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Steak Frites is one of the most comforting and impressive meals you can make. It looks simple to make—because it is. Aside from ease, the beauty of this dish is that you can master the technique and riff on everything—the fries, steak and sauce. Bring this classic French bistro menu item to your table with this delicious and impressive recipe for steak frites!
What is Steak Frites?
Steak frites is a classic French dish that consists of a juicy steak accompanied by crisp and golden french fries. The steak, typically a tender cut like ribeye or sirloin, is seasoned with salt and pepper before being grilled or pan-seared to perfection.
The frites, which are thin-cut potatoes, are deep-fried until they become crispy on the outside while maintaining a fluffy interior.
This steak and French fries dish is often served with a variety of condiments like a tangy béarnaise sauce or a rich red wine reduction, adding a flavorful touch to the meal.
As a skilled and experienced home cook, mastering the art of preparing a perfectly cooked steak (whether it’s a flank steak, ribeye, or top sirloin) and crisp frites is a must.
Steak Frite Ingredients
- Potatoes: for the best oven-baked fries, we recommend using russet potatoes. Their starchiness is important for creating a crisp exterior. If you plan to deep-fry the fries, use Yukon gold potatoes. And use this double-fry recipe I developed for Cuisine at Home.
- Salt and Vinegar seasoning: this is totally optional! We wanted to create a fry recipe that was not only baked and uber-crispy, but also uniquely seasoned. You can certainly skip this and simply season the fries with salt and pepper for ease. Or make truffle fries! They would pair perfectly with the mushroom steak sauce.
- Mushrooms: for the creamy steak sauce, you’ll need 12 ounces of fresh mushrooms. We like to use 8 ounces of cremini mushrooms and 4 ounces of shiitake. You can use a mix of different types of mushrooms, like we do, or use all of one kind.
- Shallot: gives the sauce a nice savoriness.
- Crème fraîche: look for crème fraîche in the especially cheese section or fresh cheese section of your grocery store. It comes in plastic containers (like cream cheese) and is sold in 5–8 ounce containers. You’ll need 8 ounces.
- Sherry: a splash of dry sherry deglazes the pan, picking up all the flavorful bits of fond and also infuse the sauce with a nutty undertone.
- Thyme: fresh thyme pairs beautifully with mushrooms, cream and sherry. You can also use dried ¾ teaspoon dried thyme.
- Steak: we love a nice ribeye steak for this recipe but you can also use a top sirloin or New York strip.
- Pantry: olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper
How to Make Steak Frites
- Prep the Frites
Cut the potatoes into ¼-inch batons.
Prep tip: I recommend trimming a ¼ inch off of one side of the potato and using that as the base—a squared edge makes it more stable to then cut into planks. Slice the potato into ¼-inch thick planks then cut across the planks to create ¼-inch fries or “batons.”
- Soak the Potatoes
Add the potato slices to a large bowl filled with cold water. Let the potatoes soak for 30 minutes, draining and refilling the bowl once. What this does: washes away excess starch and makes for a crisper fry.
Drain the potatoes, dry very well, then toss with oil and salt to coat.
- Bake the Fries
Bake the fries at a moderate temperature to cook through, then kick up the heat and continue baking until crispy and golden brown.
- Make the Mushroom Sauce
Cook down some mushrooms and shallot in a large skillet. Add in the thyme and season it all with salt and pepper. Deglaze with sherry then stir in the crème fraîche and cook until slightly thickened.
- Cook the Steak
There are three key steps here before you start cooking the steak. One, preheat the cast-iron adequately (3–5 minutes). Two, pat the steak dry with paper towels. And three, wait to season the steak until right before you place it in the skillet. Pre-seasoning has its place, like when you’re reverse searing. But here, you don’t want to season too early.
Place the steak in the skillet and cook, without moving (you want to create a nice crust!) until a nice golden crust forms on the bottom. Flip the steak and continue to cook until the second side has a nice golden crust.
- Season the Fries
Transfer the fries to a large bowl and toss with the salt and vinegar seasoning. Feel free to play around with other seasonings. Note: if you aren’t using the salt and vinegar seasoning, season the fries with more salt (1 teaspoon total) prior to baking.
Steak Frites Sauce
There’s no real “rule” when it comes to the type of sauce to serve with steak frites. It’s common to see a creamy black peppercorn sauce on bistro menus but buttery red wine sauces and creamy horseradish-infused sauces are also common.
For our recipe we wanted to create a sauce that offered more than just creamy decadence. The addition of sauteed mushrooms and shallots add flavor and texture while sherry and thyme add depth.
Steak Frites Tips
- Steak frites are best enjoyed right after cooking, but if you have leftover steak, store it in an airtight container and reheat it gently over medium-low heat in a skillet or in the microwave on half power in 30-second increments until warmed through.
