Perfect, Easy Ribeye Steak butter basted in a cast iron skillet with rosemary. An error-proof medium rare in 20 minutes including rest time.
When it comes to Beef Recipes, a hearty perfectly cooked steak will impress every time. This is an easy and classic steak preparation, just like popular favorites Cube Steak with Gravy, Steak Au Poivre, and Easy Salisbury Steak.
The Perfect Ribeye Steak without a grill is made in a cast iron skillet and basted with herbs and butter. Yep, in a pan! Plus if you don’t want to use herbs you can even just add salt and pepper and use this A1 Steak Sauce (Copycat) recipe.
Cast Iron Skillet Ribeye Steak only takes five minutes to actually cook. It will actually take you longer to get the oven preheated than to cook your meal. The key to this recipe is getting a beautiful sear on each side of the steak before finishing in a super hot oven. The combination of searing the outside and letting the oven finish the cooking will give you a delicious char on the outside, with perfectly medium rare tender meat inside.
Serve Ribeye Steak with your favorite steakhouse sides like Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans with Bacon, and Dinner Rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
The searing in butter is, let’s face it, pure flavor. Getting a good sear on the steak is essential to the flavor, then the oven finishes the cooking process on an even heat.
If you were to cook the steak through in your skillet the direct heat would overcook the outside of the steak to the point of toughness. This would result in a less tender crust on the steak as well as it being much drier. The red center runs through most of the steak because of the even cooking of the indirect oven heat finishing off the cooking.
Cast Iron Skillets are great conductors of high, even heat. If using a thin skillet you could scorch the pan or the steak. They also are nonstick when heated properly so the steak won’t stick to the pan. Finally, they’re perfect for finishing a dish in the oven.
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How to Select the Perfect Ribeye Steak
- Ask your butcher for a cut from the center of the rack if possible. The bigger the deckle, the more flavorful.
- The deckle is the chef’s cut of the whole cow. It is the rib cap that wraps around the top of the steak, over the center eye of the steak.
- Ask for a thick, 1 ½ inch cut of steak. You want a good thick cut to give you time to sear your steak and finish in the oven without overcooking.
- Season with a Kosher salt or sea salt and coarse ground black pepper. Using table salt and black pepper is just not going to give you the same flavor and will actually taste too salty.
- Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Cut the meat against the grain as you can see in the picture below.
More Easy, Error Proof Beef Recipes
- Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Flank Steak
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef (Sliceable!)
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Mongolian Beef
Tools used in the Making of this Ribeye Steak
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Pig Tail Flipper: I use this to flip the steak without damaging the meat and it’s super easy. I use this tool EVERY time I cook something that requires flipping, it is amazing.
How to Store Ribeye Steak
- Serve: Do not leave cooked Ribeye Steak at room temperature longer than 2 hours before refrigerating.
- Store: Once cooled, store Ribeye Steak in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a pan to avoid overcooking, or use cold leftovers for a steak salad.
- Freeze: Once cooled, wrap tightly in a layer of plastic wrap then foil to avoid freezer burn. Ribeye Steak will freeze for 2-3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Ingredients
- 2 16- ounce ribeye steaks , 1 ½ inch thick
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 3 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Add the butter to a cast iron skillet on high heat.
- Add the Kosher salt and black pepper to the steaks and add to the pan.
- Sear the steaks on high heat for 3 minutes on each side.
- Add the rosemary sprigs to the top of the steaks and spoon over the butter onto the steaks.
- Put the pan with the steaks into the oven for 4-5 minutes (if you'd like you can flip them halfway through – I don't and you can see how mine have cooked through).
- Rest for five minutes before serving.
Video
Nutrition
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
This was phenomenal!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Tanner.
The best steak i even cook in the oven
Hello! I don’t have a cast iron pan but dutch oven instead … will that work?
If that’s all you have, that’ll work in a pinch though your sear might not be exactly the same. Good luck!
This was the easiest steak I have ever made!!!! Steak was the perfect Medium. Tender and juicy! Made this for my Dad, I left out the Rosemary and thyme. He doesn’t like them. Tossed in 2 extra garlic cloves. It came out amazing!!!!!! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Kathryn.
This turned out perfect. It was so good, my wife wanted seconds, so I let her eat mine.
Thank you so much! Do you heat the skillet up in the oven first or just on the stove over high heat? If the latter, do you put the butter in when the skillet is room temp or when it’s heated?
Thank you again!!
You’ll want to add the butter to the cast iron skillet and then get it to high heat. No need to heat up the skillet in the oven prior. Hope this helps! Enjoy.
What would be the cooking times for a med well steak
Probably 8-10 minutes.
Well I have spent WAY too much time tonight looking at various options to cook my Ribeyes tonight — and this is the winner!! Love the comments. My steaks are 2″ thick though … so will give it a little more time all around. But can’t wait to try!! Will post after the fact unless you have a suggestion on thickness of steaks.
So glad you found this recipe, Deb.
