Tomato Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
by Katie Webster
August 13, 2018 (updated 9/4/22) Jump To Recipe
I can guarantee you will not be disappointed when you try this tomato-marinated grilled flank steak. It’s so simple and the delicious tomato, vinegar, and herb marinade doubles as the mop sauce, which transforms the grass-fed steak into a tender and juicy dinner to remember!
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe For Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
As a vegetable gardener, when tomatoes are in season, I try to add them to as many recipes as possible. I’ve even been known to add them to my salad dressings! Seriously, try my Smoky Tomato Salad Dressing. Today I am sharing a way of adding them to marinade for grilled flank steak.
The seasoning and tomato marinade are the keys to this recipe, so one of the things I love most about this flank steak is that some of the marinade is set aside before you add the meat to be used as a mop sauce. Basting the marinade over the meat as it’s grilling gives you an even juicier flavor!
I paired this delicious marinated grilled flank steak with my simple skinny cucumber salad for a light side dish, but it would also be great with Ratatouille! Leftovers would be great for Steak Salad, and wow, now I want steak salad, but since steak and potatoes are kind of a thing, check out a few of my yummy potato side dishes.
Key Ingredients for This Marinated Grilled Flank Steak Recipe
Flank Steak (Grass-Fed)
If your budget allows, try to use grass-fed beef for this recipe. It is stronger in flavor, but the herbs, shallot and acidity of the marinade really cuts the gaminess of the meat.
Tomato
I used a beefsteak tomato for this recipe, cored and chopped. You can use any other slicing tomato though.
Herbs
You’ll want to focus on rosemary and marjoram. Marjoram is very similar to oregano, so if you can’t find any you can swap it for oregano – but marjoram does have a slightly sweeter flavor to it.
Additional Ingredients
- Shallot
- Red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Marinade
Puree the tomato, shallot, vinegar, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a blender until it’s smooth. Reserve 1/2 a cup for the mop. Scrape the remaining tomato mixture into a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak. Turn it to coat, and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Step 2: Grill Flank Steak
Prepare your grill for medium-high heat. Remove the steak from the marinade and discard the leftovers in the bag. Oil your grill rack.
Grill your steak for about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6-7 minutes for medium, and 8 minutes for medium-well. After turning the meat, brush the first cooked side with the reserved mop sauce.
Brush mop sauce over the second cooked side and remove the meat to a platter to rest for 5 minutes. Slice against the grain, and serve your flank steak with any remaining mop spooned over the sliced meat.
FAQs and Tips
If you are blessed with enough time, marinating a cut like flank steak for a full 24 hours is worth the wait. Grass-fed beef can be a little gamey, akin to lamb or even venison, but if you marinate it in a boldly-flavored marinade you balance those flavors. Something with a good deal of acid like vinegar or citrus really works its way into the meat.
Grass-fed beef is lean, so err on the side of cooking it a little less than you normally would. And I recommend turning it more often, too. After the first couple of times, you’ll get the hang of it and be a grass-fed beef cooking pro!
Serving Suggestions
- Go with some classic potatoes with herbs and butter; you can never go wrong with meat and potatoes!
- These simple buttermilk mashed potatoes are so creamy and delicious – just imagine a forkful with your juicy steak!
- Go for healthy roasted garlic mashed potatoes if you’re looking for something light in calories.
- This vegan potato salad with herbs is made without mayo but has just as much flavor and goodness as the classic!
- Potatoes with butter and herbs only take a few minutes of hands-on time and before you know it you’ll have a simple and healthy side dish.
- Since the grill is already fired up, you might as well make some grilled potatoes!
- Looking for something a little different from classic potatoes? Try herbed smashed red potatoes for a twist!
More Steak Recipes
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Tomato Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
I can guarantee you will not be disappointed when you try this marinated grilled flank steak with grilled tomatoes and herbs. It’s so simple and the delicious tomato, vinegar, and herb marinade doubles as the mop sauce, which transforms the grass-fed steak into a tender and juicy dinner to remember!
