Grill Ribeye Like a Pro & Pair It With Crumbled Blue Cheese

The most common way to grill any slab of steak is pretty simple: season with salt and pepper, then give it a quick stint over the fire. 

While effective, this approach only scratches the surface of steak grilling.

If you want to infuse your beef cut with maximum flavor, drizzle it with crumbled blue cheese. This is a surefire way to elevate the taste of a steak like ribeye.

Buying Ribeye Steaks

Before anything else, you have to learn how to distinguish a good-quality cut from a mediocre one. 

And here’s the golden rule: always buy steaks with a bright red hue and rich marbling all over. Additionally, turn away from any cuts with dark spots.

This is because beef turns brown as it ages, so whenever you’re buying a steak, ask your butcher for a prime cut to ensure optimal freshness.

The Rest of the Ingredients for This Recipe

Once you’ve secured your ribeye, it’s time to check out the other ingredients. These include butter, olive oil, lemon juice, some herbs, and — of course, we can’t forget about the blue cheese.

This is optional, but if you want to add a little heat to your steak, feel free to spike it with your favorite hot sauce.

Checking the Doneness Like a Pro (No Meat Thermometer Needed)

Apart from knowing how to tell if a ribeye is good (or not), another crucial skill to learn when grilling steak is checking its doneness. 

Yes, there are modern tools like a meat thermometer to make this job easier, but if you don’t have one, here’s a little trick I like to use when monitoring my steak’s doneness. 

And all you need is your hands.

• If you want rare, use one hand and touch your thumb to your index finger. With your other hand, press on the ball of your thumb (aka, your thenar). That’s the texture you want in your steak.
• If you want medium-rare, touch your thumb to your middle finger, and press on the same area. You’ll notice that it’s a little bit firmer.
• If you want medium, do the same as the previous two, but this time, connect your thumb to your ring finger. This is the firmest among the three.

This method requires some practice, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you overcook your first steak. You’ll get the hang of it eventually!

Grilling Time Cheat Sheet

In the meantime, you can use this cheat sheet as a backup to make sure you get a perfectly tender ribeye steak every time!

For 1½ -inch cut, cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side to achieve rare doneness; up to 8 minutes per side for medium-rare; and finally 9 to 10 minutes per side for medium.

Grilled Ribeye Steak With Crumbled Blue Cheese

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Here’s a grilled ribeye recipe that’s richly flavored and perfectly tender to elevate your next cookout to a whole new level.

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Ingredients

• 2 1½ -inch thick ribeye steaks (approx. 1¼ pounds each)
• 2 tablespoons of rock salt (or any other coarse salt of choice)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons of chives (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme (minced)
• 1 tablespoon of parsley
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 2 ounces of blue cheese (I like to use Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue)
• Black pepper

Instructions

1. First, make your herb butter by combining your butter, parsley, thyme, chives, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in a bowl. Use a fork to mix them as evenly as possible.
2. Enclose your herb butter in plastic wrap, mold it into a block, and then pop it in the fridge to firm up.
3. While your butter is setting, take your ribeye steaks and season them with salt and pepper. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. After that, heat one side of your grill and leave the other side off to create indirect heat.
5. Oil your steaks and place them on the hottest part of the grill. Cook them for 2 to 3 minutes per side with the lid closed to form a crust. 
6. Then, transfer them to the other side of the grill to cook in indirect heat for about 2 to 5 minutes per side.
7. During the last minute or so, add a dollop of crumbled cheese on top of your steak before closing the lid to continue cooking.
8. Once you achieve the desired doneness, move your steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for at least 5 minutes.
9. While your ribeyes are resting, get your herb butter from the fridge and slather a thick slice on top of the steaks. The residual heat should melt the butter and blue cheese.
10. Now there's nothing left to do but slice your steaks and take a bite.

Notes

Image credit to @blackened_brew.

Featured image credit to @spiffergirl.