Paprika Rubbed Steak with Brandy Blue Cheese Sauce

Today I have for you ribeye steaks rubbed with paprika and sprinkled with kosher salt, then seared on the grill and topped with a brandy blue cheese cream sauce. Hungry yet? Then fire up the grill, because it’s time to make another great meal which is both easy and impressive!

Several years ago we had a Spanish tapas restaurant here in town. A restaurant which was all the more exciting because there was a virtual dessert of fine dining in this town when we moved here. There was a pub, an expensive Italian place I didn’t like (and a great Italian place the next town over), some pizza joints, and not much else.

Anyway, as soon as the tapas place opened up, we were right there, trying it out, and hoping it was good. Full disclosure: it was good. Great even. 🙂

And we had many an enjoyable meal there. Until the owners left town. While pretending they were just putting the place through some renovations. But they moved to Florida instead and didn’t come back. Ah well! Even though there is a now a new restaurant at the same site which is just as good, I do miss their tapas.

What does this have to do with today’s recipe?

Their steak with blue cheese sauce was one of our favorites whenever we visited. While we didn’t order it every time, it was close. We loved it so much that I actually developed two recipes from that inspiration. One for summer and one for winter. Today you get the summer version!

I know summer is winding down, but there is still plenty of great grilling weather left and I intend to use it to it’s fullest extent for the next couple of months. I mean, we have been known to grill New Year’s Eve dinner (so long as we didn’t have much snow yet), so I certainly don’t hang up my grilling tongs on Labor Day.

I mean, I have Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Grilled Tuscan Turkey to make!

And I really can’t stop grilling when we are talking about a simple paprika rubbed steak! Sweet, smokey, spicy, and all from a quick rub. While you can use other steaks, I would highly recommend ribeye. Ribeye is our favorite grilling steak when we want to go from ‘hey let’s have steak’ to ‘dinner’ as quick as possible with maximum flavor.

How exactly you should cook them will depend on the thickness.

For a thin-ish to medium thick steak (like the ones I have here), you can put them right on the grill with either a quick sear to doneness or a sear + a bit of time on low heat to finish them off. For a super thick steak (1 1/2 inches and more), I like to go with putting them in a low oven until they reach about 95F and then moving them to the grill for the sear.

That is called a reverse sear. After we saw the method on America’s Test Kitchen, my husband was all excited to try it but I took a little convincing. Now I’m a fan!

And then there’s the blue cheese sauce.

I make it with brandy or bourbon depending on my mood and it’s just as intensely flavorful and simple to make as the steak. Saute a little garlic, boil some brandy down to a glaze, add some cream to a simmer, and then stir in the cheese. I can easily put the sauce together while the steaks are resting!

Or make it ahead if I want. Though I should note that reheating the sauce will make it turn bluish from the cheese since it will have more time to melt into the cream. It tastes the same though. 🙂 Delicious either way.

– Happy Grilling, Annemarie

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Paprika Rubbed Steak with Brandy Blue Cheese Sauce

This Spanish inspired grilled ribeye steak is rubbed with paprika and smoked paprika and then topped with a blue cheese brandy sauce for an easy and flavorful main course.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Spanish

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 475kcal

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Ingredients

Paprika Rubbed Steaks

• 2 1-inch thick ribeye steaks, each 10-12 oz
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp hot paprika
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Blue Cheese Sauce

• 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• sprinkle kosher salt
• 2 tbsp brandy, or bourbon
• 3/4 c heavy cream
• 2-3 oz blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Paprika Rubbed Steaks

• Rub the steaks with the paprikas and salt. Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  
• While they are sitting, preheat the grill.
  
• Grill on high heat with the lid up for 4 minutes per side. If they are not quite to the temperature you want (medium rare is 130F), reduce the heat or put the steaks on a cool part of the fire and cook them, grill closed for another 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on the temperature!
  
• When done, remove the steaks to a plate and let them rest for 5 minutes. This is a great time to make the sauce or warm it back up if you made while the steaks were cooking.
  

Blue Cheese Sauce

• Melt the butter over medium heat. When it sizzles add the garlic and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Cook for about 2 minutes but don't let the garlic get too brown. A little golden is okay.
  
• Add the brandy or bourbon. It will boil pretty hard. Let it boil for 30 seconds, or until the brandy is cooked down to a glaze.
• Add the cream. Increase the heat a bit and bring the cream to a boil. Boil to reduce the cream to about 1/2 cup, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the blue cheese and let it melt and combine. Take the sauce off the heat. Add any steak juices which have accumulated on the plate to the sauce and stir them in.
  

Notes

• Exactly how much blue cheese you add will depend on how intense your blue is and how much blue cheese flavor you like. Remember that you can always add more but you can't take it out. So, taste and see!
• If you don't have any hot paprika, switch to a pinch or two of cayenne pepper.
• I like the blue cheese sauce to be fairly thick, which is why I reduce the cream. Since I also like to add the steak juices to the sauce (which does thin it out) I make sure I start with thicker sauce. If you prefer a thinner sauce, just boil the cream briefly and then add the blue cheese.

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