Let's make a show-stopping tomahawk ribeye steak! A massive steak that's perfectly medium rare from edge to edge thanks to cooking it low and slow in a sous vide water bath before giving it a quick sear on a hot cast iron griddle. Get ready to feast like you're at the best steakhouse!
Want some sides to go with your steak? These creamy garlic rosemary mashed potatoes are so great, along with buttery garlic rolls, and easy sautéed asparagus!
Massive Steak Made Easy
Listen y'all, there's nothing like perfectly cooked steak. It's top tier. Juicy, tender, liberally seasoned and butter basted? Ugh, the best! And a ribeye steak is definitely at the top of the list.
When you need a dish that will bring out the applause, I'm always going to bring y'all dishes that scream 'five-star dining' with the hassle turned down.
And this imposing cut of meat is a good idea for date nights, small holiday gatherings, or for a hungry caveman...and that hungry caveman can make it himself. All he needs is a sous vide circulator and a cast iron griddle.
Don't look at me like that, those circulators are everywhere nowadays!
Jump to:
- Massive Steak Made Easy
- Cook the Perfect Tomahawk Steak Using a Sous Vide Reverse Sear Method!
- What is a Tomahawk Steak?
- Ingredients
- How to Reverse Sear Steak in the Sous Vide
- How to Cook a Tomahawk Steak (to get that Crust!)
- Why Use a Sous Vide Circulator?
- Substitutions and Pro Tips
- Storage and Reheating
- Equipment I Used
- More Easy, Yet Impressive, Mains
- Sous Vide Tomahawk Steak
Cook the Perfect Tomahawk Steak Using a Sous Vide Reverse Sear Method!
We're reverse searing this thick steak because it's way to big to be cooked through by just cooking on the grill or on a skillet. Thick steaks are best slowly cooked using the reverse sear method, then seared after so we have that gorgeous sear with a perfect medium-rare steak from edge to edge. I'm obsessed, y'all.
My loves, this simple tomahawk steak recipe fits the bill perfectly. Don't let the bones intimidate you, because trust me, this steak couldn't be any easier!
Don't have a sous vide circulator? No worries, I also have a recipe for reverse seared ribeye steaks made using an oven!
What is a Tomahawk Steak?
A tomahawk steak is a 3-inch-thick bone-in ribeye steak, a specialty cut from the back ribs of the primal rib cut. They're tender thicker cuts with a wonderful amount of fat marbled throughout the steak that gives it such a rich flavor.
The bone is usually left whole and is Frenched (like lamb chops!), and each massive piece of meat is anywhere from 1.5 to 3 pounds.
Is there much difference between a bone in ribeye, a cowboy ribeye steak, and a tomahawk steak? Not really; they are all ribeye steaks, but the bone attached to them vary in size. And each steak is expensive, with the tomahawk being the most expensive out of the three.
Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- A 3 inch thick, long-bone tomahawk steak
- A high heat oil - you're looking at avocado oil, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil for this. Their high smoke points won't burn during that final sear.
- Butter - use this only if you're butter basting at the end of the sear
- Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper - you can also use your favorite steak rub
- Garlic Cloves - fresh garlic should not be in the bag during the sous vide cooking time. Anaerobic environments can cause botulism with fresh garlic. So for food safety reasons, we are keeping this for a butter basting situation.
- Fresh Herbs - another butter basting ingredient.
How to Reverse Sear Steak in the Sous Vide
Step 1 | Season the tomahawk. Season the steak liberally with salt and pepper, then place it into a long sous vide bag. You can make one by using the vacuum seal rolls, then vacuum sealing one end once you reach the appropriate length to hold the tomahawk steak.
Vacuum seal the bag and double seal to make sure there's no leaks!
Then sous vide the steaks. Place the steak into a large container filled with water, with the sous vide circulator set to 128 degrees F for a medium-rare doneness (I know that's a rare temperature, but have faith). Allow the steak to cook at that temp for at least 3 hours up to 4 hours (the measure is 1 hour + 1 hour per inch wide. So 3 inches thick is 4 hours in the bath), depending on the size.
How to Cook a Tomahawk Steak (to get that Crust!)
Step 1 | Remove the steak from the sous vide bath and from its bag. Pat it dry on all sides with a paper towel.
Step 2 | It's time to sear! Pour your high heat oil onto your plancha and crank up the heat. Don't fuss at me about the plancha, your steak won't fit in a skillet with sides! You could also sear the steak direct on some hot grill grates as well, but we used a cast iron griddle here to lay it flat. That way every part of the steak directly hits that hot pan.
Place the steak onto the hot griddle/grill and let it sear to a dark, beautiful brown. Then flip the steak over and sear the other side. Don't forget the edges of the ribeye! That fat needs to get rendered.
If you're basting, the time to do it is when you're searing the second side. Turn down the heat so you don't burn the butter and garlic.
Step 3 | Serve that hot steak! Yes, y'all; because we don't cook the steak on the skillet, we have a perfect steak that's ready to eat right out the pan since it doesn't need to rest!
You will use a sharp knife to carefully remove the steak from the bone, then slice up the steak perpendicular to the bone. Serve the steak slices with the bone on a large platter to really amp up those restaurant style vibes.
