St. Louis BBQ Pork Steak Recipe
Published August 5, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This delicious grilled St. Louis Pork Steak recipe is reverse seared and then basted with homemade BBQ sauce and charred to perfection. If you’ve never had these before, you will be blown away at how delicious they are.
These pork steaks are tasty and will be your new favorite tailgate or BBQ recipe. Try serving these up with my vinegar coleslaw or with my gooey butter cake as dessert.
Pork Steak
Pork steaks are an absolute St. Louis BBQ staple. They are thin-cut pork butt or shoulder steaks grilled until done and basted with a tomato-vinegar BBQ sauce. The most common cooking method would be to quickly char them on both sides and then slow cook them for a few hours in BBQ sauce.
While you can cook these using any procedure you’d like, I believe reverse searing them makes them the most tender and juicy without the risk of overcooking. Check out my video below to see how I made them.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pork Steaks – I use ½” to 1” thick pork steaks, which are cut from the pork butt or shoulder.
- Seasonings – A combination of onion granules, garlic granules, dry oregano, salt, and pepper make for very tasty pork steaks.
- BBQ Sauce – Whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is can be used.
How to Make Reverse-Seared Pork Steaks
Use these easy-to-follow procedures and images to make this delicious Pork Steaks recipe:
Start seasoning both sides of the pork steaks with onion granules, garlic granules, dry oregano, salt, and pepper.
Next, heat one side of the grill to medium heat so that the grill stays at a steady 225°.
Add the seasoned steaks to the other side of the grill where there is no direct heat underneath and cook for 90-120 minutes or until they reach 160° to 163° internally.
Remove the pork steaks and turn the entire grill to high heat (550° to 600° F).
Once the grill is hot, add the steaks and sear for 2 to 3 minutes or until grill marks are formed.
Turn the steaks over, immediately baste them with BBQ sauce and sear for a further 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove the pork steaks and let them sit for 5 minutes before saucing and serving.
Pork Steak BBQ Sauce
If you are in St. Louis, Maull’s BBQ will be most used on pork steaks. If you aren’t a fan of Maull’s, then you can absolutely use your favorite BBQ sauce recipe, whether homemade or store-bought. I decided to make my version of Maull’s, so here is what I put in it:
- Add the tomato puree, white distilled vinegar, corn syrup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, lemon juice, orange juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper, onion granules, and garlic granules to a medium-size saucepot.
- Whisk together the sauce and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Store, or use it up.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: These are meant to be eaten immediately; However, you can keep these in a grill-proof pan with an extra 1 cup of BBQ sauce at low temperatures of 200° to 225° F for up to 1 hour before serving. They can start to turn tough if you let them sit for too long.
How to Store: Cover and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. These will freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired number of pork steaks to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven at 350° F for 8-12 minutes or until hot.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Feel free to use your favorite BBQ Sauce on these pork steaks.
- This recipe will work on a gas grill, smoker, or charcoal grill.
More BBQ Recipes
- St. Louis Style Ribs
- Smoked Pork Shoulder
- Grilled BBQ Chicken
- Smoked Chicken Recipe
- Vinegar-Based BBQ Sauce
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, and if you’ve had a chance to make this, then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below.
Video
St. Louis Pork Steak Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pork Steaks:
- 8 ½ ” to 1” thick cut pork steaks
- 4 teaspoons onion granules
- 4 teaspoons garlic granules
- 4 teaspoons dry oregano
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups BBQ sauce
For the Optional Homemade BBQ Sauce
- 28 ounce can of tomato puree
- 2/3 cup white distilled vinegar
- ¼ cup light or dark corn syrup
- ¼ packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark molasses
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 4-6 dashes of hot sauce
- 2 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons onion granules
- 2 teaspoons garlic granules
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
Instructions
- For the Pork Steaks: Preheat one side of your grill to medium heat so that the entire grill is heated to 225° F when the lid is closed.
- Season both sides of the pork steaks with onion granules, garlic granules, dry oregano, salt and pepper.
- Add the seasoned pork steaks to the other side of the grill where there is no direct heat underneath and cook for 90-120 minutes or until they reach 160° to 163° internally.
- Remove the pork steaks and turn the entire grill to high heat (550° to 600° F).
- Once the grill is hot, add the steaks back on and sear for 2 to 3 minutes or until grill marks are formed.
- Turn the steaks over, immediately baste them with BBQ sauce and sear for a further 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove the pork steaks and let them sit for 5 minutes before saucing and serving.
- BBQ Sauce: While the steaks are cooking at 225°, is when you make the optional homemade BBQ sauce.
- Add all the ingredients to a medium-size saucepot.
- Whisk together the sauce and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Store, or use it up.
The pork steaks were so tender. Everyone loved them. I followed the freezing directions for another great meal in the near future. Thanks Chef!
Hi. I am from St. Louis and loved your pork steak video. Outstanding job. Pork steaks are my husbands favorite meat. Thanks. Go Mizzou. My niece plays soccer there and we love going there. Take care
Go Tigers!
Hi love your recipes. Do the steaks stay on 1 side for the entire 90-120 cook or are they turned at some point? Thanks
Yup! A smoker would also be awesome, or as I stated in the video, the oven.