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Steak Bites with Garlic Butter

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These seared steak bites are cubes of sirloin steak cooked to perfection in a garlic butter sauce. An easy meal or party snack that’s ready in just minutes!

If you’ve got meat lovers in your life, you HAVE to try these garlic butter steak bites. They’re amazing simply eaten out of the pan with toothpicks, or serve them over mashed potatoes for a hearty dinner option.

Steak Bites in Garlic Butter Recipe | Garlic Steak | Sirloin Steak Recipe | Steak Appetizer

Bites of sirloin steak in a garlic sauce.

Raise your hand if you love steak! These steak bites are a super fun way to get your meat fix, my kids ask for them constantly. Not to mention, steak and garlic butter are just a perfect combination, wouldn’t you agree?

How to make steak bites with garlic butter

This recipe uses sirloin steak cut into small pieces. I chose sirloin because it’s tender and flavorful, but it’s not super expensive. Other great choices would be tenderloin, rib eye, or New York strip steak. The steak pieces are cooked with olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, pepper and sprinkled with parsley.  That’s it!

Cubes of raw steak to be cooked in garlic butter.

The key to this recipe is an insanely hot pan so that you get a nice crust on your meat. Butter can burn at high temperatures, so I typically start the meat in a little olive oil for the browning factor, then add butter for flavor. A cast iron skillet is a great choice for these steak bites as that type of pan can get REALLY hot!

A frying pan of steak bites tossed in garlic butter.

The steak only needs to cook for a few minutes, and the garlic gets added at the end so it doesn’t burn. Add a little parsley for flavor and color, and you’ve got an amazingly delicious appetizer or main course.

A pan of steak bites with a serving spoon.

When I made these steak bites, my kids and I all grabbed some toothpicks and ate the meat as a snack straight from the pan. It also makes a unique main course over potatoes or with a side of bread to sop up all that garlic butter. However you serve these steak bites, everyone is sure to love them!

More beef recipes


Bites of sirloin steak in a garlic sauce.
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5 from 25 votes

Steak Bites with Garlic Butter

These seared steak bites are cubes of sirloin steak cooked to perfection in a garlic butter sauce. An easy meal or party snack that's ready in just minutes!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword garlic butter, garlic steak, steak bites
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 272kcal
Author Dinner at the Zoo

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 lbs sirloin steak cut into small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon minced parsley

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Season the steak with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Place the steak in the pan in a single layer; you may have to work in batches depending on the size of your pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining meat if needed.
  • Add the butter and garlic to the pan; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to coat the meat in the sauce.
  • Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Notes

  1. If you don't have sirloin, you can also use tenderloin, rib eye, or strip steak.

Nutrition

Calories: 272kcal | Protein: 31g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 130mg | Potassium: 484mg | Vitamin A: 3.5% | Calcium: 4% | Iron: 12.8%

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Comments

  2. Made this tonight to rave reviews from the family including a 5 yo and 9 yo! we paired this with mashed potatoes and green beans. I made no modifications, the flavors were fantastic! Definitely a repeat 🙂

    Reply

  4. I was wondering if you have a recipe for teriyaki steak bites. Would I make it the same but use tariyaki sauce and add mushrooms. Is there a certain teriyaki sauce that is recommended?

    Reply

  5. Omg!! So quick, easy and delicious!! I came home late and everyone was hungry, threw this in the skillet and it was ready in minutes!!

    Reply

  6. I’m not sure if you are aware but your recipe has a name already, it’s called chislic. It’s one of my favorites growing up.

    Reply

  7. I’m apparently not too great at cooking sirloin, but I’m commenting to let you know that the flavors were really good! I’m gonna try again and work on my mistakes. Here’s to hoping I do a better job. <3

    Reply

  8. Made this for dinner with steak tips that came in my Butcher Box subscription. Followed the recipe as written and threw in some green beans. It was delicious and we will make it again!

    Reply

      • Thanks!! I’d love to own a cast iron pan, but after the cast iron grill top I bought rusted, I’m slightly terrified of ruining a good, expensive iron pan.

        Reply

        • I’m no expert on cast iron, but from what I understand, you can’t really “ruin” a cast iron pan. If the seasoning goes awry, or in your case your cast iron rusted, I think you can sand or brillo it down (basically, a form of stripping it down) and start the seasoning process from scratch.

