RIBEYE Steak on Grill
This is an incredibly good tasting All-American Ribeye Steak on Grill recipe. Whether you’ve cooked steaks before or not, this will give you a fresh look on how to grill them in the future. This is a part of our Grilling on Charcoal article and is listed in our Grilling, Beef, Holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Main Dishes categories.
Ribeye Steak on Grill Overview
There are a few key things to know and do for this recipe for ribeye steak on the grill. There are a few changes, but not much, when cooking a steak on charcoal grill or gas grill. And we’ll cover those.
How to Grill a Ribeye Steak
In starting on how to grill a ribeye steak, let’s talk about the spices. These are some commonly classic spices in every home.
This recipe is listed on our Christmas Dinner Meals Ideas article, where you’ll also see other traditional and non-traditional fun recipes for main courses, sides, appetizers, salads, and breads.
How to Apply the Seasoning for Steak on the Grill
The amounts were chosen in order to ensure the flavor of the steak itself remains dominant while the seasonings beyond the salt and pepper will remain subtle. Even the amount of salt is low. When you apply this recipe’s spice mix (the rub), you definitely and literally rub them into the meat’s surface. You just sprinkle some of the spice mixture onto the meat and then rub them a bit deeper inward back-and-forth about 3 or 4 times. Then, flip them over and repeat with whatever remaining seasonings you have left over.
It’s not a marinade but it’s good if you can apply the rub about 15 minutes before it goes onto the grill. The best time to do the rub is before you go outside to ready the grill. That way it’s doing its work while you’re prepping and preheating the grill itself.
The Searing of the Ribeye Steaks
This next step is the initial high heat cooking phase of searing the steaks. There are 3 things that determine the length of time for searing the ribeye steaks:
- Thickness of the ribeye steaks
- Temperature of the Grill
- Distance from the direct heat source (e.g., charcoal or gas)
If the ribeye steak is about 1/3-inch to 1/2-inch thick, it should be seared for just about one minute on each side. If it’s in the range of 3/4-inch to a little over 1-inch thick, you’ll be searing for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. However, if your distance is extremely closer to the heat source, or if the temperature is much hotter, you’ll need to adjust the searing time down a bit so they don’t get excessively charred.
Steak on Grill Time and Steak on Grill Temperature
After searing, this is where the biggest changes take place. Grill Time remaining and Grill Temperature are the 2 factors that you now must individually decide every time you grill. And both are still dependent on the steaks’ thickness.
Steak on Grill Time
So, usually the thinner steaks (1/3 to 1/2-inch) will sear for 1 minute each side and finish grilling on direct heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side. The remaining cook time can still be done on direct heat but you are bound to closely check the internal temperature so avoid over cooking. Often, the final cook duration is about 2 to 8 minutes total. Also, this involves periodic turning the steaks over to prevent burning.
The average thick steaks (3/4-inch to 1-inch) will sear on direct heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side. They are then finished out for cooking time on indirect heat with the grill lid cover on. The remaining cook time varies but is about 8 to 15 minutes often.
Steak on Grill Temperature
Your grill temperature for preheating will nearly always be extremely high, while the grilling temperature will end up being lower. While it may require special gear to determine the grate temperature, overall, most grills only show the grill temp when the lid is covered.
Overall, you’ll be searing at the higher temps of 400 to 500°F. The thinner steaks will cook quickly on direct heat of around 400°F. You’ll be cooking the thicker steaks at a manageable temp within the range of 350-400°F with the lid covered. There might be times where it goes higher so you’ll want to “manage” that to get it at 400°F or below.
Better Homes and Gardens has more info on grill temperature control tips. These steaks were cooked easily on the Weber Performer Charcoal Grill. Read more at “How To Use Weber Performer Charcoal Grill“.
And, if you have to cook several sets of steaks, here’s our article on “How To Keep The Weber Charcoal Grill Hot” while grilling or smoking on a charcoal grill for longer periods of time.
Ribeye Steak on Gas Grill
Cooking a ribeye steak on gas grill is actually much easier to manage than a steak on charcoal grill. Here are the changes you might need to undertake with this recipe. When indirect heat is mentioned, your gas grill might not have any grill space to set the steak aside to avoid being directly over a gas flame. So, the solution for indirect heat being unavailable is one or more of these three options:
- You can cut the gas flame down lower.
- You can place some or all of the steaks on an upper shelf (e.g., the warming shelf), if you have that.
- Although not usually needed, another option is that you can consider leaving the lid open or partially open.
Side Dishes for Ribeye Steak
Here are some classic ideas of side dishes for ribeye steak. As the steak is a heavy main course, this is where you can either keep going lavishly heavy or you can balance it a bit with some lighter side dishes. These will also have our recipe links for your convenience.
- Baked Potatoes or Loaded Baked Potatoes
- Corn on the Cob on the grill or Corn on the Cob from the oven)
- Skillet Green Beans
- Fresh Green Beans with Potatoes
- Zucchini and Yellow Squash; read more about difference between zucchini and yellow squash
- Cantaloupe Salad
- Sliced Tomatoes with Cheese
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Easy Green Salad
- Lime Jello Salad
- Salad with Romaine Lettuce
- French fries from the Air Fryer
Nutritional Values of Ribeye Steak
The nutritional values are shown in the <Print Recipe> option.
Other Related Grill Recipes
If you want to try an excellent marinated steak recipe, it’s here on this list. It uses a separate marinade recipe, also shown. Also, see the other related recipes you might enjoy.
- Grilled Marinated Steak
- Steak Marinade Homemade Recipe
- Brats on the Grill
- Good Homemade Burgers For The Grill
- Chicken Fajitas on the Grill
- Shish Kabobs on the Grill
- Grilled Barbecued Chicken
- Pulled Pork on the Grill
- Barbecued Ribs from the Charcoal Grill
Conclusion
You now know how to make a steak that’s better than at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Our family of 10 brought it up and all confirmed it when we went there for a unique Thanksgiving celebration. So, this alternative main course is listed for a holiday dinner suggestion as shown in our Thanksgiving Dinner Meals Ideas article.
Recipe for Ribeye Steak on Grill
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Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. Ribeye Steak Better if you can get about ¾ or 1-inch thick.
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ⅛ tsp garlic powder just a pinch
- ¼ tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Cut: For 1½ lbs of ribeye steak, cut it in half. This is about 12 ozs each steak.1½ lbs. Ribeye Steak
- Rub: Mix the seasonings in a small bowl or dish. Rub onto each steak. If enough remains, rub on both sides of each steak.½ tsp salt, ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder
- Sear: Prepare a hot grill. Place the meat on direct heat initially for about 1-3 minutes, avoiding excessive charring. Flip it over, remaining on direct heat for another 1-3 minutes. For example, thin steaks are for 1 minute; thick (like 1-inch) are for 3 minutes.
- Finish: Check internal temp of the meat. If it needs further cooking, perform that now for steaks ½-inch or less, and remove when done.For thicker steaks, ¾-inch or more, position the meat on indirect heat (off to the side, not over direct heat) and close the grill cover. Check in about 5 minutes. When at 135°F, or your desired temp/doneness, remove and let them set for at least about 5-10 minutes before serving for cutting into them.
- Internal Temperature List for DonenessRare=125°F MEDIUM-RARE (Recommended)=135°F Medium=145°F Medium-Well=155°F Well-Done=165°F
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