One Skillet Coffee-Rubbed Steak and Potatoes Dinner

As part of a larger strategy to help boost my basement-floor iron levels, my doctor asked me to eat a bit more red meat, and I’ve honestly been struggling with figuring out how to do that. I’ve never been much of a steak eater, and a girl can only eat so many hamburgers before dinnertime starts to become a snoozefest! So I set out to discover some more interesting ways to get my doctor-recommended fill of red meat— and this One Skillet Coffee-Rubbed Steak and Potatoes Dinner (with Brussels Sprouts) was born!

I have to be honest, the entire inspiration for this meal goes to a local company out of Fort Wayne, Indiana called Fresco Spice Blends.  They are a small family-owned company that started off by selling their spice blends at the local farmers’ market. Their product became so popular that Meijer stores across the Midwest picked them up! I stumbled onto Fresco’s Coffee Steak Rub when I was browsing at my local Meijer store the other day, and immediately knew it was time for me to try my hand at steak again.

If a coffee-rubbed steak sounds like a strange combo to you, let me tell you, it’s a delicious marriage of flavors. When I seared the steak with the coffee rub, it got a beautiful smoky-sweet crust that really complemented the flavor of the grass-fed skirt steak I used.

If you’ve never worked with skirt steak before, it’s a bit of an odd-looking cut of meat—it’s long and thin and doesn’t look at all like a typical “steak” shape (think: not the steak emoji shape). Since skirt steak is so thin, it absorbs dry rubs and marinades quickly and cooks in a jiffy (meaning this whole meal is done in right around a half hour). And when you cut across the grain, the bites are tender and rich. Because of how long and skinny the cut of meat is, you’ll probably want to cut it into equal-size sections to be able to fit into your skillet and get a good sear.

Speaking of skillets, I really recommend going with your beloved cast iron skillet here. You can technically use any skillet you want, but this meal is just begggggging to be made in cast iron.

It’s going to give you the evenest heat, the best sear on the steak, and my gosh, doesn’t this meal just look all kinds of cozy when it’s packed into a heavy cast iron skillet? This is how you do cooler weather food. Bonus that my doctor is a fan of: cooking in cast iron has been shown to raise the iron levels of your food. I’ve been actively trying to cook in cast iron as much as possible to help increase the iron content of the food I eat.

The most common cast iron skillet size in the home is a 10″, and that’ll totally work for this recipe—but you will have to do some batch-cooking. A better bet would be to invest in a 12″ or even larger skillet for one-pot meals like these. You can pick up a nice 12″ cast iron skillet in the camping section at your local Meijer store. The extra two inches might not seem like it’ll make a big difference, but giving your veggies and steak a little bit of breathing room really helps to get good caramelization on the potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and a good, crusty sear on the coffee-rubbed steak.

I know cast iron skillets aren’t cheap, but as we explored in my Cast Iron 101 post, investing in a good piece of cast iron cookware is a lifetime (and more!) investment. We frequently use cast iron skillets in my family that are from three generations before me. And a larger cast iron skillet is perfect for cooking over the campfire or cooking big batches of food for guests.

That being said, the pictures you see here are the standard 10″ cast iron skillet—because I know that’s what most of you folks have in your home kitchen, and I wanted to make sure to test this recipe using what you already have. Trust me, it works just fine (and shoo-wee, is it delicious). Enjoy!

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One Skillet Coffee-Rubbed Steak and Potatoes Dinner

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Using a cast iron pan for this One Skillet Coffee-Rubbed Steak and Potatoes Dinner gives the steak a nice sear and the vegetables some crisp and caramelized edges.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound skirt steak, cut into four equal pieces
• 1/4 cup Fresco Spice Blends Coffee Steak Rub(see notes for substitutions)
• 5 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
• 4 tablespoons butter or ghee, divided
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2” pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place the skirt steak sections onto a large cutting board. Cover both sides of the steak liberally with the Fresco Spice Blends Coffee Steak Rub. Cover loosely, and set aside on the counter to come up to room temperature.
2. In a 10” or larger cast iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil and 2 tablespoons butter or ghee over high heat.
3. Add in the potatoes, stir to coat with the fats, and then cook until the undersides have a nice, crispy sear on them—about 3 minutes. Stir and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the potatoes are golden brown, and the texture is just before fork-tender (you want a little resistance when you push the fork in), about 10 minutes.
4. Push the potatoes to one side of the skillet, then add one tablespoon of avocado oil to the empty side of the skillet. Add in the garlic in the empty space, and sauté until just softened and fragrant, about a minute.
5. Add the Brussels sprouts and spread to fill the space, and cook until the bottom side of the sprouts begin to caramelize and turn brown—about 5 minutes.
6. Mix up the potatoes and Brussels sprouts in the skillet and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until both the potatoes and Brussels sprouts are fork tender—about 5 more minutes.
7. Add in the thyme and rosemary, season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a plate and keep warm.
8. Return the skillet to high heat, and then add in the remaining avocado oil and butter or ghee. If using a 10” skillet, add two pieces of the skirt steak at a time. Cook until the underside has a nice sear, about 2 minutes. Flip the meat and cook an additional minute for rare steak, or an additional 2-3 minutes for a well-done steak. Remove steak and let rest on a cutting board, and then repeat with remaining steak pieces. If using a 12” or larger skillet, you should be able to fit all four pieces in the skillet at once.
9. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes, then slice across the grain into long, thin strips. Serve immediately with the Brussels sprouts and potatoes.

Notes

• If you aren’t lucky enough to live near a Meijer store that carries Fresco’s Coffee Steak Rub, you can order it online, or you can make something similar at home by combining 2 tablespoons finely ground espresso-roast coffee, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon sea salt.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 872Total Fat: 59gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 160mgSodium: 326mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 49g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.