Easy Garlic Butter Steak Bites

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Garlic butter steak bites are the perfect steak recipe to make on the griddle or in a cast iron skillet! With a perfectly seared crust and rich, buttery flavor, this easy steak bites recipe will be your new go-to method for cooking steak when you don’t want to fire up the grill.

Tender Flavorful Garlic Butter Steak Bites

I’ll be the first to admit… we eat a lot of steak. My wife and kids love it, so when we find ribeyes and NY strips on sale at the grocery store, we tend to stock pile the freezer.

But occasionally we like to venture out from the traditional grilled steaks and try something new, like this steak and mushroom fried rice or these steak kebabs.

So when my wife suggested that we make garlic butter steak bites for dinner one night, I was definitely on board for trying it out! And these easy steak bites turned out great!

*Watch me make these garlic butter steak bites on the griddle over on our YouTube channel… The process works the exact same for making the steak bites in a cast iron skillet!

What type of steak to use?

For the best steak bites, I recommend a tender and flavorful cut of beef that will cook evenly on the griddle or in a skillet. We happened to have the tail of a whole filet tenderloin leftover in the freezer, so that’s what we used – Sometimes we buy whole filet when it goes on sale at the grocery store, and the tail portion is perfect for this recipe!

Other cuts of steak that would work well for this recipe are top sirloin, New York strip, or ribeye. All of these are tender cuts and include some marbling, and remember, fat is flavor!

Ingredients Needed

This easy steak bites recipe incorporates a ton of flavor with very basic ingredients. Here’s what you need:

Steak: Choose your favorite cut. Unlike most steak bites recipes, I prefer to leave the steak whole to sear it first before cutting into cubes.

Butter: You can’t have garlic butter steak bites without the butter! I prefer to use room temperature, unsalted butter for this recipe.

Garlic, Salt, and Avocado Oil: These ingredients will be used to make a garlic mash. The salt and oil act as an abrasive and help you break down the finely chopped garlic into a paste-like consistency. Use whole garlic cloves instead of jarred minced garlic for the best flavor.

Horseradish and Worcestershire Sauce: Added to the garlic butter for an extra pop of flavor. We prefer to use prepared horseradish, but you can substitute creamy horseradish for a more mild version.

Steak Seasoning: A simple all-purpose steak seasoning is best so as not to overpower the beef. We used our Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning, but you can also use a simple blend of salt and pepper.

Fresh Parsley: Chopped for garnish and an extra pop of color.

How to Make Garlic Butter Steak Bites

Step One: Preheat the Griddle.

First, prepare your griddle for cooking steak. I used my Traeger Flat Rock Griddle for these steak bites, and I turned the far right burner on medium-high, the middle burner on low, and I kept the left burner off. By creating this “three zone system”, you’re able to move the steak on and off the hot side of the griddle as it’s cooking, helping you to control the griddle temperatures.

*If you’re cooking steak bites in a skillet, then you can preheat your skillet to a medium-high after making the garlic butter in the next step.

*Speaking of temperatures, you can grab a FREE griddle temperature chart here! The chart includes suggested griddle surface temperatures for a bunch of popular griddle foods.

Step Two: Make the garlic butter.

Since these steak bites cook very quickly because of the high heat of the griddle or skillet, I recommend making the garlic butter mixture first. If you’re cooking the steak bites on a griddle, then you can do this while the griddle is preheating.

To start, you’ll use a knife and kosher salt to create a simple garlic paste. Peel about 3-4 cloves of garlic and finely mince with a knife. Add a pinch or two of salt and about 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil or avocado oil to the minced garlic on a cutting board. Then, use the side of a chef’s knife to apply pressure and smear the minced garlic on the cutting board, mashing it up to a paste-like consistency. You can watch me do this in the video above.

Add the garlic mash to a small bowl with the butter, Worcestershire sauce, and prepared horseradish. Mix all of the ingredients together, and your garlic butter is ready.

Step Three: Season and sear the steak.

The next step is to prep the steak. Sprinkle steak seasoning or salt and pepper on all sides of the steak. If you’re using a thicker cut of steak like I did, then you can season more liberally. Just remember, this seasoning (and the garlic butter) will carry the entire dish. You won’t be adding any salt, pepper, or additional seasonings during the cooking process.

Then, add about 1-2 tablespoons of avocado oil, or your favorite high heat cooking oil, to the griddle surface and spread it around with your spatula. *If you’re cooking the steak bites in a stovetop skillet, then add about 1/2 tablespoon of high heat cooking oil.

Sear the steak on the hot side of the griddle (about 450°F), flipping the steak periodically so that it sears and browns evenly on all sides.

When the steak has developed a nice seared crust, but it is still rare, transfer to a cutting board to rest.

Step Four: Cut the seared steak into bite-sized cubes.

While the steak is resting, you should turn the griddle temperature down to medium (about 375°F), because the steak already has the nice seared crust, and you don’t want the garlic butter to burn and the steak bites to overcook.

After the steak has rested about 5-10 minutes, cut into bite-sized cubes. Do your best to cut the steak into equally-sized cubes so that they cook evenly on the griddle.

Notice how rare the steak is in the photo below? Remember, you’ll be putting the steak bites back on the griddle so they will continue to cook. If you like your cooked steaks to be rare or medium-rare, then you may want to sear for a shorter time than I did.

Step Five: Finish the garlic butter steak bites.

Add a very light coating of cooking oil to the griddle surface, and spread it around with your spatula. Then, add the steak bites to the griddle. Sauté briefly, and then add about 2/3 of the garlic butter that you made earlier.

Your griddle should look something like this at this point:

Sauté the steak and garlic butter together on the griddle until the butter has melted in with the steak bites and the steak is cooked to your liking. Then, right before you take the steak bites off the griddle, add the remaining garlic butter and mix together.

By adding the butter in batches like this, some of the garlic stays a bit fresher with more of a bite, giving you different flavors and textures.

Then, transfer the garlic butter steak bites to a serving plate and sprinkle with some fresh chopped parsley for a bit of color and a pop of freshness. Serve with your favorite steak side dishes.