Gordon Ramsay Uses An Unexpected Chicken Ingredient To Elevate Steaks

Chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay may be known for certain signature dishes, like his classic beef Wellington, but he also has the culinary chops to cook just about anything well, including an incredible steak. When he wants to especially elevate a steak, he tosses an unexpected ingredient into the pan alongside classics like garlic, rosemary, and thyme. As he revealed on his YouTube show "The F Word," Ramsay splashes in a bit of chicken stock to keep the steak as moist as possible (chicken broth can also give frozen vegetables a ton of added flavor, making both broth and stock great options to have on hand at all times).

You may wonder why he doesn't just spring for beef stock, as that seems like the natural pairing for, well, a beef steak. As Ramsay explains, though, chicken stock has a more delicate flavor that manages to elevate a steak without overpowering it the way a heartier stock might. You could flex your culinary creativity, however, and use this same concept to level up a wide variety of dishes, adding anything from beef stock to vegetable broth as a way to maintain the meat's moisture while also adding extra flavor. Of course, making your own chicken stock is always an option, but you can also buy your preferred brand from the store — just be mindful of the sodium content and select a low- or no-salt variety if you plan to salt your steak.

While chicken stock just might be the new secret ingredient in your steak arsenal, you should be careful with the amount you use, lest you end up essentially boiling your steak in all that liquid. Approach this chicken stock method the way you would approach butter when making a butter-basted steak, adding just a splash or two of chicken stock to your pan and then spooning a small amount of it over the steak to help every inch of the protein absorb some of that extra flavor. In fact, you might even consider tossing a knob of butter in the pan alongside the chicken stock for a rave-worthy meal.

To get the exact cook you want on your steak, whether that's medium rare or medium well, Ramsay's other secret to delicious steak is to take the meat out of the refrigerator about 20 minutes before you need to cook it to ensure that the interior isn't too cold to cook properly.