Grilled New York Strip Steak

My favorite way to prepare a New York Strip steak is on the grill over hot charcoal – nothing fancy, just a perfectly-grilled steak.

This recipe is simple, as all great steak recipes should be, but I do include some tips and tricks on how to grill the perfect New York Strip right in your backyard.

New York Strip Steak

The strip steak is a steak of many names; Kansa City Strip, Ambassador Steak, Strip Loin Steak, and, as it’s most popularly known, The New York Strip. 

It is a cut full of beefy, delicate flavor and has a tender texture, making it popular among restauranteurs and backyard cooks alike.

The cut comes from the Loin Primal, which is the area below the backbone and behind the ribs. This primal is also the home of other popular cuts such as the tenderloin. 

Choosing your steak

The New York Strip comes in both bone-in and boneless varieties. Which you choose is really personal preference and, of course, budget. 

I tend to opt for bone-in steaks when I can because I just really enjoy the look and presentation of a bone-in steak. 

Some say that the bone will impart a lot of extra flavor into your meat, but I’ve also had amazing boneless steaks with plenty of flavor.

For this recipe, I chose a Bone-in New York Strip from Snake River Farms. This is their American Wagyu Black Grade beef that they hand-cut in-house and leave the bone in for a more impressive appearance. 

American Wagyu will provide impressive marbling and unparalleled flavor.

If you are choosing a steak from your local butcher or grocery store, look for something that is at least 1½” to 2” thick and has a bright red color and abundant marbling for the best flavor in your final product.

How to Grill a New York Strip

1. Simple seasoning

A great steak doesn’t need a lot of seasoning, and a New York Strip is a great steak, it has a natural, beefy flavor and decent marbling in the cut. 

I chose to season it simply with just a bit of coarse ground Kosher salt and coarse black pepper. If you want to be a little more adventurous, you could try our Beef Rub.

You want to season your steak evenly on both sides and be sure to season the sides of the steak and the fat cap on the far end of the cut. This will ensure that every bite is well-seasoned.

Once your steak is seasoned, you can leave it on the counter to rest at room temperature while you fire up your grill. 

You do not need to let the steak come fully to room temperature, but it will be fine sitting on the counter for 20-30 minutes while you fire up the charcoal.

2. Fire up the grill

As I mentioned before, my favorite way to grill a steak is simply over hot charcoal. 

Steak doesn’t need to be complicated, so your grill doesn’t need to be complicated either. The key is to get a nice, hot, even heat on your grill and let the charcoal do its job.

I grilled this steak on my Weber Original 22” Kettle. The Weber Kettle was invented in 1951 and the design hasn’t changed much in decades because it works. 

It offers great ventilation and a wide charcoal basket for even cooking, and it’s one of the more affordable grills on the market.

For the charcoal, again I kept it pretty simple and just fired up some Kingsford Original Charcoal briquettes. They light quickly, burn evenly, and provide great, classic charcoal flavor. 

I like to use my Oklahoma Joe’s charcoal chimney to light my charcoal. It’s wider than most charcoal chimneys and I find that it lights my charcoal in about half the time of a traditional chimney design.

A little trick to lighting your charcoal chimney is to just rip off a portion of the charcoal bag, bunch it up, and stuff it under the bottom of your chimney. You can light the charcoal bag and it will get your charcoal started in no time – so don’t throw away those old charcoal bags!

Once your charcoal is red hot in the center and covered with about 75% ash, you can just dump it down into the charcoal basket of your grill and replace the grate of the grill on top. 

Close the lid of your grill and let it come to an even temperature.

3. Grilling your steak

The steak that I chose was a bit thicker, around 2”, so I wanted to make sure that I could watch the temperature while the steak cooked. 

Also, the Weber Kettle does not have a temperature gauge on it, so I also wanted to be able to monitor the ambient temperature of the grill.

To be able to watch both temperature levels simultaneously, I inserted my ThermoPro Temp Spike into the steak. 

It is a fully-wireless temperature probe that connects via Bluetooth directly to your phone and will notify you when you reach your desired internal temperature.

Once your temperature probe is in and the charcoal is hot, you can place the steak directly on the grates of your grill. 

Depending on the size of your steak, it shouldn’t take longer than 10 to 15 minutes per side for a perfect medium rare (see below for steak temperatures and grilling times).

For a New York Strip, I recommend cooking it to medium rare or medium. Anything much higher than 145°F will start drying out the center of your steak very rapidly and leave you with a tougher piece of meat. 

Of course, if you prefer a medium well or well-done steak, just ensure that you find a steak that is well-marbled throughout to keep as much moisture in the meat as possible.

4. Resting

Once your steak has reached your desired temperature and has a nice char on both sides, you want to give it a bit of time to rest. 

You can let it rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. I like to add a dollop of compound butter while my steak rests for a little burst of extra flavor.

The compound butter I used for this steak was a very simple combination of 2 tablespoons of salted butter and ½ tablespoon of Al Frugoni Chimichurri. 

If you haven’t tried out this chimichurri rub yet, you really need to check it out. It’s packed full of flavor and can be used to make a chimichurri sauce, used as a condiment, or even used as a rub – it’s super versatile and one of my favorite things to keep in my kitchen.

5.  Slicing and serving

Always be sure to slice against the grain when you are cutting into a steak to ensure that you get the most tender, juicy, and flavorful bites of steak. 

If you opted for the bone-in steak, you can take your knife and slice along the edge of the bone to remove it before serving, but that is totally up to you.

Don’t forget a good set of steak knives!

Steak Temperatures

• Rare: 125° to 130°F – a cool, red center
• Medium Rare: 130°F to 140°F – a warm, red center
• Medium: 140°F to 150°F – a hot, pink center
• Medium Well: 150°F to 155°F – a slight, pink center
• Well Done: 160°F+ – no pink in the center

Average Steak Grilling Times

• 1” Thick Steak: 10 to 12 minutes per side
• 1-1/2” Thick Steak: 13 to 15 minutes per side
• 2” Thick Steak: 15 to 17 minutes per side

Here are some sides we think pair perfectly:

• Smoky Garlic Butter Mushrooms
• Garlic and Rosemary Smoked Potatoes
• Smoked Beer Mustard Potatoes
• Bacon-wrapped Carrots with Maple Glaze
• Ultra-crispy Potato Wedges