Jamie Oliver's Steak Seasoning Method Eliminates Spice Waste

Whether you are celebrating an anniversary or a milestone birthday, nothing screams "special occasion" quite like a home-cooked meal. From coq au vin to paella to bouillabaisse, there are so many show-stopping meals that are sure to be met with gasps and applause. But if you eat red meat and are feeling up for a challenge, you can't go wrong with whipping up a perfectly cooked steak.

Cooking a steak for the first time can be intimidating, even for confident home chefs. When you purchase an expensive cut of meat with so much potential, you want to make sure that you are doing it justice. Thankfully, you don't need a three-Michelin-star kitchen to cook a steak that's crispy on the outside and tender yet juicy on the inside. You simply need a cheat sheet to avoid the classic mistakes people make when grilling a steak. For one, you want to ensure you are seasoning your cut of meat, at the very least, with ample amounts of salt and pepper, as noted by The Pioneer Woman. Secondly, if you choose to season your steak with additional spices, you'll want to make certain that your blend is not going to waste.

In a cooking tutorial posted to his YouTube channel, Jamie Oliver shows his fans exactly how he cooks a sirloin steak. When it comes time to season his cut of beef, the English chef uses a generous helping of salt, pepper, and approximately one teaspoon of smoked paprika. After seasoning the top of the sirloin, Oliver doesn't flip the steak over to season the other side. Instead, Oliver uses a method that makes sure that every bit of spice is put to good use. 

"Use the actual board to season the other side," Oliver recommends as he rubs the steaks across the cutting board. By the time the chef is done, the cutting board looks spotless.

Oliver keeps things fairly simple with his spice blend, but you can easily add more spices to the mix. Emeril Lagasse adds paprika, onion powder, white pepper, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper to his hanger steak dry rub (via YouTube). Meanwhile, longtime judge, Graham Elliot, demonstrates how to season a ribeye steak with olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes in a MasterChef tutorial.