It's a sunny day, your friends and family are around and you want to cook up an EPIC feed, well this latest grilled tomahawk steak has you covered! Not only is it a showstopper but you only need to keep your eye on one steak and there are plenty of awesome side dishes for your steak too!
sponsored by Dandelion Vineyards, McLaren Vale
Why I Love This Recipe
- it's fancy but simple
- feeds a crowd
- tastes amazing
- it's a GIANT steak - what's not to love!
Grilling a tomahawk steak has to be one of the best things to do on a Saturday night or a lazy Sunday afternoon. There is nothing better to feed a crowd than a large format piece of meat and a load of sides.
It all sounds "fancy" and, I guess it is as you can do this for any dinner party and impress them but in fact, it's relatively simple to make if you follow my instructions below.
Aside from this, a grilled tomahawk steak just tastes amazing - it's a fact that meat on the bone offers more flavour than meat off the bone. Cook this juicy steak to medium-rare, allow it to rest (more on that later) and your family/friends will be impressed.
What Is a Tomahawk Steak?
It's a big chunk of meat! That's about right, isn't it? If you want to be "correct" it's a bone-in ribeye or in Australia a bone in Scotch fillet.
I believe it's called tomahawk as it resembles the tomahawk axe. The addition of the bone in the meat adds an extra layer of flavour to your grilled steak and it certainly brings the WOW factor when carving one of these tableside. If you ain't a fan of the giant bone or it won't fit on your BBQ or pan then you can get a cut called OP steak or cowboy steak which is the same piece of meat, less the big bone sticking out the end.
Ingredients Needed For This Recipe
For grilled tomahawk steak all you really need is steak, oil and salt. You can add your favourite BBQ rub or pepper to the meat but for me, I like to let the meat be the hero and cook it just with salt. That way I can make an epic sauce or salsa on the side - such as this horseradish salsa verde and you can lather your meat in that.
Most butchers and supermarkets these days will carry tomahawk steaks so don't think it's impossible to find. Oil, we all have some of that kicking about and salt, well if your kitchen doesn't have salt do you even have a kitchen?
Reverse Searing A Steak
Now.......onto the technical part! You might think "it's just a big piece of meat" and "I'll just lash it on the BBQ for a little longer". Well, technically you aren't wrong but there is a method to cooking larger pieces of meat and my advice is to pay attention right now so you can have the perfect grilled tomahawk steak!
Start by removing the steak from the fridge about 40mins to 1 hour before you plan on cooking it. Drizzle it with olive oil and PLENTY of salt - be generous. Now set your oven or BBQ to about 110c as we are going to reverse sear this thing of beauty.
To reverse sear is to sear your steak at the end. I know this seems a little weird but, trust me. Cook your steak in the oven or on indirect heat for about 30-40 minutes (size depending) or until the internal temperature reaches about 45c (this is to cook it medium-rare). Remove the steak from the oven or BBQ and gently cover it in foil for about 10 minutes (the steak will continue to cook). Heat a cast-iron pan or your BBQ until it is smoking hot and then sear your steak for about 1 minute per side and at this stage, the internal temperature of your grilled tomahawk steak will be 52-55c.
Gently cover it in foil as you get the sides on the table and you are good to go. No need to let it rest as you did that part already earlier on. You will be left with a hot steak that because you cooked it slowly will be evenly cooked with a delicious crust to the meat from the hard sear.
Side Dishes For Steak
It wouldn't be a great family meal if there weren't some great sides to go with it. Check out these 3 sides that myself, my family and friends love having with our grilled tomahawk steak!
Horseradish Salsa Verde
It wouldn't be a beef dish without some form of horseradish in my opinion. Growing up in Ireland and Scotland we always had a little horseradish cream with our roast beef. Here I have whipped up a simple salsa verde and added some grated fresh horseradish. A spoon of horseradish cream will also work if like me there is a jar lurking in the fridge 😉 Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz it up as you gradually add the olive oil
Herb Roasted Kipflers
What kinda dinner would it be from an Irishman without potatoes? Kipflers are my favourite potatoes to just chop, season and roast, You get such a perfect crunchy outside and a lovely creamy fluffy interior. To spice things up a little I grabbed some softened butter, added plenty of garlic, dried herbs and chilli. Once the potatoes are cooked just chuck the butter in and let it coat the potatoes. It's that easy!
Dukkah Carrots, Carrot Top Pesto
Gotta have the veggies! Let's keep it simple and use a veggie that's always in season, doesn't cost a fortune and you can use every part of it too. Chop the carrot tops off, reserving for later and either wash or peel your dutch carrots. Drizzle with oil and maple syrup, add some salt and into the oven for about 20 minutes.
