How to Cook Steak in the Oven?

Step by step

1. Bring the steak to room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking, and pat it fully dry with paper towels — a wet surface won't brown well.
2. Season generously with salt and pepper (and any other seasoning) just before cooking.
3. Preheat the oven to 400–425°F (200–220°C).
4. Heat an oven-safe skillet (cast iron or another heavy, metal-handled pan) over high heat with a high-smoke-point oil (avocado, grapeseed, or refined vegetable oil) until it's very hot and just starting to shimmer.
5. Sear 1–2 minutes per side, without moving the steak, until a deep brown crust forms.
6. Transfer the entire pan to the oven and cook until it reaches the target internal temperature (see table).
7. Rest the steak for 5–10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing — cutting too soon lets the juices run out instead of redistributing through the meat.

Target internal temperatures (pull from the oven a few degrees below target, since it keeps rising while resting)

Use a meat thermometer, not just time, since oven time varies with the steak's thickness, starting temperature, and the specific oven — a thermometer is far more reliable than a fixed number of minutes.

Alternative — oven-only reverse sear for thick steaks (1.5 inches or more): cook the steak low and slow in the oven first (around 250°F) until it's about 10–15°F below the target temperature, then sear it hard in a screaming-hot pan for under a minute per side just to build the crust at the end. This gives more even doneness edge-to-edge on very thick cuts, at the cost of a longer total cook time.

The closest sibling pages are How to Cut a Dragon Fruit? and How to Dice a Tomato?.

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