          Reply

  12. Curious, do you add the garlic butter while steaks still cooking (that would add a couple of minutes cooking time to the steak) or is that done separate and poured over steaks? Thanks! Want to make this asap!

    Reply

  13. Thanks this was super fast and yummy I cut my cubes to about .5 inches and substituted baby arugula for parsley. Good for a keto diet-served with cauliflower and cheese sauce instead of mashed potatoes.

    Reply

  14. I am dying to try this. I went to a party a few years ago that had steak tips like this with blue cheese added the last minute of cooking and we fell in love with it. I can’t wait to try this with the blue cheese added.

    Reply

  15. I have made these several times and they are a hit with everyone. So quick and easy. Thanks for a keeper recipe.

    Reply

  16. I am planning to make this tonight, and wanted to know if you pulled your steak and rested it to room temp before cooking it. I just wanna make sure I get this right…. my hubby is so excited for dinner lol!!

    Reply

    • I typically don’t rest the steak at room temp only because I forget lol, it should come out good either way though!

      Reply

  17. Sounds amazing!
    Just one health point….
    Use peanut oil or refined coconut oil with a high heat tolerance.
    High heat damages olive oil and it is actually unhealthy to ingest . Use it only for drizzling after cooking.

    Reply

  18. This recipe looks yummy! I am looking for low carb recipes. What is the carb content? I do not see it on the nutrition label.

    Reply

  19. I rarely cook steak because I don’t do it very well. So my inquiry may sound dumb. But here goes. Being as you cook the bites until golden brown is the steak well done, or medium rare? Directions call for 3 to 4 minutes cook time. I guess I am trying to find out what to expect in doneness(my weak spot). Thanks for reading.Barb

    Reply

    • In this case the steak is pretty close to well done because the pieces are bite sized, but if you prefer medium you can simply make the pieces larger.

      Reply

  20. These look great! Going to a party tomorrow where a lot of people are on this keto or carnivore diet, I’m not even sure… but ANYWAY, I live next door so they will be warm when we arrive, but will cool to room temp… probably still be tasty, right?

    Reply

  21. I made this recipe today, only I added fresh mushrooms, wow, amazing! had to force myself to stop eating it so I’d have some leftovers. Perfect recipe if you’re given a huge sirloin and don’t have a grill!

    Reply

  22. I served this tonight for the two of us, using a nice thick 12-ounce Costco prime sirloin. I cut it into pretty big cubes, almost 1″, because we like our steaks on the med-rare to medium and I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t overcook by the time they were well seared. 2 minutes on the first side and 1 on the other, a kiss with the butter and garlic, they were terrific! They came out mostly med to med-well because I rested them a little longer than I wanted, but the flavor was so good that we gobbled them up.

    I used the full amount of garlic and butter, because garlic butter steak sauce, right? With lean crusty dinner rolls, our favorite Irish butter, and Caesar salads, they were a huge hit and dinner was on the table in 20 minutes, start to finish. Definitely company-worthy and I’ve been asked to cook it on the regular. This one went right into my “Favorites” file.

    Reply

  23. Making this tonight for dinner. What kind of pan do you suggest using. Regular frying pan, wok, or Dutch pan?

    Reply

    • Use a heavy bottomed pan that will get really hot! An enamel dutch oven or frying pan will work just fine.

      Reply

  24. I have some round steak that I need to use up, would this work or is round steak not tender enough?

    Reply

    • I think round steak is a tougher cut that requires a longer cooking time. You’ll want to use a cut of steak that’s good for pan searing or grilling.

      Reply

  27. This is amazing. All loved it. Followed recipe except didn’t use as much garlic. Probably 1 teaspoon. Definitely will make again.

    Reply

  28. Just wondering, are they tender? I always find sirloin to be a bit chewy. It may be the cooking technique. I am always hesitant to cook things like this for fear of wasting.

    Reply

    • I do think that they come out tender, but maybe it depends on the quality of the meat that you use? If you use choice or prime sirloin it’ll have a little more fat and stay more tender.

      Reply

    • @wendy l jones,

      Try Costco’s prime sirloin. I’m a tenderloin fanatic and my guy loves ribeye. This steak makes us both very happy, and it’s now just about the only one we buy. It’s very tender and well-marbled but has big beefy flavor. Bonus – at my Costco it’s only $6.99/lb. Be sure you buy the PRIME sirloin.

