Name: Easy Red Wine Steak Marinade
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup red wine; 1/4 cup soy sauce; 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 cloves garlic (minced); 2 tablespoon brown sugar; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; sprig rosemary; 1-2 lbs steak (flank steak or sirloin are great choices)

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Red wine and red meat are a classic pairing, so what could be better than a juicy steak that’s been infused with a red wine steak marinade?

Perfect for flank steaks or sirloins, this easy and irresistible marinade infuses your steak with a subtle red wine flavor and adds a touch of sweetness where the marinade caramelizes on the meat’s exterior. Marinate for as little as an hour or up to 24 hours for a bolder flavor.

Medium rare flank steak marinated in red wine steak marinade sliced on a wooden cutting board with rosemary.

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I’ve been hanging onto this recipe for years waiting for the right way to use it.

I originally created this red wine steak marinade for flank steak to use in this recipe for Blue Cheese and Steak Crostini with Blueberry Caramelized Onion Jam. The marinated steak was incredible. However, when paired with the blue cheese and and jam, the marinated steak was just too much flavor. I ended up recommending using simply-seasoned flank steak with just olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Later, I tried pairing it with this Seared Steak Salad with Soy Ginger Vinaigrette. Again, the steak was amazing and I wanted to eat the whole thing myself. But the flavor didn’t complement the soy ginger vinaigrette.

So now I’m doing what I should have done in the first place: Just appreciating this addictive red wine steak marinade for its own sake, to use on a steak that will certainly be the star of your dinner. It’s really so good it doesn’t need anything besides a nice flank steak or sirloin to soak it all up, grilled or broiled to a nice medium rare, and served with a simple veggie side and some rice.

Ingredients

This red wine marinade uses just a few basic ingredients and is truly more than the sum of its parts!

Red wine: Gives the primary body and flavor to this marinade. My advice? Pop open a bottle in the morning for the marinade and drink it with your dinner in the evening. My favorite to use is Our Daily Red blend, which is easy to drink, has no added sulfites and doesn’t give me the headache I often get following a glass of other reds. A cabernet is also nice to use. Red wine functions as the acid in this marinade, tenderizing the steak.
Soy sauce: Provides salt and umami flavor. I use regular soy sauce rather than the reduced sodium kind I often see in recipes, so you really don’t need any additional salt in this marinade. For a marinade, salt is the only thing that permeates further into the meat than the outer 1/8″, so this ingredient is very important!
Worcestershire sauce: Also adds a heck of a lot of flavor and umami and gives the marinade a steakhouse feel.
Brown sugar: You don’t want to leave this out. This touch of sugar aids in caramelization and gives the crispy bits that form a rich flavor and subtle sweetness that makes your steak absolutely addictive. When the wine and the brown sugar reduce together on the outside of the steak, it’s just *chef’s kiss* incredible.
Garlic: I usually press my garlic to infuse more flavor faster, but if you’re marinating your steak all day I think a couple of cloves simply smashed with the flat of a knife would do just fine.
Rosemary: Since this is just for flavor and won’t end up in pieces on your steak, you can just throw the whole sprig into your marinade. No need to get sappy, sticky rosemary fingers.
Olive oil: Oil absorbs the garlic and rosemary flavor and transfers it to the surface of the meat. That way, you still get the flavors on your steak even if the actual bits get left behind.
Steak: While not an ingredient of the marinade itself, you’ll need some meat to soak it all up! I’ve used this marinade with flank steak, which broils to a perfect medium rare in a quick 10 minutes. It’s a thin cut of steak with tons of surface area for soaking up marinade.

Sirloin is another great candidate for using this red wine steak marinade, especially if you prefer your steak more cooked (flank steak can get tough easily when cooked above medium rare).

And as much as I love this marinade, I would recommend against using it for expensive cuts like filets and ribeyes. Those steaks are best left to shine in their own glory with a simple steak rub rather than a marinade.

How much steak should I make?

This marinade can be used for 1-2 lbs of steak. My husband and I can demolish a pound of this steak in one meal, so I’d allow for at least half a pound per person.

How to make red wine marinated steak

This red wine marinade is easy to whip up in a couple minutes and can flavor your steak in as little as an hour (although I recommend longer, up to all day, to infuse more of its irresistible flavor).

Step one:
Combine all ingredients (red wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, pressed garlic, and rosemary) in a heavy duty gallon-sized ziplock bag. Get most of the air out, seal the bag, and squish it around with your hands a bit to mix the ingredients and dissolve the brown sugar.

You can also use a large, flat Tupperware or food storage container, but why dirty more dishes than necessary?

Raw flank steak on a plate next to a ziplock bag filled with red wine steak marinade and a sprig of rosemary.

Step two:
Open the bag again and add your raw steak. Remove most of the air and seal the bag. Fold the bag over so as much marinade touches the steak as possible. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 24 hours.

Flip the bag over mid-way through the marinating time if possible to get maximum flavor on both sides of the meat.

Don’t marinate too long, though, or prolonged contact with the acid in the marinade can end up toughening the meat or breaking it down too much, causing the outside to become mushy.

Raw flank steak marinating in a ziplock bag with red wine steak marinade.

Step three:
Remove the steak and let as much of the marinade drip back into the bag as possible. Excess marinade pooling on a sheet pan can burn easily under a broiler, making for a smoky kitchen at dinnertime.

Cook your steak as desired, whether on the grill, in a skillet, or under the broiler.

Raw red wine marinated flank steak on a sheet pan.

For a perfect, medium rare flank steak: Place the steak on a sheet pan (line with tin foil for easy cleanup, which I did not do here). Preheat your broiler and arrange your oven rack so the steak is 4-6″ from the heating element. For my oven, that’s the second slot from the top.

Broil for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove from the oven and let the steak rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Slice thinly across the grain (very important for what can easily be a very tough cut of meat due to the long fibers).

And this is the hardest step: Try not to eat the whole thing with your fingers as you slice it.

What to serve with red wine marinated steak

As I mentioned at the top of the post, this steak will definitely be the star of your dinner! Here’s how I recommend fleshing out the rest of the menu.

A glass of red wine (the same kind you used in your marinade)
White rice with some butter and garlic
A simple veggie side
- Sautéed spinach and mushrooms with garlic
- Steakhouse style buttery garlic green beans
- Sweet onion oven roasted asparagus

If you’re having company or a date night at home, you can also pair it with a simple green salad and an appetizer. I recommend one of my crostini recipes.

And what could be better than wrapping up the meal with a nice chocolate dessert?

More steak recipes

Marinating salmon or tuna? Try this Pineapple Teriyaki Marinade for Tuna or Salmon!

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