Easy Sheet Pan Surf And Turf Recipe

Surf and turf is a famous food pairing that combines the best of both land and sea to create an indulgent dish that just makes you feel fancy. "Surf" can be any type of seafood you'd like, including lobster, shrimp, or crab. Meanwhile, "turf" nearly always refers to steak. 

The dish became popular in the 1960s, though there is much debate over whether it was created on the East Coast or West Coast. According to Ruth's Chris Steak House, West Coasters report that the dish was first served at the restaurant on top of Seattle, Washington's Space Needle during the 1962 World's Fair. Meanwhile, East Coasters often like to claim it as their own, as it was first advertised as "surf and turf" in a 1966 edition of The Lowell Sun, a Massachusetts newspaper. The original "surf and turf" was said to be expensive filet mignon and lobster, making it innately high-class.

Regardless of origin, this is a tasty dish that gives you the best of both worlds above and below the surf. Here, chef Tara Rylie of RylieCakes shares how to make surprisingly easy surf and turf at home that'll wow your guests without taking up all of your time in the kitchen.

This recipe is about as easy as it gets, dirties as few dishes as possible (yay!), and yet still provides an explosion of flavor and textures that are sure to delight everyone. We recommend that you gather all your ingredients in one place first to get started. You'll be doing much of the prep work for one step while the previous step is baking. 

Those ingredients are 2 sweet potatoes, 1 stick of butter, melted, 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, 1 lb asparagus, and 2 New York strip steaks. To that, you'll also add 1 tablespoon of steak seasoning, 2 teaspoons thyme, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 3 cloves of garlic, minced, and 1 lb of extra-large shrimp. You'll also use fresh parsley and one lemon, cut into wedges, for garnish and flavor at the very end of the process.

Once you've assembled your ingredients and tools — a step that is called mise en place, if you want to sound extra fancy — be sure to preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place one oven rack about four inches from the broiler and another at the middle position. Coat a half sheet pan with cooking spray and you'll be ready to begin the next step!

Cut your sweet potatoes into lengthwise wedges and place in a medium bowl. Melt your entire stick of butter in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. You'll use the butter as you go along and it's easiest if it's all melted at once. Add about two tablespoons of butter to your sweet potatoes and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning, then toss to coat. You can measure your butter out exactly or you can simply pour about 2 tablespoons over potato wedges if you're feeling a bit braver. Ultimately, this recipe is quite forgiving. Spread wedges in a single layer on a prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, trim your asparagus. There are a few ways to do this. In one variation, you can lightly grab the asparagus at each end and bend the asparagus into a slight "U" shape. The asparagus will break naturally and you can discard the trimmed piece. You can also simply cut half-an-inch to an inch off the bottom of each asparagus spear. 

Once trimmed, place your asparagus sections in the same medium bowl you used for the sweet potatoes. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the melted butter over asparagus and toss to coat. Set asparagus back on the cutting board or on a sheet of parchment while you prepare the steaks.

Place both of your steaks in same the medium bowl you just used for both the sweet potatoes and asparagus. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of butter over the steak and sprinkle with the steak seasoning of your choice, along with some thyme or a similar herb. Rub the butter and spices onto both sides of the steak, making sure that each piece and side is evenly covered in the mixture. 

We love the taste of Mccormick's Grill Mates Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning here. It's easily found in groceries nationwide and the kick of red pepper takes this spice blend to a whole other level! Plus, it pairs well with the Cajun seasoning used on the sweet potatoes. Even better, it saves you a bit of time that might have been spent mixing your own seasoning blend.

When your sweet potato timer goes off, remove them from the oven. Place your steaks and asparagus on the pan with the sweet potato wedges. It's okay if the asparagus is piled on top of the sweet potatoes, but you want to make sure each steak is directly on the pan so that it can cook properly. Bake for another 8 to 10 minutes.

While the asparagus, sweet potatoes, and steaks are cooking, grab the rest of your butter – you should have about 3 tablespoons left. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic to the remaining butter. The beauty of this dish is that this measurement doesn't have to be exact. This means that, if you have a little more or a little less butter, the recipe will still work just fine. 

Place the shrimp in your medium bowl and pour the butter mixture you've just prepared over the shrimp. Toss with a spatula to evenly coat shrimp.

What kind of shrimp should you use, exactly? Ultimately, the bigger the shrimp, the better! Not only will your sheet pan surf and turf look incredible with big, juicy shrimp on it, but it'll also taste that much better. We used cooked shrimp here and only broiled them for 2 minutes to heat them up. However, if you have uncooked shrimp, be sure to broil them for a further 3 to 4 minutes to ensure that they cook all the way through. Watch them carefully as they cook, as you don't want to accidentally overcook them and come out with rubbery shrimp.

There are so many "bests" about this dish. It's quick, it's easy, it dirties exceptionally few dishes, and it's frankly delicious. What makes it all even better is the fact that it looks fantastic served straight from the sheet pan on which it was baked! Simply let the pan cool down slightly and allow the steaks to rest — this step will help to make them extra juicy — before serving. 

If you want to try another serving option, slice the steaks and place them back on the pan. Of course, you can always leave them whole. For garnish, top the entire dish off with freshly chopped parsley and place four lemon wedges around the pan. Watch your guests exclaim in awe and drool as you serve up this timeless, easy to make classic.