I didn’t let my steaks get to room temperature, but left them searing 2 minutes on the first side, 45 seconds on the other side. Then followed instructions for oven. Best steak I’ve ever made. Highly recommend (and happy to use my cast iron skillet for yet another recipe)
Absolutely fantastic!!!! I am new to cast iron and this recipe was absolutely easy and yummy !!!! I had no smoke in my kitchen !!!! And the rib eyes were delicious!!!!! TYVVVVVM!!!!!!
So my husband said that this was the best steak I’ve ever made. It really was perfect. Thank you.
This was my second attempt at cooking steak in cast iron skillet. The steaks were perfect —juicy and tender. The Rosemary with the butter took it over the top (for me); delicious! My family absolutely loved it! They keep asking for more.
Thank you so much.
It doesn’t say anywhere if you’re supposed to rest these in the cast iron when you pull it out of the oven or if you’re supposed to move it to a different plate and let it rest
Yes, remove it to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Enjoy!
This was my first time ever using my cast iron pan and searched recipes until I found this one. I am so pleased with this recipe and with the way our ribeye came out. Cooked to perfection and loved the flavor of the rosemary to the steak. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
So glad you decided to give it a try, Donis.
This is by far the absolute BEST steak I have ever cooked and tasted! I always thought that steak was meant to be grilled but after trying your recipe in the cast iron pan, I can’t imagine ever going back to the grill. The addition of the rosemary is amazing! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you decided to give it a try, Diane.
Welp…. first time cooking with cast iron skillet and I loved it. But…lesson learned about how fast things cook in. Seared the steaks perfectly but then (without my reading glasses lol) I thought I was to leave steak in oven 14-15 minutes. Ughhhh. Just happened I pulled it out after 10 minutes— they were just under well done. Anyway still good but lesson learned. My family likes steak medium plus.
Thanks for all your great recipes. Can’t wait to try this again.
I’m glad you decided to try something new. It’s always about learning and trying new things. Good for you!
Perfect!!! Thank you for this! So simple but so perfect and I was a little hesitant as I’ve never done steaks this way. I “was”
a grill outside or nothing…This completely changed my mind! I used 1 inch, 12 oz boneless Ribeyes and this came out perfect! Cut about 2 min total out of cooking time & they came to perfect Medium temp as they rested. Marinated in Lawry’s 15 min Marinade for 1 hour then pat dry, before seasoning. Tenderized beyond belief and that is my go to marinade for meats as it still allows the flavor of the meat be the star & not overpower.
Yes…sear on stovetop in the cast iron skillet them move whole skillet to the 500 preheated oven. (I almost missed that part in the directions) The only thing I added was a little Montreal Steak Seasoning on the steaks with the s & p and stirred around 1/4 cup chopped purple/red onion in the butter for about 30 seconds then spooned on top of steaks during the flipped 30 second sear. This is with the rosemary and butter before it went in the oven! Completely perfect 158 degree medium Ribeyes! Thank you for this recipe & how to because I will never make a steak indoors any other way from now on!
Can’t say it enough-Perfect & Thank you!
I loved reading this! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. I really appreciate the 5 stars.
This was the easiest and BEST recipe – so easy and PERFect pink, evenly cooked. Wow. Thank for such easy to follow instructions. This will be my go-to. Every.Time.
So happy to see this, Lisa! Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it.
This is a great recipe for the perfect steak. I love the tips and explanations for the cooking procedures. I used some of the butter to baste the steak while resting. Delicious!
My steaks are only 7oz each. How does that change the timing or anything else in the recipe?
Because they’re much smaller and most likely thinner, you may need to reduce the time by about 40%. I hope that helps.
Is it a good idea to burn the butter away high heat?
Just make sure to have your vent on but this is the way I’ve always done it to perfection.
Do you bring the steaks to room temperature before searing, or are they supposed to still be cold from the fridge?
To help them cook evenly, I would leave them out on the counter for 20-30 minutes before cooking. Enjoy!
I have never used a cast iron skillet before and I thought I had followed the directions but when I added my butter into the hot skillet it burst into flames lol. I feel like I did something very wrong
Oh no! You want to add the butter to the cast iron skillet and then get it to high heat. Hopefully, that’ll help for next time.
Thank you for sharing this super easy recipe and technique. I am new to cast iron cooking. I was looking for an easy recipe to bake ribeyes. The flavor was superb and so simple and it literally takes just minutes to fix this.
You’re so welcome! Glad they turned out. Let me know if you try some of my other cast iron recipes!
We almost threw out our cast iron skillet. Luckily I decided to recondition it and then I found this recipe. Following this recipe gave us the best homemade steak we’ve ever had. I will even say better than some restaurant steaks we’ve had. I’ll be cooking steak this way for years to come. Along with the thyme, can you add garlic in full cloves?
Thank goodness you decided to save your skillet – they are just so amazing and add so much flavor. I would say absolutely on the garlic cloves!
Is it okay to use a bone-in ribeye? Any changes? Thanks!
Yes, just add 1 minute of cooking to each side. Enjoy!
It should be absolutely illegal to cook a steak medium or well. So painful to read those comments….great recipe btw. Thank you.
one of the best and simplest steak recipes i have ever seen!
