An easy and delectable Steak Frites recipe that you can make at home in under 40 minutes!
Perfectly cooked pan-seared steak, topped with homemade garlic herb butter and freshly fried crispy potatoes is the perfect meal.
What is Steak Frites?
Steak Frites is the way the French say “steak with fries”! It sounds quite fancy, but in reality it is a simple meal that will be loved by anyone who considers themself a “meat and potatoes” kind of person.
Steak Frites is pronounced like “steak freet” (the s is silent in the French pronunciation).
My simple version of Steak Frites is made with homemade french fries and perfectly pan seared ribeye steaks, with the most amazing garlic herb butter.
You might also want to try my Garlic Butter Steak and Potatoes Recipe, it’s cooked all in one skillet! And to elevate this meal, make my creamy mushroom sauce for steak to go with it.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Mouthwatering Flavors – Steak is always delicious, but we’re making it even better with a rich, compound butter made with garlic, shallots, and parsley.
- Crispy French Fries – Making french fries from scratch is not difficult, and mine are extra crispy because I fry them twice!
- Step By Step Recipe – Because we’re essentially cooking two different things at the same time here, the instructions list is a bit long. Don’t worry though! I’ve streamlined the process so that you can make a full steak frites dinner in under 40 minutes if you follow along.
Key Ingredients for Steak & Frites
- Steaks: This recipe makes a full steakhouse meal for two! Choose thick, well-marbled cuts of beef such as sirloin or ribeye steaks.
- Potatoes: Choose the best potatoes for making homemade french fries. If you’re in the US, look for Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. In the UK, Maris Piper will be your best option. In Australia, try Sebago potatoes.
- Herb Butter: So much flavor comes from this simple concoction of softened butter, garlic, shallot, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Oil for Frying: I prefer peanut oil for most deep frying, but vegetable, canola, or safflower oil will also work.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Steak Frites
- Prepare the Potatoes: Peel, wash, and slice the potatoes into ¼ inch batons, then place them in a large bowl of cool water while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Before frying, dry the cut potatoes very well with clean kitchen towels.
- Prepare the Herb Butter: In a small bowl, mash ¼ cup of unsalted butter with a fork. Add the minced shallot, grated garlic, minced parsley, salt, and black pepper. Mix with the fork until well combined, and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the steaks.
- Prepare the Steaks: Pat the steaks dry with paper towels, then season generously with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Cook the Steaks: Heat olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a cast iron or stainless steel pan. When hot, add the steaks and cook for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for about 5 more minutes, until the internal temperature is 125-130°F for medium rare. Remove the steaks from the pan, cover with foil, and let rest. Optionally, spoon some of the herb butter over the steaks at this point, or wait and add it all before serving.
- Cook the Fries: While the steaks are resting, heat oil in a Dutch oven to 300°F/150°C. Fry the dried potatoes in batches for 5 minutes, then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
- Fry Again: Increase the heat of the oil to 400°F/205°C, and fry each batch of fries for 5 more minutes, until they are golden brown and crispy. Drain again, and season with salt or homemade fry seasoning while they are still hot.
- Serve: Place the steak on a plate and top with more of the herb butter. Serve with a portion of fries. If you like, you can slice the steak before serving.
Tip!
Freshly made frites are the absolute best! If you need more tips and details about how I prepare them, visit my post on Homemade French Fries for the full recipe.
Steak Frites Recipe Tips
- Pay Attention to the Recipe, it includes the specific order of operations and tips for cooking both the steak and the fries so that the timing is perfect and both things are ready to eat at the same time.
- Choose a great steak. You can really cook any type of steak with this recipe, but a steak dinner is always better when you choose a really good steak. Look for steaks with plenty of fatty marbling for the most flavor.
- The thickness of your steaks matters. When pan-searing steak, you’re best to use cuts that are at least 1.5 inches, and up to 2 inches. Thinner steaks will cook too quickly.
- Drying the steak is an important step, especially if you want to get a really nice crust on the meat.
- Allow the steaks to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing into them. Also, don’t slice the steaks until just before serving. This way they will be juicy and hot when it’s time to eat.
- Fry Twice. The best frites are double fried so that they are tender on the inside and super crispy on the outside. The first fry is at a lower temperature than the second.
- I like to deep fry french fries in a heavy Dutch oven, but you can use a deep fryer if you have one.
What Temperature to Cook Steak To
The USDA recommends cooking steaks to at least 145°F/63°C for food safety reasons. Aside from that, here are the temperatures you should aim for, depending on how you like your steak cooked:
- Rare: 120 to 130°F or 49 to 54°C
- Medium Rare: 130 to 135°F or 54 to 57°C
- Medium: 135 to 145°F or 57 to 63°C
- Medium Well: 145 to 155°F or 63 to 68°C
- Well Done: 155+ °F or 68+°C
Keep in mind that the temperature of the meat can rise 5-10 degrees while the steaks are resting, so plan accordingly.