Ingredients
- 1 medium slicing tomato, such as beefsteak, cored and chopped
- 1 shallot peeled and quartered
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped marjoram
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak, preferably grass-fed, fat trimmed
Instructions
- Puree tomato, shallot, vinegar, marjoram, rosemary, salt and pepper in blender until smooth. Reserve ½ cup for mop. Scrape the remaining tomato mixture into a re-sealable plastic bag. Add steak and turn to coat. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
- Prepare grill to medium high heat. Remove steak from marinade and discard any left-over marinade. Oil grill rack. (see how to do that in this post.) Grill steak about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6 to 7 minutes per side for medium and 8 minutes per side for medium-well; after turning meat brush first cooked side with mop. Brush mop over second cooked side and remove to a platter to rest 5 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve with any remaining mop spooned over sliced meat.
Notes
Marjoram can be substituted with oregano if necessary, but keep in mind that the marinade will lose some of its sweetness.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 1/2 ounces each
- Calories: 164
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 289 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
Keywords: grilled tomato herb flank steak, marinated grilled flank steak,Tomato Marinade
This recipe was originally developed for EatingWell Magazine and it appeared in the July August 2009 issue. I then shared this recipe here on July 15, 2011. I have updated the blog images and some of the text today.
Katie Webster
Katie Webster studied art and photography at Skidmore College and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. She has been a professional recipe developer since 2001 when she first started working in the test kitchen at EatingWell magazine. Her recipes have been featured in numerous magazines including Shape, Fitness, Parents and several Edible Communities publications among others. Her cookbook, Maple {Quirk Books} was published in 2015. She launched Healthy Seasonal Recipes in 2009. She lives in Vermont with her husband, two teenage daughters and two yellow labs. In her free time, you can find her at the gym, cooking, stacking firewood, making maple syrup, and tending to her overgrown perennial garden.
I used this with “conventional” beef steak tips and it was delicious. My only quibble with the recipe is that there was not nearly enough liquid to “reserve 1/2 cup”. I used all the marinade at once. Next time I will double the recipe in order to have enough for mopping. Thank you.
★★★★
The meat eaters in my family enjoyed this very much. I made it into sandwiches on ciabatta buns with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Thanks for a good recipe!
That sounds so yummy! I love the idea of turning this into a sandwich!
Haha – I’ve gotta add your friend’s simile of “tasted like an old dairy cow” to my arsenal! My daughter told me yesterday that the coffee we just brought home to try tasted like a dead uncle’s ashes! Say what??? Anyhoot… I digress…
I don’t make beef often…but this looks wonderful!
That is too funny! She sure is creative, if a bit macabre. Lol.
I love the idea of that marinade and the fact that you can use the rest to add flavour to the final dish. Such a good idea!
I am glad to hear you like this idea Amy. Thank you very much.
What a lovely flavouring for the steak. A great way to use up all the tomatoes we have growing too.
My tomato plants have lots and lots of tomatoes on them, but they are not ripening all at once. We’ve only brought in six or so at this point. There are lots of them coming soon though.
That steak looks like it was cooked perfectly. Im a fan of marinading my steaks too and tomato is always a winner pair to put with steak.
Thanks so much Emma. I am glad to hear that you are a fan.
This steak has my name written all over it! Looks delicious and the marinade sounds amazing!
★★★★★
Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy it!
Hmmmmm…grass fed beef….. 🙁 My grandparents raised registered Angus beef, so it’s the taste I grew up with) The beef we could buy in Singapore was grass fed and neither we nor the cats liked it! I might try your recipe and see, though a little fat now and then seems okay to me.
[quote name=Tina E]I have ribs downstairs marinating for 24 hours in a rum and Coke (and ketchup, hoisin, and garlic) marinade that was in the Wall Street Journal for the 4th of July. I sure hope it’s good; I normally do a dry rub for ribs. It’s funny, we’re getting a Whole Foods in the area, and now the Kroger is advertising it has grass-fed beef, in anticipation of the store opening.[/quote]Tina, How did the ribs come out?!! I am dying to know. We’re supposed to be getting a Whole Foods too. It makes me sad for our little privately owned Health-Food Store, but a little competition in the prices would be much appreciated.
I have ribs downstairs marinating for 24 hours in a rum and Coke (and ketchup, hoisin, and garlic) marinade that was in the Wall Street Journal for the 4th of July. I sure hope it’s good; I normally do a dry rub for ribs. It’s funny, we’re getting a Whole Foods in the area, and now the Kroger is advertising it has grass-fed beef, in anticipation of the store opening.