I personally suggest serving it with some creamy Steak Diane sauce or a bright and herby chimichurri sauce!
Why Use a Sous Vide Circulator?
To put it simply: it's idiot-proof! So easy that even a little kid (or your dad who set the oven on fire that one time) can do it!
When you reverse sear a tomahawk steak (or any steak, really) in the oven, you gotta babysit that bad boy with a probe thermometer or by poking it with a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature every 15 minutes or so.
But with sous vide cooking, you can basically set it and forget it. The water bath maintains a steady temperature, so your steak just chills there until it reaches the perfect temperature and you don't have to worry about ruining it.
Some skeptics claim you can't get a great sear on a sous vide steak because it's already cooked to perfection inside, they'll do 15-30 seconds to sear at most which won't get you that deep dark brown crust that gives us great flavor.
That's why I suggest cooking it to rare; we can sear it longer to achieve that flawless crust without compromising a juicy medium-rare inside. For these photos, I seared for about 2-3 minutes total.
Substitutions and Pro Tips
- You want the final internal temperature of the steak to be a little over 131 degrees for medium rare. Don't do medium rare? Use the sous vide technique to cook the steak about 5 degrees before your preferred doneness
- Season your steaks generously, honey! This is a massive tomahawk steak, it needs the salt.
- If you really want a crazy juicy, well-seasoned piece of meat...try giving it an overnight dry brine. All you need is to generously the steak overnight in your fridge uncovered or for a few hours in the fridge before cooking, then start the recipe.
- Try butter basting it. Use a heat-safe silicone pastry brush if you do, but some butter melted in a saucepan with herbs and smashed garlic? Whew. Brush it on like you're trying to drown it toward the end of the searing time, right after you flip it. And make sure you turn the heat down to low so you don't burn the butter!
- Don't have a vacuum sealer? Try the water displacement method using a heat-safe resealable bag or sous vide bags! This submersion technique pushes the air out of the bags below the water line. Need some visuals? Check out this video showing how to use this method for sous vide bags.
Storage and Reheating
Storage: Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: I recommend sous viding slices of the steak to a temperature of 120ºf for about 5-10 minutes. We don't want to cook it, just rewarm it but doing it in the oven or a microwave would definitely overcook our steak.
Equipment I Used
- Cutting Board and a Sharp Chef's Knife
- Sous Vide Circulator - this is the one I use, I've used it for years with consistently great results. It also can be operated through your phone so you can keep an eye on cook time and temp!
- Paper Towels
- Cast Iron Griddle - this is my favorite dual sided griddle that also has lines on the other side, if you want that grill-marked experience.
More Easy, Yet Impressive, Mains
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Sous Vide Tomahawk Steak
Equipment
- 1 sous vide bag roll to make a custom side sous vide bag
- 1 cast iron griddle I often refer to this as the 'plancha'
Ingredients
- 1 tomahawk steak, 32 ounces at least
- 2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper, fresh ground, slightly coarse
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, or other high heat oil
Instructions
Sous Vide the Tomahawk Steak
- Generously season all sides of the tomahawk steak with the kosher salt and black pepper. It's a big piece of meat, season it well.1 tomahawk steak, 2 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper
- Vacuum seal the steak and bone entirely in a sous vide bag.
- Set the sous vide circulator to 125 degrees F for medium rare and place it into a water bath large enough to hold the steak. Place the steak into the water bath and cook for 3-4 hours.
Sear the Tomahawk Steak
- Once the steak is done in the sous vide bath, remove it from the bag onto a plate lined with paper towels. Dab the steak dry with paper towels. The drier the steak, the better the sear.
- Place a large cast iron griddle on the stovetop and bring to medium high heat. Pour on the grapeseed oil and wait until the oil is shimmering hot before placing the steak flat onto the hot griddle.1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- Sear each side for about 1 minute per side, you want a beautifully dark golden brown on each side. Use tongs to carefully lift the steak up and sear the sides as well for at least 30 seconds. You want to render the fat on the side well.
- You can slice and serve the tomahawk immediately. Remove the bone carefully with a sharp knife, then slice the ribeye for serving.
Recipe Notes
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Storage: Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: I recommend sous viding slices of the steak to a temperature of 120ºf for about 5-10 minutes. We don't want to cook it, just rewarm it but doing it in the oven or a microwave would definitely overcook our steak.
Pro Tips
- You want the final internal temperature of the steak to be a little over 131 degrees for medium rare. Don't do medium rare? Use the sous vide technique to cook the steak 10 degrees above your degree of doneness.
- If you really want a crazy juicy, well-seasoned piece of meat...try giving it an overnight dry brine. All you need is to generously the steak overnight in your fridge uncovered or simply a few hours at room temperature before cooking, then start the recipe.
- Try butter basting it. Use a heat-safe silicone pastry brush if you do, but some butter melted in a saucepan with herbs and smashed garlic? Whew. Brush it on like you're trying to drown it toward the end of the searing time, right after you flip it. And make sure you turn the heat down to low so you don't burn the butter!
- Don't have a vacuum sealer? Try the water displacement method using a heat-safe resealable bag or sous vide bags! This submersion technique pushes the air out of the bags below the water line. Need some visuals? Check out this video showing how to use this method for sous vide bags.
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