Learn how to cook pork steak that turns out juicy, tender, and perfectly cooked. We show you how to quickly cook them three ways: in a cast iron skillet, baked in the oven, and air fried.
If you have time, you can marinate the pork steaks with our optional marinade recipe. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!
We also share some pork shoulder blade steak recipes if you want even more inspo.
And be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to get a printable recipe for our favorite skillet pork steak recipe!
What is Pork Steak?
If you're confused about pork steak, don't worry, I was way too many years old before I'd even heard of it. Now that you know it exists, it'll become one of your quick go to pork dinner ideas, like it is ours!
Pork steak is a cut of meat taken from the shoulder of the pig. It’s also known as pork blade steak, pork butt, or Boston butt. Pork shoulder steak has tons of flavor and is a pretty inexpensive cut of meat, yay for grocery savings. Usually when we think of pork blade steak or pork butt, pulled pork is what comes to most people's minds.
A pork steak is taking a pork shoulder roast and cutting it into steak size slices. While pork shoulder roast or pork butt are usually slow cooked, a pork steak can be cook quickly.
How to Cook Pork Steak: An Overview
There are so many ways to cook pork steak! They're terrific air fried, grilled, baked, cooked in a skillet, or slow cooked. Here is an overview of the different methods for cooking pork steaks.
We share our own recipes after this section.
Seasoning
Before cooking, season the pork steak generously with salt, black pepper, and any other seasonings or you can even use our pork steak marinade if you have extra time.
Bring to Room Temperature
Let the pork steak sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. This helps to cook the meat more evenly.
Choose a Cooking Method
- Grilling: Preheat a grill on high heat. Place the pork steaks on the grill and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C).
- Pan-searing: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with some oil. Place the pork steaks in the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.
- Braising: Brown the pork steaks in a pan and then add liquid (such as broth or wine), cover, and simmer on low heat for a longer period to make them tender.
- Slow-cooking: Place the pork steaks in a slow cooker with your choice of seasonings and liquid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Baked: Marinade, season, and bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 F.
Rest and Serve
Let the pork shoulder steaks rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute. Serve with your favorite sides.
Cook in the oven
We're sharing an overview of our baked pork steak recipe, click on the recipe link to get even more tips, tricks, and the printable recipe card.
Our baked pork steak recipe in the oven is super easy and delicious, especially when it's infused with a seasoned BBQ marinade and cooked in the oven to perfection! Brush on BBQ sauce at the end and broil it a couple of minutes to get that just grilled appearance. Serve with your favorite BBQ fixins'.
This is a great recipe to make when you're short on time but still want that classic flavor of barbecue ribs.
Ingredients
- 4 pork steaks, 2-2 ½ lb total (8-10 oz each)
- pork steak marinade (optional)
- ¼ cup- ½+ cup BBQ sauce, divided
- ½ cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pork rub (homemade link below or store bought)
Instructions
- To make the marinade combine the oil, apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup BBQ sauce, and pork rub in a small bowl. Combine the marinade ingredients. Add the 4 pork steaks to a gallon size Ziplock bag and place it inside of a larger container inside the fridge. Let the pork marinate for 2-24 hours.
- Remove the pork shoulder steaks from the fridge 30-60 mins before cooking to start bringing them up to room temperature, this helps them to cook more evenly.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Lay the pork shoulder steaks on the baking sheet, leaving room in between them.
- Bake pork steaks uncovered for 30-35 minutes until internal temp reaches at least 145 F when checked with a digital meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
- Brush BBQ sauce on both sides of the pork and broil them for a couple of minutes to get that "just grilled" appearance. Serve with more BBQ sauce on the side, along with your favorite BBQ favorites of course!
Cooked in a pan
Pan searing pork shoulder blade steak in a pan and smothering it with a mushroom onion cream sauce makes for a delicious and savory dinner everyone will love. This makes a fantastic special occasion dish too!
Serve with rice, cauliflower rice, potatoes, and a green veggie like broccoli.
Ingredients
- 1- 1 ¼ lb pork steak, boneless and cut into 2
- 8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
- ½ large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- salt & pepper
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Sprinkle both sides of the pork steaks with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat, sear the pork steak on both sides, which will take about 4 minutes on each side.
- Remove the pork steaks from the stove and put them on a plate to set them aside. Cover with plate with foil to keep warm.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the sliced onions and mushrooms to the skillet and cook them for 4 minutes until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook it for 1-2 more minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
- Sprinkle the mushroom and onion mix with salt, pepper, and dried thyme and combine. Add the chicken broth, turn up the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Once it starts to bubble, lower the heat to medium and cook it for 5 minutes until it starts to reduce.
