These balsamic marinated cajun steak bites are truly the best! With the cajun dry rub and balsamic marinade, it's a simple dish packed full of flavor! Made in under an hour, it's also a quick and easy dinner for your whole family.
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📋 About the Recipe
- These balsamic marinated steak bites are packed full of delicious cajun flavors from the dry rub to the marinade. With fresh ingredients, it's a healthy way to eat red meat.
- These bites are truly the best because they get perfectly crisp on the outside with a tender and juicy pink inside.
- These bites are lightly spicy and a bit tangy with a subtle sweetness to balance it all. The cajun steak bites also get crispy and flavorful in the homemade garlic butter sauce.
- It's a quick and easy recipe that's great as a busy weeknight dinner. You can also serve it up as an appetizer for a crowd or as a fun game day snack.
- It's the best for serving a large group of people because the recipe is easy to size up. It also doesn't require a very expensive cut of meat, yet it'll taste just as good!
- Serve steak bites with homemade dirty rice, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, or Southern-style beans.
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Sirloin steaks - because the meat is cut into small cubes, you don't need to purchase a super expensive cut of steak. I like to use sirloin steaks for this recipe since they're boneless, inexpensive, and still tender enough to create a moist and juicy bite.
- Paprika, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, thyme, chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne - these seasonings and herbs create the cajun rub. It's a combination of slightly smoky, spicy, and herby flavors that contribute to the overall blackened taste.
- Brown sugar - the brown sugar helps in counterbalancing all the other flavors. When combined with the acidic balsamic vinegar, it tones down the tanginess and allows the steak to caramelize into the best crispy, yet juicy bites.
- Balsamic vinegar - balsamic vinegar infuses flavor deep within the meat. It also helps in tenderizing it.
- Olive oil - olive oil adds some fat to the lean sirloin meat. It helps prevent the meat from drying out, as well as keeps the rub from falling off the steak.
- Unsalted butter, garlic cloves - the butter creates richness. It also gets infused with the fresh garlic cloves for an added punch of flavor.
- Bell pepper - the addition of the bell pepper adds a lighter, fresher element. It soaks up the leftover flavors of the meat, marinade, and garlic butter, making it absolutely delicious!
📓 Instructions
1. Trim excess fat from the steaks and cut them into 2-inch cubes. You want them bite sized, but not so small that they'll overcook.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the seasonings, herbs, and the brown sugar to make the cajun rub. Add the steak to the bowl. Lightly massage the rub onto the cubed steak.
3. Pour balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top of the cubed steak. Allow the steak to marinate at least 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and slice the bell pepper.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter.
6. Remove the cubed steak from the marinade and place them in the hot skillet, along with the garlic. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, or until the outside of the steak is caramelized and crispy and the inside is medium (145 degrees F).
7. Remove the steak bites from the skillet and allow them to rest, while you sauté the bell peppers in the same pan. Cook peppers about 5 to 10 minutes or until fork tender.
8. Remove the peppers from the skillet and serve them mixed with the steak bites. Drizzle any remaining garlic butter over the steak to keep them juicy.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
Instead of sirloin steaks: you can use a different cut of beef, as long as it's boneless, fairly lean, and thick enough that the middle doesn't overcook too quickly. You can also use cubed chicken breasts.
Instead of balsamic vinegar: you can use red wine to marinate the steak if you don't have balsamic vinegar. It'll still give it the proper acidity with a slightly different flavor.
Instead of butter: if you don't want to use butter, you can use extra olive oil to cook the steak instead.
Instead of bell pepper: feel free to add in any vegetables you like. Peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and carrots are all great options.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Allow the marinated cajun steak bites to cool before placing them in an airtight container and storing them in your refrigerator. Store them up to 4 days.
To freeze: Freezing is not recommended. However, you can cut the steaks into cubes ahead of time and freeze them, so they're ready to be made into cajun steak bites at a moment's notice. Make sure to defrost them completely before marinating and cooking.
To reheat: Steak often becomes tough and overcooked when reheated. However, if you have leftover bites, you can throw them back in a skillet with a little extra butter to infuse juices back into them. Make sure to heat them just until warm, so they don't overcook in the middle.
🔍 FAQs
These steak bites are great on their own, but if you're looking for some delicious dipping sauces, then try these!
- Pomegranate BBQ Sauce
- Creamy Feta Ranch
- Homemade Remoulade Sauce (included in this crab cake recipe)
- Pesto Aioli
- Horseradish Dipping Sauce
If your steak turns out tough and chewy, it's probably overcooked. Make sure to monitor the steak as it cooks and remove it from the skillet as soon as it registers 145 degrees F in the middle for a medium steak.
It is highly recommended that you purchase a meat thermometer for this reason.
Marinating steak in a combination of salt and acids also helps in tenderizing the meat. The balsamic marinade helps break down the steak's proteins to create a softer, more tender piece of meat.
💭 One More Tip
For perfectly cooked steak, you want to avoid "steaming" it in the skillet. This happens when the pan is either overcrowded or not hot enough. Steaming causes the steak to become rubbery and tough to chew.
Instead, make sure you choose a large skillet big enough to hold all the steak bites with some space in between each one. If you don't have a skillet large enough, cook them in batches.
Also, make sure the butter is melted and the pan is sizzling hot before adding the steak. Allow the bites to sit in the hot butter and try to avoid moving them around. Only flip them once they're crisp and browned.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
The Best Balsamic Marinated Cajun Steak Bites
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized sirloin steaks
- ½ tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- a sprinkle of cayenne
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 bell pepper (green, red, or orange) sliced
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Trim excess fat from the steaks and cut them into 2-inch cubes. You want them bite sized, but not so small that they'll overcook.
- In a large bowl, combine all the seasonings, herbs, and the brown sugar to make the cajun rub. Add the steak to the bowl. Lightly massage the rub onto the cubed steak.
- Pour balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top of the cubed steak. Allow the steak to marinate at least 30 minutes before cooking.
- Meanwhile, mince the garlic and slice the bell pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter.
- Remove the cubed steak from the marinade and place them in the hot skillet, along with the garlic. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, or until the outside of the steak is caramelized and crispy and the inside is medium (145 degrees F).
- Remove the steak bites from the skillet and allow them to rest, while you sauté the bell peppers in the same pan. Cook peppers about 5 to 10 minutes or until fork tender.
- Remove the peppers from the skillet and serve them mixed with the steak bites. Drizzle any remaining garlic butter over the steak to keep them juicy.
Storage
- To store: Allow the marinated cajun steak bites to cool before placing them in an airtight container and storing them in your refrigerator. Store them up to 4 days.To freeze: Freezing is not recommended. However, you can cut the steaks into cubes ahead of time and freeze them, so they're ready to be made into cajun steak bites at a moment's notice. Make sure to defrost them completely before marinating and cooking.To reheat: Steak often becomes tough and overcooked when reheated. However, if you have leftover bites, you can throw them back in a skillet with a little extra butter to infuse juices back into them. Make sure to heat them just until warm, so they don't overcook in the middle.
Notes
- Because the meat is cut into small cubes, you don't need to purchase a super expensive cut of steak. I like to use sirloin steaks for this recipe since they're boneless, inexpensive, and still tender enough to create a moist and juicy bite.
- You can also make this recipe with cubed boneless chicken breasts instead of steak.
- Make sure your pan is sizzling hot before adding the meat so that the bites become crisp and browned.
Nutrition
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Stacy
These were absolutely delicious! So tender and flavorful. Definitely going to make again for my family.
Alana Lieberman
Love to hear that! Thank you.