Tomato Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
by Katie Webster
August 13, 2018 (updated 4/4/24) 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!
I developed this tomato marinade recipe 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.
Table of contents
When tomatoes are fresh out of the garden, I try to add them to as many recipes as possible. From tomato salad to Smoky Tomato Salad Dressing. Today I am sharing a way of adding them to marinade for grilled flank steak. Tomato is naturally acidic which makes it a perfect addition for a steak marinade. The acid from the tomato helps the flavors penetrate the outer layer of the meat. Some of the marinade is set aside for a grilling mop sauce.
Ingredients For Flank Steak in Tomato Marinade
- Flank Steak: Look for a one and a half pound flank steak for this recipe. There is plenty of marinade so if yours is larger it will work too.
- Tomato: I used a cored and chopped beefsteak tomato but any slicing tomato works.
- Seasoning and Herbs: Choose woody stemmed savory herbs like rosemary and marjoram to season the marinade. Marjoram is very similar to oregano, so if you can’t find any you can swap it for oregano.
- Shallot: For the marinade. A clove or two of garlic also works and tastes great in the tomato marinade
- Red wine vinegar: This helps the marinade do its thing and work its way into the meat fibers of the flank steak.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make Tomato Marinade
Puree the tomato, shallot, vinegar, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a blender until it’s smooth.
Step 2: Marinate Steak
Reserve 1/2 a cup for the mop sauce. 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 3: Heat Grill
Prepare your grill for medium-high heat. Remove the steak from the marinade and discard the leftovers in the bag. Oil your grill rack.
Step 4: Grill Marinated Flank Steak
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.
Step 5: Use Tomato Marinade as Mop Sauce
Brush mop sauce over the second cooked side and remove the meat to a platter.
Step 6: Rest Steak and Slice to Serve
Rest the steak for five minutes. (You can cover it with foil if you want to keep it hotter.) Slice the steak against the grain. erve your flank steak with any remaining mop spooned over the sliced meat.
Serving Suggestions
- Potatoes: Steamed Potatoes with herbs and butter, grilled potatoes, herbed smashed red potatoes or simple buttermilk mashed potatoes are delicious with your juicy steak!
- Salads: I’ve paired this delicious marinated grilled flank steak with my simple skinny cucumber salad. This oil and vinegar potato salad with herbs is made without mayo!
- It would also be great with Ratatouille and creamy polenta or saffron brown rice.
Leftovers:
Keep the tomato-marinated beef refrigerated in an airtight container for three days. Leftovers would be great for Steak Salad. Or you can rewarm the steam wrapped in foil in the oven set at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Let it rest before slicing. If the steak is already sliced, the tastiest way to reheat it is to melt a little butter in a skillet and quickly fry the slices of steak on both sides.
More Steak Recipes
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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
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped marjoram
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
Instructions
- Puree tomato, shallot, vinegar, marjoram, rosemary, salt and pepper in blender until smooth.
- Reserve ½ cup for mop sauce. 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
Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for three days. Leftovers would be great for Steak Salad. Or you can rewarm the steam wrapped in foil in the oven set at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Let it rest before slicing. If the steak is already sliced, the tastiest way to reheat it is to melt a little butter in a skillet and quickly fry the slices of steak on both sides.
- 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
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.