Steak Au Poivre is a black pepper-crusted steak that comes with a sherry cream pan sauce. You cook the sauce in the same pan that has the “fond” (those black bits stuck on the bottom from pan-searing the steaks) which adds so much incredible flavor!
I’ve added in a tablespoon of brandy to this steak au poivre recipe to make it a little extra, but that is completely optional if you don’t have any on hand.
Steak Options
As for the steaks, feel free to use what your budget allows. I love NY Strip steaks with this recipe, but that can get quite expensive. When shopping, talk to your local butcher about ideas and see if he/she can find you some steaks with fewer veins in them for a more tender piece. I always encourage people to make friends with their butchers!
Sides
For sides, I love to serve steak au poivre with roasted veggies. I pop them in the oven at the same temp I’ll cook the steaks at – 425 F – about 15 minutes before I plan to start cooking the steaks. I remove them when I’m ready to slice my steaks. That way everything comes out together!
Expert Tips! – Read This!
Oil – Less is more!
You’ll notice in the directions it says for oil to just add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan before adding in the steaks. This is important for two reasons. First, if you have too much oil it will splatter everywhere – all over your stove and in your oven. Second, when you go to make your sauce, you don’t want a lot of oil in the pan or your sauce will turn out greasy looking. You’ll see separated oil dots.
Hot Pan
Start with a hot pan. Put the pan on medium heat and let it heat up for a good 45 seconds, add in the oil, spread it around. I like to dab my finger under the faucet (wht
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PrintSteak Au Povire: Steak & Sherry Cream Sauce
You can make this dish more budget friendly by using sirloin steaks instead of NY Strips. Ask your butcher for good sirloins that don’t have too many veins if possible. This will make the meat more tender and easier to eat!
- Prep Time: 5
- Inactive Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sauté
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 Steaks 1/2-1″ thick; NY Strip, Sirloin
- Black Peppercorns, crushed
- Neutral Oil – Avocado, Grapeseed or Canola
- 1/4 cup Sherry
- 1 Tbsp Brandy (optional)
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- Salt As Needed
Instructions
1. Pulse peppercorns in food processor, or put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. You want the pieces to be roughly 1/4 of the size of a normal peppercorn. You can also use already ground pepper, but use much more sparingly! Very lightly pepper, rather than heavily coat.
2. Preheat oven to 425, letting steaks come to room temp as they do. Salt both sides and lay steaks into crushed black peppercorns to fully coat 1 side of each steak.
3. Once oven is ready, preheat an oven-safe skillet, just barely covering the bottom in a thin layer of neutral oil.** see note.
4. Place steaks in skillet, pepper side down, and let cook on medium heat until the cooked edge comes 1/4″-1/2″ up the sides.
5. Flip and place the pan in the oven. Cook until the temperature of choice. For thicker steaks to get to Medium Rare it will be about 4-5 minutes, thinner steaks will take about 3-4 minutes.
6. Remove steaks from oven and pan, place on a cutting board covered in foil to let rest for about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce in the pan.
7. Pour sherry and brandy (if using) into the pan and reduce by 1/2 ~2-3 minutes. Add in heavy cream and turn heat to medium low so the cream won’t separate. Simmer for another 1-2 minutes and season as necessary with salt. The sauce should be quite thick – if it still needs to reduce, simmer for another minute or so.
8. Slice and plate the meat and drizzle with the sauce.
Notes
If wanting to cook with roasted vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, red onion, garlic cloves, etc), place in the 425 F oven 15 minutes before you want to cook the steaks and remove them when you are slicing the steaks. That way everything should come out at the same time.
**When cooking your steaks and making your sauce, make sure you don’t have a lot of oil in your pan. If you have too much when cooking, oil will splatter everywhere. Drain out any grease once you take out the steaks. You want the black bits stuck to the pan, but not the grease!
Keywords: Steak, Dinner, Easy Dinner, Weeknight, Dinner for 2, Quick, Fast, Simple, Healthy, Gluten Free, Keto
This s so delicious! Highly recommend this recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you! I’m so glad that you like it!