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What is the best steak for grilling?

The classic grilling steaks are the tender cuts from the middle of the animal: ribeye, strip, T-bone, porterhouse, tenderloin and top sirloin. Flat iron and tri-tip grill well too. Flank and skirt are the steaks most often marinated first. Grill thin steaks over direct heat and thick ones on a two-zone fire.

By Gene · Updated November 12, 2026

Illustration of a raw ribeye, NY strip and T-bone on a cutting board, with grill tongs and a charcoal grill behind

Which steaks are best on the grill?

The classic grilling steaks are the tender cuts from the middle of the animal: ribeye, strip, T-bone, porterhouse, tenderloin and top sirloin. They need nothing more than salt and a hot fire. Grilling lists also include flat iron and tri-tip, with no marinade required. See the NY strip, top sirloin and ribeye guides for each cut.

Which steaks should you marinate before grilling?

The cuts sources most often say to marinate are flank and skirt. Not everyone agrees: America's Test Kitchen warns that marinating can turn flank gray and mushy. Advice on timing runs from about 1 hour to no more than 24 hours.

Should you grill over direct heat or a two-zone fire?

Steaks thinner than about 1 to 1½ inches cook through in about the time it takes to sear, so direct heat is enough. A thicker steak does better on a two-zone fire. To set one up, bank the coals on one side, or run one side of a gas grill on high. Cooking a thick steak over the cool side and searing it over the hot side at the end leaves a much thinner grey band. If the fat flares up, move it to the cool side.

How should you slice a grilled steak?

Slice it across the grain. That matters most for coarse cuts like flank and skirt. Slice flank as thin as you can, against the grain. The guide to cutting against the grain shows how to find it.

Common questions

Do you need to marinate steak before grilling?

Not the tender cuts. Ribeye, strip, T-bone, porterhouse, tenderloin and top sirloin are the classic grilling steaks as they are. Flank and skirt are the cuts most often marinated first.

How long should you marinate flank or skirt steak?

Advice runs from about 1 hour to no more than 24 hours. America's Test Kitchen says an hour seasons skirt deeply, and university extension services allow up to 24 hours but no longer.

Should you grill a thick steak over direct heat?

Not the whole time. A thick steak does better on a two-zone fire: cook it over the cool side, then sear it over the hot side at the end.

Keep reading

Sources

Every fact on this page is checked against at least two independent sources. How we check facts.

Show all 28 sources
  1. AmazingRibs.com (Meathead Goldwyn), Cooking BBQ Hot And Fast, Low And Slow, And The Reverse Sear Method
  2. America's Test Kitchen, The 8 Best Steaks for Grilling, No Matter Your Budget
  3. America's Test Kitchen, Comparing Flank Steak vs. Skirt Steak
  4. America's Test Kitchen, Charcoal-Grilled Flank Steak
  5. America's Test Kitchen, How to Grill Steak Without a Recipe
  6. America's Test Kitchen, The 5 Best Grill Setups for Your Summer Grilling
  7. America's Test Kitchen, Gas-Grilled Porterhouse or T-Bone Steaks
  8. America's Test Kitchen, Charcoal-Grilled Strip or Rib Steaks
  9. America's Test Kitchen, 8 Simple Tricks for Perfect Grilled Steaks
  10. America's Test Kitchen, The Best Ways to Prevent (and Control) Grill Flare-Ups
  11. America's Test Kitchen, Best Grilled Flank Steak / Grilled Mojo-Marinated Skirt Steak (recipes)
  12. America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated), Science: How to Slice Steak
  13. America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated, Science: How to Slice Steak
  14. Beef. It's What's For Dinner (beef checkoff), Confident Cooking with Beef: Grilling Guidelines (PDF)
  15. Iowa State University Extension (AnswerLine), Tender vs less tender cuts of meat
  16. NDSU Extension (Julie Garden-Robinson), Prairie Fare, June 11, 2015, Do You Know the Four C's of Grilling Success?
  17. Serious Eats, How to Slice Meat Against the Grain (June 8, 2026)
  18. Serious Eats (Daniel Gritzer), The Best Ways to Cook Steak, Explained
  19. Serious Eats (J. Kenji Lopez-Alt), Reverse-Seared Steak Recipe
  20. Serious Eats (J. Kenji Lopez-Alt), The Food Lab's Definitive Guide to Grilled Steak
  21. Shackelford et al., Journal of Animal Science (USDA ARS), Evaluation of slice shear force as an objective method of assessing beef longissimus tenderness
  22. ThermoWorks, Grilled Porterhouse Steak: Flavor and a Sear
  23. ThermoWorks, Grilled Rib Eye Steak: Reverse Sear and Thermal Principles
  24. ThermoWorks, Grilled Ribeye: Bone-In or Boneless?
  25. ThermoWorks, Grilled Chipotle Flank Steak
  26. University of Minnesota Extension, Thinner cuts of beef
  27. University of Minnesota Extension, Thinner cuts of beef
  28. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (Bethany Johnston), UNL BeefWatch, May 1, 2014, Grilling Great Taste with Beef Value Cuts