grilled vegetables, such as:

It's also excellent with salads, such as cucumber tomato salad, arugula salad, asparagus salad, and broccoli salad. In the photo below, I served it with the simplest salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing:

Skirt steak is served with a side salad.

Storing Leftovers

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to four days.

Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave at 50% power. Sliced leftovers are also delicious cold in a steak salad or served with quick pickles.

In fact, I prefer to eat them cold, as reheating takes the steak from medium-rare to medium-well. In the photo below, I served it cold with leftover roasted green beans (also served cold, like antipasti):