Grilled Ranch Steak With Guinness Marinade

This marinated and grilled ranch steak recipe will make you rethink this inexpensive cut of beef. Don’t hesitate to buy those cheaper cuts when you know the tips and tricks to grill them to perfection. We got the perfect texture using a combination of marinating and mechanical tenderizing, and so can you!

I think once you bite into the ranch steak, you will be impressed by its flavors and texture. We hammered the meat and marinated it to get that perfect juicy bite!

Ranch steak comes from the chuck primal cut, which is the cow’s shoulder. It’s lean and perfect for grilling, pan-searing, and broiling.

It is stripped of all the excess fat leaving just a mean, lean cut of meat ready to put on the grill.

I use an easy Guinness marinade, as beer marinades are awesome for steaks and grilling – it merged with the beefy flavor and tenderized the steak beautifully.

What Is Another Name For Ranch Steak?

Ranch Steak is also known as Beef Shoulder Center, Boneless Chuck Shoulder Center Cut Steak, Ranch Cut, Shoulder Center Steak, Chuck Steak Center Cut, or Arm Steak. Keep an eye out for any of these at your butcher.

⏲️ Equipment and Tools

• Grill
• Ziploc Bag – I prefer to marinate inside of a Ziploc Bag. Be careful, as every now and then you’ll find one that leaks, so I place the bag in a bowl to avoid having to clean a mess in the fridge.
• Meat Thermometer – Use a good quality wireless meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the ranch steak.

🥩 Ingredients 

⭐Ranch steak – This is part of the chuck area of the shoulder muscle that is similar in texture to a sirloin steak with more of a beefy flavor. The shoulder area tends to be a bit tough which leads to a cut of meat that needs to be slow-cooking to optimize the tenderness. We’ll show you how to grill it nice and tender. 

For this recipe, we chose to use the mechanical tenderizing technique followed by a one-hour marinade. 

The little bit of fat and silver skin will most likely already be taken off from the butcher. If it’s not, take a couple of minutes to remove them for a better result of your meat. If you’ve never cut away the silver skin, we show you in detail how to do that in the smoked flank steak recipe.

Guinness Marinade

⭐Guinness Beer – This is a rich and creamy beer that is full-bodied. That is the main reason I come back to it time and time again. There is a sweet bitter taste to the Blonde Stout that we used this time but you will be happy with Guinness overall. 

⭐Soy Sauce – This is one of my favorite ingredients for marinades. It is rich, deep and tangy which lends itself well to lean cuts of beef. Offset it with the brown sugar.

⭐Garlic – The garlicky flavor is totally optional but highly recommended.

⭐ Salt & Black Pepper – Use your favorite salt. Kosher salt, sea salt, anything goes! The same applies to pepper with one condition: grind it right before using it for that intense peppery flavor.

🍴 How to Tenderize Steak

There are three primary ways to tenderize meat. 

🥣Chemical Tenderizing – You will find the jarred meat tenderizer in the spice aisle at the grocery store.  This chemical helps break down the muscle fibers in the meat and results in soft and tender meat. 

Note: If you choose to use the jarred Meat Tenderizer, there are often extra flavors and ingredients added. You may not want those in your dinner.

🔨 Mechanical tenderizing – Use a tenderizing butcher’s mallet to hammer the meat. It’s a blast if you have never tried it.  You can also poke the meat about 15-20 times with a fork, but seriously…Hammer Time! 

🥣Marinating – The homemade marinade is my recommendation as you can adjust the ingredients and it adds a lot of flavor for a grilled dinner that you and your family will enjoy. 

Did you know: Adding papaya or pineapple to your marinade will help to break down muscles in the ranch steak even faster.

🔥 Instructions

Guinness Marinade

Step One: Pierce the steak with a fork about 10-15 times on each side of the meat to assist in tenderizing. You can use a mallet tenderizer if you have it. We used a fork this time and it worked perfectly. 

Step Two: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir.

Step Three: Place all ingredients into a gallon Ziploc bag with the ranch steaks and marinade for at least 1-2 hours and up to 8 hours.

Grilling the Steak

Grilling up these steaks just takes a couple of minutes and three simple steps.

Step One: Preheat the grill to a medium high heat of 375-400°F.

Step Two: Grill each side of the ranch steak for about four minutes for medium rare.

Test for the temperature at 130-135°F for medium rare or 135-145°F for medium. I don’t recommend grilling it above this temperature as the dry heat dries out this lean meat. 

Step Three: Transfer the meat to a cutting board or serving platter. Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into it to allow juices to settle within the steak. Don’t skip this step or the meat will dry out. 

Just a couple of quick and easy ways to put out your charcoal grill.

💡 Recipe Tips

To get the best result from this cut of meat, make sure you: 

• Tenderize the meat to break down the connective tissues. 
• Let the meat come to room temperature before grilling. Remove from fridge 20-30 minutes so the meat warms up a little. It will cook more evenly.
• Don’t cook past medium doneness. Internal temperatures over 145°F may cause this meat to become tough. 
• Allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes when you take it off the grill.
• Always slice against the grain. Cutting across the muscle fibers guarantees maximum tenderness.

🌶️Additions and Substitutions

I highly recommend you do not skip the marinade for this particular cut. However, you have so many options to change things up.

👉Fresh herbs – Rosemary, thyme, oregano, cilantro, and other herbs can be used for the marinade to give the steak a completely different flavor profile.

👉Spices – Another way to experience this steak in new ways is to play with various spices and blends. Try seasonings like cumin, paprika, coriander, chili powder, and onion powder for a richer flavor.

👉Sweeteners – Feel free to replace the brown sugar with another sweetener. Honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and molasses are all great options!

👉Aromatics – Green onions, shallots, lemongrass, star anise, and fennel seeds offer interesting ways to flavor your marinade.

👉Soy Sauce Substitutes – You can go for another umami-rich liquid condiment such as Worcestershire sauce, tamari, and coconut aminos.

👉Beer Alternatives – To start, you can substitute beer with red wine in this recipe. To make it kid-friendly or suitable for someone who cannot consume alcohol, you can use a non-alcoholic beer but also other flavored liquids like beef or chicken broth, apple juice, and pineapple juice.

🍽️Serving Suggestions

Grilled ranch steaks can be served with so many delicious BBQ sides. Here are some of our favorite options:

⭐First things first, starchy sides are one of the classic steak pairings that won’t fail you, especially for a ranch steak cut which is on the lean side. Since you’re already firing up the grill you can use it to make some grilled sweet potatoes in foil, grilled baby potatoes, or cheesy grilled potato skins.

⭐Vegetable sides are a wonderful way to ensure you have a nutritious meal while keeping the calorie count on the low side. Grilled onions, grilled roasted root vegetables, grilled corn on the cob, grilled balsamic carrots, grilled broccolini, and grilled fennel are some of our go to sides for grilled steaks.

⭐There’s nothing like some fresh bread next to a succulent steak to clean up all those juices. Dinner rolls, soft pretzel bites, sourdough bread, baguettes, focaccia, and any other bread you love will work.

❓ Recipe FAQs

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