27 September 2026
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World Kitchen Journal
Mom's Steak Marinade Recipe
The Kitchen
By Jean-Luc Moreau, the Technique desk · EE.UU. · 3 min ·

Mom's Steak Marinade Recipe

Prepare the best steaks with our Mom’s steak marinade made with simple ingredients like pepper, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and vinegar you will make the best steak marinade recipe you will grill all season.

Ingredients · Servings 6
  • 1½ cups vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¾ cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoon dry ground mustard
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice
  • 6 small steaks
Method · 8 h 20 min
  1. Mix together vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, dry mustard, and lemon juice in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container (like tupperware or rubbermaid).
  2. Add 3 pounds of steak (about 6) to the marinade (any cut of steak will work).
  3. Store in fridge to marinate for about 8 hours. Flip over the steaks halfway through marinating.
  4. Grill over medium-high heat to your liking

With this homemade steak marinade and the proper time to let the flavor develop, you will get one seriously delicious steak that will be amazing to serve for any of your special occasions coming up.

This truly is one of our favorite steak recipes to make during the summer. It is an easy dinner recipe that I can prepare and forget for later aka the best summer grill recipe the whole family will love.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

To make our mom’s steak marinade, you need the following ingredients:

  • Vinegar: apple cider vinegar is our go-to for this recipe but you can also use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar as a substitute.

simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:

How to Make Mom’s Steak Marinade

Recipe Notes

  • Storage Suggestions: Leftover steak should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days but not frozen.
  • The cut of meat to use for a good marinade include flank steak, sirloin steak, New York strip, and filet mignon.

We recommend serving this recipe with our Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Oven Baked Green Beans, or our Mom’s Sweet Potatoes. You can find more classic American recipes here.

How to tenderize tough cuts of steak?

Pound with a kitchen mallet to break down tough muscle fibers in the meat. Marinades with acidic ingredients like lemon juice and vinegar break down tough proteins. Salting your meat before cooking helps with tenderizing. Cook your meat low and slow. The tough muscle fibers separate during braising and the collagen breaks down while cooking in the liquid.

How long to let steak marinade?

We like to marinate the steak for 8 hours and sometimes we have let it marinate overnight. If you are in a hurry, try to let it marinate for at least 4 hours.

How to get the best result for cooking steak?

Before you grill the steak, to get a good steak, pull the marinated steak out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will make grilling easy and allow the grill to cook correctly to give you the perfect steak texture inside and out. Also, letting the steak rest for 3-5 minutes before you slice steak helps keep the juice in the steak and produces the best flavor.

Enjoy More Delicious Beef Main Dishes

The possibilities for delicious beef main dishes are endless, from cuts of meat like steak or roast, to family-friendly ground beef dishes, explore our comprehensive collection of beef recipes.

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