The Best Steak Toppings
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Feb 18, 2025 
Best Toppings for Steak – Check out our Steak Lover’s Guide to dressing your meat with any one of these flavorful and unique steak toppings, including our easy recipe for zippy quick pickled veggies!
Our Favorite Steak Toppings
Meaty, beautiful medium-rare grilled steaks tend to be our go-to meal on a rushed night.
“What’s for dinner, honey?” … “I don’t know. Why don’t you pick up a couple steaks on the way home and we’ll just throw them on the grill.”
Sound familiar?
As delicious as a well-cooked steak is, it can become a little mundane. (…Yes I just said that.) But with a few simple ingredients, you can turn a plain steak into something really spectacular! Here we’re sharing our list of the 10 Best Steak Toppings PLUS our easy recipe for Quick Pickled Veggies if you want to turn things up to 11 *wink*
10 Best Steak Toppings PLUS Our Favorite Pickled Veggies
- Gremolata. With just 3 items, minced garlic, lemon zest and chopped parsley (or basil, thyme, mint) you have a wonderfully bright steak topping to sprinkle over your plate.
- Compound Butter. Butter smashed with herbs or spices; possibly even the gremolata above. A lovely dollop of compound butter over a steaming steak is a glorious dripping thing.
- Creamy Pan Sauce. So you’ve just seared your steaks in a skillet? Why not add a splash of cognac and cream to the dripping for a quick luxurious sauce? This says smart and sophisticated, every time.
- Mushrooms. I know, I know, this is the most cliche of all steak toppings, but WELL cooked mushrooms offer an earthy rustic punch. Try sauteing the mushrooms long and low (medium-low heat for 20+ minutes to render out the moisture and create caramelization) with a little butter, salt and pepper and a splash of sherry at the end. Heavenly.
- Crispy Herbs. One Word, Fancy. You want to impress your dinner guests?Flash-fry basil leaves so they look like little pieces of stained glass laying on top of their steak. Super quick with Big Impact.
- Salsa. I’m not talking about runny jarred picante sauce. I’m talking FRESH chunky homemade salsa, piled high atop your filet. Here’s a fantastic creamy avocado salsa verde and a spicy fruit salsa that would work perfectly.
- Creamy Blue Cheese with a Kick. Try pureeing some sour cream, crumbled blue cheese, horseradish and a little honey, for a zingy, spicy steak topping that will have you licking your plate clean!
- Olive Tapenade. Whether you use a store-bought variety or make your own, this briny bite of goodness atop a juicy red steak is a thing of beauty.
- Tomatoes. Oven roasted tomatoes or a quick fresh tomato sauce make any weekday steak taste like a weekend meal to remember.
- Chimichurri. Honest to God, this stuff makes everything, EVERYTHING, better. I wouldn’t blame you if you just had to take a sip!
As a bonus, I’ve got Steak with Pickled Vegetables recipe below. Sweet and salty raw veggies make the steak want to do a little dance in your mouth… The smell alone might make you faint!
How to Make Pickled Veggies for Steak
Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Microwave for up to a minute to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the Sriracha, and allow the mixture to cool while slicing veggies.
Place the sliced onions, radishes, and cucumbers in a large bowl, and pour in the pickling liquid.
Toss the vegetables with the liquid, pressing the slices down so each piece gets submerged.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to quickly pickle the veggies. If you plan to keep them on hand for longer, store them in a container with a lid or cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
Homemade quick pickled veggies will keep well for up to 2-3 weeks in the fridge… But they never last that long in this household!
Get the Complete (Printable!) Pickled Veggies for Steak Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Additional Uses for Pickled Veggies
These tangy pickled cucumbers, radishes, and onions are fabulous on hot sizzling steaks and to enjoy straight from the fridge as a tasty snack… And so much more!
Add a generous pile on top of all sorts of meaty Tex-Mex-inspired dishes like carne asada tacos, tacos al pastor, and yes – even Vietnamese banh mi tacos!
You definitely want to keep a batch of bold and zippy pickled veggies on hand to load into tasty sandwiches. Try them on banh mi sandwiches, blue cheese sliders, low carb bell pepper sandwiches, or in place of relish on hot dogs. And on leftover steak sandwiches, of course!
Looking for More Quick Pickling Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Chamoy Pickle Recipe
- Spicy Beet Pickled Eggs
- Pickled Watermelon Rind
- Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
- Pickled Garlic (Preserved Garlic)
Get the Complete (Printable!) Pickled Veggies for Steak Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Steak Topping: Pickled Veggies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha chile sauce
- 1 English cucumber peeled and sliced thin
- 1 bunch radishes sliced thin
- 1/2 small red onion sliced thin (or one shallot)
Instructions
- Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Microwave for 30-60 seconds to dissolve the sugar. Mix in the Sriracha and allow to cool while slicing veggies.
- Toss the thinly sliced veggies in the vinegar mix.
- Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 30 minutes.
That looks wonderful! Thanks for the great post.
looks great! Love this post
My favorite is a blue cheese compound butter – so creamy and something close to heaven once it melts all over it!
You have some creative and delicious ideas here!
These are all really great ideas! Personally I love a good blue cheese component to a steak. Horseradish is also a great addition to any beef dish, if you ask me. Yum!!
These all sound scrumptious!
All the toppings for a steak sound amazing. I really like the idea of butter and herbs.
Butchers everywhere are trying to figure out why everybody is buying steak this weekend! You have induced cravings with those beautiful cuts of grilled deliciousness! I think the butter would be my first choice – yum!
Great topping ideas! It’s a fun way to change it up and tie into your side dishes.
Chimichurri is my kids’ favorite! Great ideas Sommer.
Yes, it DOES sound familiar!! {laughing}
Chimichurri is one of my all-time faves – it’s beyond good. Compound butter is also pretty delish. Or just the flavor of a good steak!
I want them dressed up every which way! I guess depends on my mood….