You’re about to set the table for your next big meal, but you haven’t settled on your beverage to serve with your delicious steaks.
You think to yourself: what pairs best with ribeye steak? And how many drinks should we have at the ready?
Doctors with the World Cancer Research Fund recommend you limit cooked red meat intake to 12 to 18 oz per week, and the CDC recommends you stick to one or two drinks a day.
So, what is that one drink (or two) going to be? Red wine? Ginger & Pear, perhaps?
We’re here with a Prime Steakhouses guide discussing the best drinks to pair with steak – and help you make them.
- What Makes a Drink Good With Steak?
- The Classic: Red Wine
- Old Fashioned
- Bloody Mary
- Dark Beer
- Ginger and Pear Punch
- Berry Syrup
- Final Thoughts
But first, let’s talk about…
What Makes a Drink Good With Steak?
What’s the best way to pick a drink that goes with a steak dinner, anyway? Should you go with something mild or strong? What to do if your favorite drink doesn’t go well with steak?
Here’s the deal: there are a ton of drinks that go perfectly with a steak dinner.
Your goal here is to find a drink that you like and that improves the taste of your dinner. The partnership needs to bring out the best in everyone (steak, drink & the enjoyer of the meal). That is if you can handle your drink.
When picking your drink, you should think about steak’s signature qualities:
- It’s really beefy
- The taste is extremely rich
- It’s often deliciously fatty
The drink you go with should complement these features and balance them.
Not sure what we’re talking about? By the time you’re finished reading this guide, you’ll know perfectly fine what we mean.
Without wasting any more time, let’s talk about the best drinks to pair with steak:
1. The Classic: Red Wine
Red wine and steak? Sounds corny to you? No matter how cliché it sounds, the classic red wine and steak combination is a perfect way to finish the day off.
Thank the tannins in wine – the elements that give you that dry feeling in your mouth – perfectly complement the fat of the steak. You simply can’t go wrong with red wine and steak.
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
No, you don’t need to buy anything else. All you need to do is go to your local supermarket and grab a bottle of wine you like. If you’re stuck in your home, you can order some wine online.
2. Old Fashioned
Prefer to drink something stronger and punchy, but you’re bored with plain-old whiskey? Then you should try making an Old Fashioned.
The caramel notes of whiskey can hold up the strong flavor of red meat. If you’re eating steak fresh off your pellet grill, all the better. The smoky notes of a grilled steak will taste even better with a sip of the rich brown spirit.
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
The drink is relatively easy to prepare, all you need is:
- A teaspoon of brown sugar
- Four dashes of an aromatic bitter like Angostura
- A handful of orange peel
- Two ounces of your favorite whiskey
3. Extra Spicy Meat with Bloody Mary
Want to… Spice things up?
Try some Bloody Mary with extra smoked Tabasco thrown into the mix. The vodka, tomato, and Worcestershire sauce will do wonders for your taste buds while you’re dining on an expensive piece of steak.
Just make sure to balance the ingredients of the cocktail carefully, and you’ll have the perfect dinner companion.
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
Making a Bloody Mary does require some preparation. You’ll need the following ingredients:
- A handful of ice
- 100ml of your favorite vodka
- 500ml of fresh tomato juice
- A tablespoon of lemon juice
- A dash of Worcestershire sauce
- A dash of smoked Tabasco
- A pinch of salt and black pepper
- Two celery sticks for serving
4. Dark Beer
Some nights, there’s nothing better than a glass of beer to calm you down and prepare you for bed. Why not try some dark beer with your steak?
You can also marinate your steak in some beer before preparing it too. New research suggests that marinating red meat with beer can curb the creation of carcinogenic chemicals that form when the fat drips onto the flame. Who would ever think that beer and meat could be so (potentially) good for you?
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
Well, we strongly discourage making homemade bathtub beer. So, unless you’re planning on opening a craft brewery, no, you don’t need any ingredients.
5. Ginger and Pear Punch
Not a fan of alcohol? Then you can ditch the wine and beer and go for something milder.
You’d be surprised to know that ginger and pear flavored punch taste so good with meat, especially steak. Half an hour before the meal, take a few minutes to mix the ingredients, and make yourself some cool ginger and pear punch.
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
Some of the ingredients you’ll need for this drink are:
- Three cups of seltzer
- Two cups of water
- A cup of sugar
- A cup of ginger syrup
- Fresh ginger
- Eight cups of pear juice
- Half-a-cup of lemon juice
- Two teaspoons of grounded ginger
- A bowl of ice
6. Berry Syrup
You’re in a need of a good drink tonight? You don’t have the time to run to the store and you don’t want to waste an hour making a drink?
Go to your freezer, grab a cup or two of frozen berries, crush them up, and ingredients to make some berry syrup. Mix the syrup with water and enjoy your dinner.
Do You Need Any Extra Ingredients?
Even if you’ve never done it before, berry syrup is quite easy to make. All you need is 10 to 15 minutes of free time and the following ingredients:
- Two cups of frozen berries
- Two cups of seltzer
- A cup of sugar
- A cup of water
- A tablespoon of lime juice
- A bowl of ice
Final Thoughts
Let’s be honest here: when it comes to pairing a drink with a steak dinner, it’s pretty hard to go wrong. Whether you prefer alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, there’s a wide variety of choices for you out there.
The last piece of advice we have for you is that you should avoid putting too much sugar in any of the drinks we laid out above. You don’t want the flavor of your drink to cover the flavor of the steak. You want to enhance it.
But, of course, you do you! No advice is more important than personal taste, after all.
What is your favorite drink anyway? Does it go well with steak? What’s your favorite drink from our list here? Tell us all about on social media, and see what your friends think about steak & drinks (hint: they probably love it as much as you).
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