How to Cook Round Steak on the Stove

How to cook round steak on the stove to make it fork tender full of flavor. Sauteed with wine or broth and seasonings, this is great.

Round Steak on the Stove

Your best bet is to always cook steak that is either fresh or defrosted. If it is still frozen I will discuss your options for that as well. Have a local meat market? We have had a lot of luck buying meat in bulk that way to get organic, grass fed meat at lower costs than the grocery stores. You can also slice a top round roast into smaller pieces like this to cook faster.

This is a trickier cut than cooking a traditional steak in air fryer like a T-bone or NY Strip. It is very lean which is great but that also means that it will be chewy and tough if not cooked correctly. Let’s start off with how to defrost it if need be.

How to Defrost Steak Quick

If you are in a pinch and really don’t want to cook frozen meat to tender without thawing it first there are a few tricks you can try. The easiest one is to leave meat in the bag and submerge it into a cold bowl of water. Change it out every 30 min. or so until the meat has softened inside.

How to Cook Frozen Round Steak

Read here on how to cook frozen steak properly. You will need a pan at the beginning to get an initial sear and then transfer to the oven. A cooling rack on top of a baking sheet is your best bet to heat slowly until they reach fork tender status.

You always want to allow proteins to rest for a good 10 minutes before slicing, and always against the grain on a cutting board so it is easier to chew. Total cook time is about 60 minutes so you’ll have time to make a few sides too. We love to serve with mashed potatoes on the side.

If you have read enough and decided, “ok well maybe if it is best in slow cooker Puerto Rican stew then that is what I will make”, feel free to use your recipe above. Want to try it this way and decide for yourself? I have step by step directions below.

Frozen Round Steak in a Pan

I highly suggest seasoning your beef before searing in your pan, and I love cast iron skillets if you have one. You can just sprinkle on a bit of garlic powder + salt and pepper if you’d rather and let the wine and/or broth to add the flavor too.

• Heat your skillet on medium to high heat on your stove top. Dry the outside of your cool room temperature top round steaks and coat with pot roast seasoning, steak dry rub or salt and pepper. I use this on London Broil, steaks, all the things.
  • When your pan is nice and hot add the olive oil and lay steaks down.
  • Sear for 2 minutes on both sides to brown well to lock in moisture and keep seasonings on.
• Use thermometer to register to 145 degrees F for the best temp. Remove meat from pan on to a plate (I like to add 1 pat of garlic butter on top of each onea at this time) and cover them with foil for 10 minutes.
• Then season with salt and pepper to taste and slice against the grain.

If you want to make sides you’ll want to do those first since this doesn’t take long at all.

How to Cook Round Steak

Let me share the best ways to cook this cut of meat though if you choose to go down the slow cooking or dutch oven recipe route. The way I tend to use it up is to cube them into large chunks so I can use it as I would any other type of stew meat. Once I do that I can easily make;

• Crock Pot beef tips with a thick gravy that is killer, even my girls love this one.
• You can leave them whole with potatoes if you follow our slow cooker steak recipe which is killer and super low prep.
• You can slice into thinner strips, pound with a meat mallet to tenderize and make chicken fried steak in air fryer out of it.
• Swiss steak is another old fashioned favorite that a lot of people love. You can get it more toward medium rare with this method if you really wanted.

There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Nutritional information with saturated fat, calories, etc… is calculated with all items listed. That will vary depending on the size, weight and fat content of your meat so pay more attention to your specific packaging for accurate measurements.

What is the best way to reheat a steak

Ok so you may have leftovers when this is done and you know how much I hate wasting food. I grew up paycheck to paycheck back in the day. Nothing went to waste, it was always used in a new dish or warmed the next day for lunch. You can do this with just about anything, especially meat.

The best way to reheat steak is to take it out of the fridge first. Leave on the countertop for 20 minutes to get closer to room temp. Transfer on to a microwave safe dish and if you have some gravy, coat the top to add moisture.

If not you can add a pat of garlic butter or a tbsp of Worcestershire sauce instead. Heat in microwave for 1 minute or in a skillet with a lid for 2-3 minutes. In the oven works too but takes the longest at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes.