Your Steak Is Begging For Blue Cheese

A good steak elevates a meal to enticing elegance. There's nothing like the joy of slicing into tender, juicy meat and tasting its hearty goodness. This only gets better when combined with the thrill of adding something new to steak such as blue cheese. While salt, pepper, aromatics, and a butter are often enough to impart marvelous flavors, this additional ingredient is hardly redundant. You'll delight in the unique flavor balance it brings to your steak.

While blue cheese can generally be defined by its sharp, pungent scent, it's also much more nuanced. Some varieties carry sweet and creamy notes. Others lean more into the salty spectrum, and aged varieties tend to be earthy with a piquant bite.

When paired with steak, blue cheese's bold tanginess and layered flavors perfectly balance the fat's richness, enhancing the meat's robust, savory taste. Although beef and blue cheese are both quite rich, they don't overwhelm each other. Instead, blue cheese creates an exquisite depth that complements a well-seasoned steak.

There are many types of blue cheese, each with its own unique features. Any blue cheese will work, so choosing the right one for your steak comes down to personal preference. Those who like it mild and creamy might appreciate the German blue cheese known as Cambozola. Roquefort has a stronger taste and a complex, funky depth, while Gorgonzola packs a rustic, slightly sweet sharpness.

As for incorporating blue cheese, there are a few standout options. A blue cheese sauce is a foolproof choice. You only need simple additional ingredients such as heavy cream (or milk), stock, spices, and perhaps Worcestershire sauce to make it. You can sauté onions (with the help of our how-to guide) and add them as well. Serve the sauce on the side as a dip for our simple garlic butter steak bites, or pour it over the meat.

Another fun and flavorful approach is melting it into softened butter and letting it chill for an hour to make a blue cheese butter that can be slathered on the meat. Or give your steak a blue cheese crust by mixing the cheese with breadcrumbs, olive oil, spices, and finely chopped herbs. Coating the tender meat with a crunchy, melty layer is a divine finishing touch.