I just joined Code Red – diet program and am eating foods I’ve always stayed away from. Decided to try a steak and found your site. It was so, so easy to make this simple recipe. Loved, loved it! Got a little smokey in the house as a result and had to listen to fire alarm for a bit till I could fan the smoke out through doors. Who cares. Great Job – thank you!!!
Oh no!! At least it was worth it, lol!
We enjoyed the steak. Wasn’t sure whether to sear the steak on the stove-top or in the oven. I chose, ‘in the oven.’ I thought I should have more of a crust. They were good, never-the-less.
Sear typically means stove top but if they were good then that’s all that matters. 🙂
When they rest, do you keep them covered on a plate?
Yes, you can tent loosely if you need it to rest longer.
Question: If i like my steak more medium, how much longer should I cook it? Other than that, I thought it was great. Also how long should I cook it for the people in my household who want it medium well?
I would recommend 5-7 for medium and 8-10 for medium well. Hope this helps!
Unbelievably good! I’ve tried a lot of different recipes for steak, but this one delivers a perfect steak every time. I crusted mine with fleur de sel, fresh cracked pepper, and tossed in both fresh rosemary and thyme into the pan while the steak was searing. An extra tablespoon of butter on top of each steak while it’s resting makes it next level. Yum. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Ruby! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know.
This method is great for cooking steaks indoors. I do it all the time. Cast iron cooking is fantastic, the only issue is it tends to smoke up the house and set off the alarm. Make sure to have a window open or fan going.
Good tip!
I just commented about that. I need an oven hood for my stove, I guess. My poor cat had to go outside as she was so scared from the alarm. Great steak.
Made this for dinner today, excellent instructions! I’m new to cast iron cooking, this is exactly what I was looking for. Simple and delicious! They only thing I would do differently next time is cook it in the oven a little less, maybe 3 minutes but that’s just because I like steak a little more rare.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Question: should I not try this cooking method if I don’t have a cast iron skillet.
You should be okay as long as you’re using an oven safe skillet. Good luck!
If I’m Using a smaller size cast-iron skillet and just cooking one ribeye steak should I go half on the ingredients such as the butter salt and pepper or still use the same amount
My husband does not like Rosemary can I do fresh Garlic
Sure 🙂
Thanks for the rib eye timing on it tonight wish me luck.
In order to properly heat the cast iron pan, I would suggest putting it in the oven and remove when the oven reaches 500 degrees. This will ensure hot and uniform heating of the pan.
Hello, you said, An extra minute for medium and 2 extra minutes for medium well ?
How would you get one well done with your method?
I would say an extra 3 minutes should give you well. 🙂
Hi,
Is 500 broil because my bake doesnt go that high
Thanks
My suggestion would be to cook it at 450 degrees and check it at the same time….it may need an additional minute.
Hi,
Is 500 broil or bake?
Bake 🙂
About to try this recipe at this very moment, I’m sure it will be delish! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
All I have is cast iron griddle and cast iron Dutch oven. Will either of those work??
I would think the cast iron dutch oven would be better because the flat surface would be better for browning. Good luck!
Delicious steak recipe. The meat was very tender. It melts in your mouth. I have never had a steak so
good.
Better than our local steakhouse! Best ribeye I’ve ever had!
Thank you so much Linda!!
Heat the cast iron skillet in the oven to ensure even heating; doing it on the stovetop won’t get the pan heated evenly. Just pop the skillet into the oven as you’re heating the oven, then take the pan out when the oven reaches 500 degrees and continue as you instructed by searing the steaks in butter and finishing cooking in the oven.
I have always had a grill. I just moved into an apartment which does not allow them. I tried your recipe already knowing I would hate the outcome! … I was pleased to learn how wrong I was. It came out perfect and to my surprise rare as I like it. Thank you!
I’m so glad you decided to give it a try, Tom!
If you want your steak more of a medium instead of medium rare, how much longer in the oven should i cook it?
I minute more on each side 🙂
Great recipe and great tips! What oil would you recommend to season a cast iron pan for 500 degF? Grape seed at 500 smoked, but steak was still excellent.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’d recommend flaxseed oil to season.
Did you leave the steaks in skillet and place in over or onto a baking pan
Yes 🙂
I prefer my steaks medium to medium well. How long will I need to cook them in the oven to reach my desired doneness?
Thanks!
An extra minute for medium and 2 extra minutes for medium well 🙂 Enjoy!
I totally agree that this method is the BEST! Can’t wait to try the rosemary!
Thanks Dorothy!
This lucks delicious, but my stove is an electric glass top so I can’t use cast iron. Do you think it’s worth trying with my regular stainless steel cookware? I’m hesitant to just give it a try given the price of beef… Thanks for any help!
If your cookware is good quality and you’re able to get it really, really hot, this should still work. You just want to get the best possible sear you can. Good luck!
I have an electric glass top and have always used my cast iron on it and just used my new Field pan on it, and wow, is it awesome. It helps that I always use grass fed beef from small farms. Much better than supermarket meat.
I also have electric glass top and use my cast iron all the time. It’s fine.