To make the pesto get about 1 cups worth of clean carrot tops, add some salt, lemon juice and olive oil and blitz it up. It's that simple. I finished these carrots with my homemade pistachio dukkah but any shop-bought dukkah will do. Gotta add that texture - at least that's what Mrs AnotherFoodBlogger always tells me!
Zucchini Fries
The kids will want fries, truth be told the adults too so why not try to sneak some green veg into them at the same time. These simple zucchini fries are made by chopping a zucchini into batons, doing the old flour, egg & breadcrumb thing and either roasting them for about 20 minutes @ 200c or shallow frying them for a matter of minutes.
Take the breadcrumbs up a few notches by adding parmesan and chopped parsley or a dried herb and it'll be a fight to see who can eat the most greens rather than the usual fight of "PLEASE eat your greens"
Tips, Tricks and FAQ's
Prep. The best tip is to be prepared. Have all your ingredients ready and equipment ready before you start and don't have to run around the kitchen at the last minute! This is the BEST tip or trick I can give you.
Of course but the reason I believe reverse searing is better is
1. You don't need to rest your meat at the end so it's hotter
2. As it rests you can crank up the heat of the BBQ but if you sear it first your BBQ is too hot to slowly cook the steak and you could be left with uneven cooking of the grilled tomahawk steak
Firstly, for me, medium-rare is the best way to eat meat but if you prefer yours cooked more or less then check out these temperatures below
Rare = 49-52c
Medium-Rare = 54-57c
Medium = 59 - 63c
Medium-Well = 65 - 69c
Well-Done = 71c +
The best answer I can give is to use a probe for internal temperature. This ain't a cooking competition and it's not against the rules so why not make your life easier! This 1.5kg steak took 40 minutes @ 110c to get to an internal temperature of 45c. I then gave it a hard sear for 1.5 minutes per side.
Couldn't be more important. As the meat rests the juices get reabsorbed by the meat giving you a juicy dinner! If you cut into a steak immediately after cooking the juices will run everywhere and it looks like a pool of blood on your plate and very quickly your steak will look dry and overcooked. Leave your meat to rest and once you cut into it you will have no pool and a perfectly juicy-looking piece of meat!
Shiraz & Steak Wine Pairing
This week we are featuring a wine from one of my favourite wineries here in Australia - Dandelion Vineyards. I have at this stage tasted most of the range and am yet to come across one I haven't bought more of!
The grilled tomahawk steak recipe was created with one of their wines in particular - their Firehawk Farm Shiraz. Firehawk farm is a 60-acre farm of which 40 acres are under vine. 3 wines are made from the fruit and you guessed correct the Firehawk Shiraz is one of them! Firehawk is actually a native bird that soars over the vineyard keeping many other animals at bay. This is also the site of their upcoming cellar door and restaurant where you may see a few AnotherFoodBlogger recipes featured!
The wine isn't for the faint-hearted and will develop and grow the more time it has in the bottle. If like me you struggle sometimes to do so I reckon 2-3 hours in the decanter will see you right. It works magically with the big smokey flavours of my grilled tomahawk steak as the fat in the meat offsets the tannins in the wine.
My "not so professional" review goes a little something like this. The nose offers mulberry, cassis, cedar and some forest floor. Drying tannins but they aren't overpowering, a little tobacco, nice acidity too. It's big, bold and going down easily with a grilled tomahawk steak. I'm excited to see how the wine will develop in the bottle and ultimately in my glass too 😉
Alternative Steak Recipes
Inspired by my latest recipe? Why stop there because there are plenty more exciting steak options to choose from below!
- Steak and Onion Soubise
- Moroccan Steak Pitas
- Steak, Tomato & Brie Crostini
- Scotch Fillet, Spicy Wedges & Blackberry Jus
Head to my site and search STEAK to find many more weird and wonderful creations 😉
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!!
Ingredients
Steak
- 1-1.5 kg tomahawk steak
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Horseradish Salsa Verde
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp capers
- 2 tbsp lemon
- 1 cup parsley
- 5 g chives
- 25 g horseradish
- 150 ml olive oil
- salt
Herbed Kipflers
- 8 kipflers potatoes
- 30 g butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- salt
Dukkah Carrots
- 1 bunch dutch carrots
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- dukkah
Carrot Top Pesto
- 1 cup carrot tops
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 150 ml olive oil
- salt
Zucchini Chips
- 3 zucchini
- 1 cup panko
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp parsley
- canola oil
Essential Tools
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- small food processor
- baking tray x 3 (potatoes, zucchini fries & carrots)
- BBQ
- tongs
- saucepan (if frying the zucchini fries)
- Measuring utensils
- meat thermometer
Instructions
Steak
- Remove steak from the fridge 1 hour prior to cooking, rub with oil and a generous amount of salt
- Light your BBQ and bring to 110c to cook on indirect heat. This means cooking your steak not directly over the coals
- Cook your steak for approx. 40 minutes (turning half way) on indirect heat until the internal temperature is 45c (for medium rare), remove steak from the BBQ, cover gently with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile add more coal to the BBQ or turn up the gas BBQ so that it is at 300c
- Once rested sear the steak for 1-2 minutes per side to form a nice crust and internal temperature is about 52-55c.