      Reply

  30. My picky teenager loved these steak bites! So did my husband and I ☺ I used grapeseed oil because of it’s high smoke point and butter, of course. First time my teenager didn’t eat the french fries before his steak. Will make again, but double the recipe. I had planned to toss the leftovers onto a salad for my lunch, but there were no leftovers!

    Reply

  31. This looks amazing on its own, but my mind is swimming with ideas of how to incorporate these yummy steak bites into other dishes: a twist on panzanella, steak & sweet potato hash, fajitas, tostada’s, spinach salad w/hard-boiled eggs & beefsteak tomatoes… How is this not something I’ve tried before?! Thank you for this fantastic recipe and the inspiration that comes along with it!!

    Reply

  33. Absolutely marvelous recipe……. Perfect taste…. Used fillet Mignon….. I love spicy food so added a sprinkle of chili,but most people would prefer it just the way you set it out… Thanks…..Steve

    Reply

  36. Big hit tonight!! I used Kerrygold herb butter, more garlic and chopped red sweet pepper and vidalia onion. This was very good and I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe Sara.

    Reply

  37. Agree with Kathryn ! I read comments to determine if recipe works, I know what pic looks like. I’ll try recipe and then post review

    Reply

  38. Why would you post a comment if you haven’t tried it !
    “looks delicious”. ” Got to try this”
    TRY IT and then comment ! Of course everything looks yummy in great platings, what do you expect? A pile of slop smeared on a paper plate ? Get your ass off the couch and make the recipe, adjust if you wish, but be truthful about your opinion. Sorry for the rant, but these commemments tick me off as much as those people who give a recipe one star and a complete makeover. Why don’t you just post you own damn recipe and put you name on it 😉

    Reply

    • I totally agree with Kathlyn. I waste more time going through all the comments to see what people thought of the recipe only to read things like ‘this looks so good’. Such a waste of time!!!!!! And the same goes for the people who complete change the recipe and then only give it 1 star of say they didn’t like it. Come on people, find something else to do other than waste people’s time!!!!

      Reply

    • Ya really want to lose your mind? Look at the question section for any product on amazon. People answer “I don’t know” “it was a gift so I’m not sure how it fit” “ haven’t taken it out of box yet”. Uhm… thanks Ralph but I’m pretty sure when I asked if this was appropriate for a 3 year old, I actually wanted an opinion. I just can’t get over it.

      I understand the comments on blogs. It’s positive feedback for the blogger. The blogger is drumming up interest and readers get excited. I personally don’t mind the “this looks good”. I do hate the folks that do not follow the recipe and then criticize the recipe author. “ I followed this exactly except I used margarine and green beans and a different meat. It sucked”. Sigh….

      Seriously, check out amazon. Have an adult beverage when you do. Trust me.

      Oh and we made this tonight. Served it over rice I made in the instant pot with some sautéed green beans in the yummy garlic, butter, steak bits left in the cast iron skillet. Very very tasty. Only the 3yo wouldn’t touch it (he also won’t eat round things, or green things, or…). This will be made again! Especially during football season!

      Reply

  40. Looks great! How fussy were you in trimming the meat of fat? My husband loves strip steaks but they can have a fair amount of fat running through them. Just wondering if I can just cube the steaks as they come or should I cut around any fat

    Reply

    • I didn’t trim at all because sirloin is so lean. It’s really a matter of personal preference, if there’s a little marbling it will add flavor, but if there’s a lot of excess fat you’d be better off trimming it. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  42. can you use canola oil instead of olive oil? i was always told olive oil doesn’t have a high heat tolerance

    Reply

  48. This looks soooo good!! My husband saw it on my computer and begged me to make them for dinner this weekend. We both love steak and garlic so it’s a perfect meal to try out.

    Reply

  51. I am not a meat eater but my husband do and this recipe really looks so delicious and I am sure no one will resist to eat this. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with us.

    Reply

  52. I am a meat eater but my husband do and this recipe really looks so delicious and I am sure no one will resist to eat this. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with us.

    Reply

  53. Oh heck yeah! I love a garlicly buttery steak! These steak bites sound perfect for any gathering as an appetizer or meal with a great side! Thank you for the idea and recipe!

    Reply

    • After the meat was cooked I removed it from the pan then made a white sauce. Added the meat to the white sauce and served it over noodles . We really like it this way.

      Reply

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