- Add the pork steaks and the heavy whipping cream to the pan and cook it for about 5 more minutes until the sauce has started to reduce and the pork steaks are cooked through to at least 145 F. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
In air fryer
A quick and easy, tender, and juicy pork steak in the air fryer covered in a savory pork dry rub and BBQ sauce. You can also just make seasoned pork steaks and skip the sauce if preferred. Serve with your favorite BBQ fixins'!
Ingredients
- 1-1.25 lb pork steak, bone-in
- 1 ½ tablespoon pork rub (homemade or store bought)
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 360 F for 5 minutes.
- If you're using our homemade dry rub for pork recipe (click link to see full rub recipe), combine all of the rub ingredients into a small bowl. Skip this step if you're using a store-bought rub.
- Cut large pieces of fat from the pork steak. Blot the steak/steaks dry with paper towels.
- Sprinkle the rub on both sides of the steak. Only one pork steak could fit in the air fryer, it was 5" wide at the widest part and about 1" thick. You might be able to cook 2 at once if you have smaller steaks or a larger air fryer (a Cosori 5.8 QT was used for recipe testing).
- Air fry for 9-10 minutes, our steak was at 141 F at this point. Brush both sides with BBQ sauce and air fry for 1-2 more minutes or until the internal temp reaches 145 F when checked in the thickest part of the meat with a digital meat thermometer, or the pork is done to your liking.
- Let the pork rest for 3 minutes before serving. Serve with your favorite BBQ sides and add more sauce on the side too.
Pork Steak Marinade
If you have just 5 minutes, you have time to whip up this delicious pork steak marinade!
We are combining a savory blend of pork dry rub ingredients, BBQ sauce, oil, and apple cider vinegar to make a BBQ flavored marinade for juicy pork shoulder steak that'll tenderize the pork and infuse the entire steak with a delicious BBQ flavor!
*** See the baked pork steaks recipe above for the ingredients list and instructions OR click on the recipe link above.
Serving ideas
Here's some of our favorite pork steak sides:
- Mashed potatoes
- Baked potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes
- Pureed sweet potatoes
- Roasted veggies like broccoli or peppers and onions
- A simple green salad
- Corn on the cob
- Sauteed greens
- Baked beans
More Easy Pork Steak Recipes
While we have a ton of easy pork steak recipes on our recipe website, here's a handful that look delish from other websites too:
- Crockpot Ranch pork chops: (using pork shoulder steaks): slowcookedeats.com
- Wegman's oven baked pork steak recipe: Baked in the oven with McCormick's seasoning
- Crockpot pork steak with rub: Mashed.com
- Skillet pork steak with sage and apple cider vinegar: foodandwine.com
- Filipeno style: pilapinasrecipes.com
- Mojo pork steak: foodandwine.com
- Delmonico Pork Steak: howtofeedaloon.com
- Braised shoulder blade steak: wholebitegoodhealthyfood.com
- Spanish style: foodnetwork.com
- Smoked pork steaks: smoked-meats.com
- Vietnamese grill pork steaks: whiteonricecouple.com
FAQs
To avoid tough pork steaks, you can’t overcook them and we highly recommend you use a digital meat thermometer during cooking. Cook them to an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C) and let them rest before cutting.
For a more tender texture, you can also slow cook or braise it which breaks down the connective tissues in the meat and makes it super tender.
No, pork steaks are not the same as pork chops. Pork steaks are cut from the shoulder of the pig, whereas pork chops are cut from the loin, which runs from the hip to the shoulder. Pork chops are typically leaner and can be bone-in or boneless, while pork steaks have more marbling and usually come with a bone.
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
Recipe
Skillet Pork Steak Recipe with Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 1- 1 ¼ lb pork steak boneless and cut into 2
- 8 oz crimini or button mushrooms sliced
- ½ large onion thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Sprinkle both sides of the pork steaks with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, sear the pork steak on both sides, which will take about 4 minutes on each side.
- Remove the pork from the skillet and set them aside on a plate, covered with foil to keep them warm.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the sliced onions and mushrooms to the skillet and cook them for 4 minutes or until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook it for 1 more minute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Sprinkle the mushroom and onion mixture with the salt, pepper, and dried thyme and combine the ingredients together. Add the chicken broth, turn up the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Once it starts to bubble, lower the heat to medium and cook it for 5 minutes until it starts to reduce.
- Add the pork steaks and the heavy whipping cream to the pan and cook it them for about 5 more minutes until the sauce has started to reduce and the pork steaks are cooked through to at least 145 F. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing. enjoy!
Notes
- We always let our meat sit out 20-30 minutes before cooking to start bringing it to room temperature. This helps the meat to cook more evenly. If you skipped this step the pork could take longer to cook.
- We always sear meat on the stove in a cast iron skillet, it does the best job of getting meat nice and browned.
- We cooked 2 pork steaks in the skillet, but 3 would fit..plus there's plenty of sauce for 3 pork steaks.
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