Storing Tips
This meal is best if enjoyed immediately after cooking it, but you can keep leftover steak and frites in the fridge in airtight containers for up to 4 days.
Leftovers can be enjoyed cold on a steak salad or in a wrap. You can also carefully reheat steak using my tested method. You want to be very careful not to overcook the steak during reheating.
Leftover french fries are best enjoyed reheated in the oven or the air fryer. Microwaved french fries are often chewy and dry.
What To Serve With Steak Frites
Complete the meal with a simple side salad or a healthy side of broccoli or green beans.
I really love to serve a dipping sauce for the fries. Often it’s just my homemade mayo or homemade fry sauce, but horseradish sauce and Chick-Fil-A sauce are also tasty options.
Do you know what else goes really well with steak and fries? Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter!
Recipe FAQs
I suggest reheating the french fries in your air fryer, and following my Best Way To Reheat Steak guidelines to warm up any steak leftovers.
I always ask for my ribeye or sirloin steaks to be cut to 1.5 inches thick. This recipe will work with slightly thinner or thicker steaks, but just know that the cook time will need to be adjusted.
I prefer to use a cast iron skillet to pan-fry steaks. It’s heavy, distributes and retains heat well, and helps to form a beautiful crust on the meat. If you don’t have one of these, don’t worry! Any heavy-bottomed frying pan will work.
More Special Dinner Recipes
All Dinners →
Enjoy a restaurant-worthy meal at home using this recipe for Steak Frites! You’ll truly never go wrong serving steak and french fries, so be sure to Pin this recipe to keep it close.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Steak Frites
Recipe Video
Equipment
- Aluminum Foil
- Slotted Spoon
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
For the fries
- 3 large potatoes russets or yukon golds, if you’re in the UK use Maris Piper, Sebago potatoes in Aus
- Oil for deep frying vegetable, canola or peanut oil
- Salt for seasoning
For the herb butter:
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter softened
- ½ small shallot finely minced
- 1 small clove garlic grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the steaks:
- 2 steaks 1.5 inches thick, ribeye or sirloin steak
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Prepare the potatoes: Peel, wash, and slice the potatoes into ¼ inch batons, then place in a large bowl of cold/room temp water.
- Prepare the herb butter: In a bowl, mash ¼ cup of unsalted butter with a fork. Add the minced shallot, grated garlic, minced parsley, salt, and black pepper. Mash everything with a fork until well combined. Place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes as you prepare the steaks and fry the fries.
- Prepare the steaks: Pat dry the ribeye steaks with paper towels (this is important to form a nice crust), then season generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
- Cook the steaks: Heat olive oil and butter in a cast iron (or stainless steel) pan. When hot, add the steaks and cook for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for around 5 more minutes or until the internal temperature is 125-130°F for medium rare. Remove from the pan, cover with foil, and let rest. Optionally, spoon some of the herb butter on the steaks at this point.
- Cook the fries: Heat oil in a Dutch oven to 300°F/150°C. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes and dry them with clean kitchen towels. Fry the potatoes in batches for 5 minutes, then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a sheet fitted with a wire rack, or paper towels while you fry the other batches.
- Second fry for the fries: Increase the heat of the oil to 400°F/205°C and fry each batch of fries for 5 more minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy but not too dark. With a slotted spoon, remove the fries from the oil and drain on a wire rack or a paper towel. Season with salt while still hot.
- Serve: Place the steak on a plate and add more herb butter if desired, serve with a portion of fries, a simple side salad (please link to my side salad), and possibly a sauce of choice for the fries like mayo (link to my homemade mayo recipe).
Notes:
- Read through this entire recipe and the blog post before you get started. In order to make this Steak Frites recipe easy and efficient, it is important to do the steps in the order outlined.
- Choose a great steak. You can really cook any type of steak with this recipe, but a steak dinner is always better when you choose a really good steak. Look for steaks with plenty of fatty marbling for the most flavor.
- The thickness of your steaks matters. When pan-searing steak, you’re best to use cuts that are at least 1.5 inches, and up to 2 inches. Thinner steaks will cook too quickly.
- Drying the steak is an important step, especially if you want to get a really nice crust on the meat.
- Homemade French Fries should be cooked twice! Once at a lower temperature to cook the potatoes, and then again at a high temperature to make them extra crispy.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Wendy says
How much oil do I put into the Dutch oven for frying the potatoes?
Diana says
You’ll want about 2-3 inches of oil in the Dutch oven for frying the potatoes. That should be enough for even cooking. Hope that helps!