Steak Frites Recipe

Learn how to make this Classic French Steak frites recipe that is served with homemade lemon-herb butter. This has become one of my all-time favorite steak dishes.

If you’re a steak fan, I recommend making my Filet Mignon Recipe or my Chopped Steak. You won’t be disappointed with the incredible flavors in these dishes.

Steak Frites

Steak frites, or steak and fries, is a classic dish of seared or grilled steak served with crispy French fries. The idea behind the dish is to dip the fries into the steak juices on the plate. I take this a step further by adding lemon and herb butter.

Both Belgium and France claim a stake in the founding of this dish. While Belgium may have created it, it didn’t become popularized until French chefs perfected it.

This recipe comes together in under 45 minutes and is fantastic to serve up to family or guests at an entertaining event. It’s something you may see in a restaurant. However, if you make this, you may never eat it again because it’s just that delicious. 

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Butter — I made lemon-herb butter for these steak frites using fresh rosemary, thyme, green onions, and garlic. Other compound butters that will work are Cowboy Butter, Roasted Garlic Butter, or Maitre d’ Butter.
• Steak — You can use flank steak, skirt steak, strip sirloin, top sirloin, filet mignon, T-bone, Porterhouse, or hanger steak.
• Fat – Avocado or olive oil works well. You can also sear the steak in ghee, clarified butter, or beef tallow.
• Herbs – I seared the steak with fresh thyme sprigs for flavor. You can also use fresh rosemary or sage.
• Garlic – Smashed garlic cloves add a lot of flavor to the steak when cooking it.
• Butter — I always use unsalted butter to control the sodium content. I use this when basting the steak.
• Fries – Regular russet potatoes are best. I used my Pommes Frites recipe for this dish.

How to Make Steak Frites

1. Start by making your herb butter by whipping together some softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until it is light and fluffy, which takes about 5-7 minutes. Next, add the rosemary, thyme, green onions, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until combined and set aside.
   
2. Cut the russet potatoes to your desired size and add them to a container with cold water. Once they are done cutting, drain them into a colander and rinse them thoroughly. Add them to a deep fryer or pot of oil at 300° and cook for 3 minutes. When ready to serve, turn the heat to 350° and cook for 3 more minutes. Season with salt and serve.
   
3. Heat a large frying pan over high heat with oil until it smokes. Season the steak on all sides with sea salt and pepper, add it to the pan, and turn the heat to medium. Add thyme, garlic, and butter, and cook for 3 minutes per side while basting the steak. Rest for 3-4 minutes before serving (the perfect time to recook the fries at 350° for 3 minutes).
   
4. Add butter to the top of the steak, slice, and serve with fries.
   

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: This is meant to be eaten as soon as you cook it. However, you can prepare the butter, cut the fries, submerge them in cold water, and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Rinse the fries before cooking.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. This recipe will not freeze well.

How to Store: This recipe does not reheat well, but if you need to reheat it, re-sear it in a hot pan with lightly smoked oil until warm. Add the desired amount of pommes frites to a cooked sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 350° for 3-6 minutes or until hot and crispy.  You can re-fry in oil at 350° for 1 to 2 minutes or until hot. 

chef notes + tips

• If you do not want to fry them, coat them in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and bake them in the oven at 425° for 18-20 minutes or until browned and cooked.
• If you’d like your steak a little more done, add 1 minute per side of cooking and one extra minute of rest to get a medium internal temperature.
• As mentioned in the video, plenty of butter will be leftover, which freezes very well and is perfect for other occasions. 

More Amazing Steak Recipes

• Steak Pizzaiola
• Florentine Steak
• T-Bone Recipe
• New York Strip
• Beef Braciole

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Steak Frites Recipe

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5 from 17 votes

Learn how to make this delicious Classic Steak frites recipe that is served with homemade lemon-herb butter.

Servings: 4 people

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the Butter:

• 3 softened unsalted sticks of butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
• ¼ cup sliced green onions
• 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

For the Fries:

• 3 russet potatoes cut into batonnet slices
• coarse salt to taste

For the Steak:

• 2 12- ounce New York strip steaks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8-10 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 8-10 garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• coarse salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Butter: Add the butter to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
• Next, add the rosemary, thyme, green onions, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until combined. Set aside.
• Fries: Add the fries to a container of cold water and move them around with your hands to remove some of the excess starch.
• Drain and rinse the potatoes again and drain off any excess water.
• Place them in a deep fryer or a pot of oil at 300° for 3 minutes. Remove them from the oil and set them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. They can hold for several hours like this.
• When you're ready to serve them, turn the heat to 350° and cook for 3-5 more minutes or until well browned and crispy. Toss them with salt in a large bowl and serve.
• Steak: Season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Add the oil to a large frying pan over high heat. Once smoking, add the strip steak and turn the heat down to medium. Press down on it using tongs or a spatula for 15 to 20 seconds. Then, let it cook untouched for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Flip the steak over, add the thyme, garlic, and butter, and cook for 2-4 minutes while basting it with a spoon.
• Rest the steak for 3-4 minutes before slicing and serving with some the butter and fries.

Notes

Make-Ahead: This is meant to be eaten as soon as you cook it. However, you can prepare the butter, cut the fries, submerge them in cold water, and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Rinse the fries before cooking.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. This recipe will not freeze well.

How to Store: This recipe does not reheat well, but if you need to reheat it, re-sear it in a hot pan with lightly smoked oil until warm. Add the desired amount of pommes frites to a cooked sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 350° for 3-6 minutes or until hot and crispy.  You can re-fry in oil at 350° for 1 to 2 minutes or until hot.

If you do not want to fry them, coat them in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and bake them in the oven at 425° for 18-20 minutes or until browned and cooked.

If you’d like your steak a little more done, add 1 minute per side of cooking and one extra minute of rest to get a medium internal temperature.

As mentioned in the video, plenty of butter will be leftover, which freezes very well and is perfect for other occasions. 

Nutrition

Calories: 528kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 25gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 1227mgPotassium: 1030mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 528IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 3mg

Course: Main

Cuisine: French

Author: Chef Billy Parisi