Salsa Verde
- Add all the ingredients (except oil) to a small blender and blitz, then gradually add the oil until incorporated – set aside in the fridge
Kipfler Potatoes
- Clean the potatoes and cut larger ones in half until they are evenly sized, drizzle with oil and salt and roast @ 200c for 30-35 minutes
- Meanwhile mix the butter ingredients together and set aside
- Once the potatoes are cooked toss them in the garlic butter and serve
Carrots
- Peel carrots, remove their tops (for the pesto) and drizzle with oil, maple syrup and salt
- Roast @ 200c for 20 minutes
- Sprinkle with dukkah to finish and serve on top of carrot top pesto
Carrot Top Pesto
- Place carrot tops, salt, & lemon juice in a blender and gradually add oil
Zucchini Fries
- Cut the zucchini into ¼ lengthways and then into pieces about the length of your index finger
- Get 4 plates and place flour on one, beaten egg on another and a mix of panko, parsley & parmesan on the 3rd. The breaded zucchini
- In a saucepan heat enough canola oil to deep fry the zucchinis to 180c, fry the zucchini in batches for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown
- Alternatively bake in the oven at 200c for 20 minutes until golden brown on a lined baking tray.
Order of Cooking
- Put the steak on the BBQ
- Make salsa verde, carrot top pesto and prep the rest of the vegetables.
- After 20 minutes of the steak cooking on the BBQ add the potatoes to the oven
- Once the steak is resting add the carrots to the oven and the zucchini fries if oven baking them
- Sear the steak for 1-2 minutes per side
- Fry the zucchini fries as the steak is being seared (requires the assistance of someone else!)
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- there are quite a few components to the recipe so the key is to read through it all first and to have your ingredients ready and it will all be relatively straightforward then!
- make sure to remove your meat from the fridge at least 30 mins before cooking but 1 hour is better and oil and heavily salt at this stage
- make sure to rest the meat prior to searing as that way as soon as you sear it you can serve it having a perfectly cooked and hot steak!
Gordon Ramsay
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope they will like it.
Shane
Love the styling, something I try hard to do for my f.b posts, except the darn food goes cold before I get to eat!
AnotherFoodBlogger
Yeah it ain't the easiest mate - the food is never piping hot! My advise is to figure out in your head or on paper what you are doing, set the scene ready to go before you cook so that all you need to do is pop the plates in the appropriate spots once cooked
Jeannette
Such a dinner party winner! Love all the condiments to go with the tomahawk steak. Yum!
AnotherFoodBlogger
The steak is EPIC but having great sides really helps elevate it!!
Maria
Thank you so much for sharing this creative recipe! I haven't tried one of these before but I'm so tempted to try now.
AnotherFoodBlogger
No time like the present! Hit me up if you have any Q's
Zeke B.
YUM! You made this look so simple - and I love me a great steak! I'm inspired to try it myself (and eat it... myself). Fantastic pictures --- thanks for sharing!
AnotherFoodBlogger
Awesome - hope you enjoy it!
Kate
All those gorgeous sides.... what a fantastic cook-up for family and friends this would make, love it!
AnotherFoodBlogger
Especially right now - perfect for your UK summer!
Lima Ekram
I have had some tomahawk steak fails before - so this recipe is really helpful - thank you for taking the time to write out the details -book marking your recipe and planning to make it this weekend!!
AnotherFoodBlogger
Pleasure - glad you find it helpful and reach out if you have any other Q's
Patricia Panfili
You're a genius!
Thank-you!
AnotherFoodBlogger
Not sure I'd go that far but I'll take it 😉
Big belly
An excellent recipe. The tomahawk steak was very tasty. The recipe was clear and easy to follow with good tips which aid the cook. I didn’t prepare all the sides but those I did worked out well.
I’d happily recommend it to my friends.
AnotherFoodBlogger
Awesome - glad to hear you enjoyed it! Can't beat a good tomahawk steak 😉