- Do not season the steaks until right before cooking. If you season them with salt a few minutes prior to cooking, the salt will draw moisture out of the steaks and inhibit browning.
- For the best sauce, seek out small cremini and shiitake mushrooms. We recommend buying mushrooms from the bulk bins in your grocery store or at the farmers market. The smaller they are, the less prep they require. Small shiitakes just need to be stemmed—no slicing required. And Small cremini mushrooms just need a quick slice—plus slices are prettier in a sauce than chopped mushrooms.
More Steak Recipes to Try
Frites Steak FAQs
Steak frites au poivre is a variety of steak frites where the steak is encrusted with black peppercorns prior to cooking. It’s often served with a creamy pan sauce as well.
Any cut of steak you like will work here! We like juicy, beefy steaks like ribeye or top sirloin. Skirt steak or flank steak are also great options and perfect if you want something quick-cooking.
Steak frites (steak and French fries) is an all-in-one dish. If you want to round out the meal with something fresh, try serving it with a simple side salad like our butter lettuce salad, fennel salad, or garden salad.
The most important aspect of this steak frites recipe is that you use some type of beef steak. We like to use a nicely marbled and tender cut of steak like a ribeye steak, top sirloin or NY strip.
You’ll find steak frites made with rump steak on a lot of restaurant menus, in addition to flank steak and porterhouse. For something even fancier, try filet mignon.
We like the juicy richness of a ribeye which pairs wonderfully with the bright and tangy salt and vinegar oven fries.
Not sure what grade to buy? Learn more about grades of beef!
Steak Frites Recipe
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Ingredients
Frites
- 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Salt and vinegar seasoning
Mushroom Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced (we like a mix of cremini and shiitake)*
- 1 medium shallot, sliced
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 8 ounces crème fraîche
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried
Steak
- 2 (1–2 inch-thick) ribeye steaks
- Avocado oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
Frites
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190ºC) with racks set in upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Cut 4 russet potatoes into ¼-inch thick planks then cut across to form ¼-inch thick batons. Transfer potato batons to a large bowl; fill with cold water, swish around then drain. Refill bowl with cold water and let soak 30 minutes.
- Drain potato batons and transfer to a clean kitchen towel; dry very well. Wipe bowl dry then transfer potato batons back to bowl with ¼ cup olive oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Spread evenly in a single layer on prepared half sheet pans.
- Bake frites for 20 minutes.
- Increase oven temperature to 425°F (218ºC) and cook frites until golden, about 20–25 minutes more, flipping and rotating pans top to bottom, halfway through. (Keep an eye on them as all ovens are different! You may need a few less or more minutes.)
- Remove from oven and transfer frites to a large bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt and vinegar seasoning and toss to coat; season to taste with additional salt and vinegar seasoning.
Mushroom Sauce
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add 12 ounces sliced mushrooms and 1 sliced shallot and cook until softened, stirring frequently, 5–6 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until starting to brown, 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon fresh thyme and 1 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper, cook 1 minute. Add ¼ cup dry sherry and cook until evaporated.
- Stir in 8 ounces crème fraîche and cook until melted, reduce heat to low and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Steak
- Preheat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes.
- Pat 2 ribeye steaks dry with paper towels, then season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
- Reduce heat to medium-high. Add a splash of avocado oil and swirl to coat the pan. Place steaks in skillet; cook until charred and beads of moisture begin to form around edges of steak, about 3 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 125ºF (52ºC) for medium-rare, about 3 more minutes. For medium, cook to an internal temperature is 135ºF (57ºC), about 4 minutes per side.
- Transfer steak to a clean plate, tent loosely with foil or parchment paper and let rest 10 minutes.
Plating
- Slice steak then divide between 4 plates. Spoon sauce over steak and serve with a few handfuls of frites. Finish with a few turns of black pepper and serve.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
This post is written and created in partnership with the Iowa Beef Council. As always the thoughts, opinions, recipe, photos and content are all my own.
This looks SO delicious!! Perfect for an intimate dinner. Quick question, can I substitute the creme fraiche with something else? I’ve never been able to find it where I live. Thanks so much!!
Hey Lola—such a great question!! Sour cream should work—though I would remove the skillet from heat and let it cool slightly before adding the sour cream. Then cook it over low just until thickened—you don’t want it to boil too vigorously. The sauce will be a bit tangier, but delicious nonetheless!
For easier oven potatoes, cut a baking or large yellow potato into 8 wedges. Toss in bowl with oil, salt, pepper. Arrange on baking sheet with round side down. Bake at 400F for 30-40 mins until browned.