Rib Eye Steak Marinade

I have a small love affair with this rib eye steak marinade. I wasn’t always a meat eater, though. If you’ll allow me a quick tangent, I was once an uber-enthusiastic vegan, but loads of food allergies forced me back to my original meaty ways (shush, militant vegan peanut gallery!). I wasn’t necessarily against eating meat; rather, I was against the intensive farming practices that are terribly cruel to animals and unhealthy to the humans that consume these poor, abused creatures.

Fortunately, my in-laws raise their own livestock which live a healthy, happy life until the day the axe falls, so a lot of the issues I had with eating meat were conveniently quelled once I got married. This means that we have 300 pounds of various red meats in the freezer, including beef, lamb, goat, and alpaca. This also means that I’ve had to become very creative when it comes to preparing meat, because you can only have so many burgers and cube steaks before returning to veganism in the name of sheer boredom.

As such, I’ve become pretty adept at the art of marinading. I haven’t followed a recipe in ages, preferring to create custom mixes depending on what’s in my fridge that day. This is one such attempt, and it was really f**king good. It’s now one of my favorite rib eye steak recipes (or any steak, really).

Rib Eye Steak Marinade

1 cup apple juice (preferably organic and non-pasteurized)
1/4 cup soy sauce (or wheat-free tamari for you gluten free folks)
1/4 cup chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (black will do fine)
2 – 1lb bone-out rib eye steaks

Mix everything together in a bowl and let sit for one hour on the counter, stirring twice during this sitting period. Add steaks to a zip-top bag and pour in marinade. Seal the bag, making sure to remove as much air as possible to increase the amount of surface area covered by flavoring. Place the bag in your refrigerator and let sit overnight – or preferably a full 24 hours – making sure to flip it over halfway through the marinading process.

From here you can do whatever you want. I like to grill or roast it, depending on the weather. To roast, place steaks in a baking sheet, making sure to smother with the onion and garlic that were in the bag. Roast in a preheated 425F oven until the internal temperature reaches 155F, then lest rest for five minutes before slicing into thin strips.

Seriously, this is one of the tastier rib eye steak marinades that I’ve come up with. Try it and let me know what you think!