Out Of Steak Sauce? Try These 6 Simple Combos As A Substitute

Most meat lovers will go dilly over a good piece of steak, cooked to their desired doneness and drizzled (or drenched) in a delicious sauce. A solid side like rice or mashed potatoes is a great sponge to mop up that remaining sauce, leaving a happy, fulfilled you. But we don't always have a steak sauce lurking in the pantry or fridge, as steak generally won't be your daily protein but rather a once-a-week or twice-a-month treat. 

So, what do you do when the steak craving bites, and you're a sauceless cook? You get creative with what you have available — and believe us, you can make some combos that taste even better than your dedicated store-bought steak sauces. Many steak sauces feature one or more of four standard ingredients: ketchup, mustard, vinegar, or garlic (let's call them the Power 4). 

And those are condiments that most households generally have in stock, as they're used for such a wide variety of dishes, such as a homemade meatloaf or potato salad with Dijon mustard. What these babies have in common is that they can all work so beautifully with steak — on their own, but particularly when mixed together with a few other bits and bobs added. Here are six simple and delicious sauce combos that you can pop into your cooking "back pocket" for when you don't have steak sauce available.

This sauce is super easy to whip up, and it uses your Power 4 ingredients, plus a couple of other inclusions, to create a magnificent companion to your steak. You can also make this sauce ahead of time and use it as a marinade — the acid in some of the ingredients will help to soften your steak, leaving it nice and tender for when you cook it.

What you'll need is 3 tablespoons of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon of soy sauce, and ⅛ teaspoon of any type of vinegar that you have available. Mix your sauces together well, adding 2 to 3 splashes of hot sauce (you can leave the hot sauce out if you're not a fan of spiciness). To this mixture, add ¼ teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, and mix everything together well. You'll get that heady acidic aroma as you're mixing it.

There are a few ways that you can use this sauce with your steak. One is to coat your steak in the sauce before popping it into a hot pan to sear — about three minutes per side for medium-rare doneness. As it's cooking, tip your pan a little to the side and spoon the sauce that gathers at the edge back onto your steak. This keeps it moist and keeps bringing flavor back to the steak to cook. Don't forget to rest your steak for about five minutes after cooking it, though, to ensure a juicy, tender steak.

This sauce is an even simpler version of the Pantry Basics Combo, using just three humble ingredients that still make a tremendous sauce for your steak, even if you don't have the additional spices available. Take 3 tablespoons of red wine or apple cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, and a couple of drops of hot sauce and mix them together. This makes for quite a strong sauce that's better drizzled over your steak as opposed to being slathered. It also works extremely well as a tenderizing marinade, but don't leave your steak in it for too long or it will over-tenderize, leaving you with a more mushy steak than you'd like.

The reason that vinegar and Worcestershire sauce are often paired together is because they complement one another. The straight vinegar is sharp and acidic, often with a fruity flavor that makes you think of molasses. The Worcestershire sauce, on the other hand, contains a little bit of vinegar but also brings a meaty sweetness via its other ingredients that balances the acidity beautifully. Some alternatives for Worcestershire sauce are soy sauce, balsamic vinegar (a balsamic glaze if you like a sweeter steak), oyster sauce, or anchovy paste.

Red wine is a standard accompaniment for red meat (yes, to drink, but also to cook with). Again, the acidity in the red wine breaks down the collagen in the meat — the stuff that bonds it together — so the looser and softer the bonds, the more tender the meat. And most of us have a bottle or box of red wine hanging around from when we have a glass or two while cooking and with the odd dinner.

Pre-cook your steak, keeping the juices aside. While your steak takes its five-minute snooze, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 finely-chopped shallot to the pan on medium-high heat, and cook it for about two minutes until the shallots soften. Lower the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of flour to create a fragrant paste, then add in 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar (which you can easily make) and mix. Pour in 5 ounces of red wine (and an optional 5 ounces into a glass for you to sip on while you cook). 

Then, mix everything together, scraping the bottom of the pan with a non-metal spoon or spatula (like this silicone heat-resistant one by Di Oro on Amazon) to release any yummy bits from when you cooked your steak. Turn the heat up to high and bring it to a boil, then whisk in 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, followed by 6.7 ounces of beef or chicken stock. Turn your heat down again, and reduce the sauce until it reaches about 6.7 ounces in total. Season to taste, then smother your steak in it, topped with a sprinkle of parsley.

If you're in the mood for a more creamy sauce, and you happen to have crème fraîche in the fridge, a Dijon mustard and cream cheese sauce is a great option. Dijon may not be your go-to mustard at home, so any of these other popular types of mustard  will do just as well as substitutes: English mustard (if you like a pungent bite), spicy brown mustard, horseradish mustard, or stone-ground mustard. Also, don't worry if you don't have any crème fraîche available — you can substitute this for Greek yogurt, sour cream, heavy whipping cream, or mascarpone. This little magic sauce takes only 10 minutes to make, and uses just these two ingredients. 

Pop 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard along with about 100 grams of crème fraîche (or its substitute) into a pan, and heat until you see bubbles start to form. Make sure to keep stirring it, so the mixture doesn't burn. When it's reached a full simmer, remove it from the heat and spoon it over your steak. This creamy sauce will go well with your side dishes, too, like creamy mashed potatoes, broccoli (you can even make this sauce for a broccoli cheese bake), or even home-made potato wedges as a moreish dipping sauce.

Moving into slightly more complex sauce territory — because there are more ingredients involved in the sauce — you may have heard of cowboy butter. This mouthwateringly rich sauce is rumored to have originated in New York at a restaurant called Mr. Donahue's, which is now closed. The sauce is a compound butter, which is basically butter with other flavors added, and is absolutely delicious served with grilled or barbecued steak, spread onto bread or toast, with beans, or slathered onto grilled corn. In short, cowboy butter will seriously elevate your steak game.

To make cowboy butter, you'll chuck 12 ounces of butter, the juice of half a lemon, plus a tablespoon of the zest, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 2 tablespoons of paprika into a pan on low heat. Whisk the ingredients until they come together in a nice sauce. Then, you'll turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon each of fresh parsley and chives, and 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Stir until well combined, then serve with your steak. It does sometimes happen that your sauce starts to split and become what's known as a broken sauce. If you see it heading this way, pop it into the fridge and it will cool and thicken again.

There are always ways to create indulgent yet simple sauces, too — so long as you know what ingredients to use and how to combine them. Whiskey garlic cream sauce is one of those indulgences, and while not difficult to make, it comes across as super-impressive with its rich and creamy texture, and, of course, its name (which you can liberally say while you're serving your steak).

To make this decadent steak accompaniment, prepare your steaks and set them aside to rest, keeping the juices in the pan. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in it. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh thyme. Sauté until the aromas start to open up — about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard until infused into the sauce.

Then, drizzle in about ¼ cup of whiskey and allow it to simmer for one to two minutes. Don't worry if it sizzles — this can happen when adding alcohol to a hot pan. Once it has reduced slightly, add ¼ cup of beef broth and bring it to a simmer, then stir in ½ cup of heavy whipping cream and cook for two to three minutes. Stir every now and then while the sauce thickens.