José Andrés Shares His Secret for Grilling the Perfect Steak

José Andrés may be the chef behind restaurants like minibar, Jaleo, and The Bazaar, as well as the founder of World Central Kitchen, but when it comes to grilling steak, his advice starts with something refreshingly simple: take the meat out of the fridge early.

“One of the biggest mistakes is that the meat comes from the fridge one minute before they put it on the grill,” Andrés says. “If we can plan, it’s better to plan ahead and have it out one, two, three hours before.”

That advice is especially important when the steak is thick, like the Basque-style txuleton a la brasa featured in Andrés’ new cookbook, Spain My Way. The book is part recipe collection, part love letter to the country that shaped him, filled with the food, restaurants, friends, games, and everyday pleasures that define how he eats when he returns to Spain.

“This is how I enjoy Spain,” Andrés says. “This is how I travel, this is how I eat, this is how I play.”

And when it comes to steak, his approach is deeply Spanish: start with good beef, use real heat, keep things simple, and do not try to impress anyone at the expense of the food.

Before grilling, Andrés says the steak should lose its refrigerator chill so it can cook more evenly and develop a better crust.

“It’s very important that we temper the meat,” he says. “When you go to do the grilling, really, you can attack the meat and get that nice, beautiful brown, crispy color that is appetizing.”

For home cooks, that means taking the steak out of the fridge at least a couple of hours before cooking, especially for a large cut.

Andrés loves cooking over fire, but he does not believe in letting flames take over. Whether you are using charcoal, gas, or electric, he recommends setting up the grill with a hot zone and a cooler zone so you can move the steak if the fat starts dripping and causing flare-ups.

“If you have a grill, electric or gas, do the sides very hot, but leave the middle without any,” he says. “You can always start on the very hot part, but if you see drippings start coming, you move it to the cooler part.”

For charcoal, he recommends the same idea: keep charcoal on one side and leave the other side empty.

“You want the heat,” he says, “but if drippings start happening too much, you can move it very quickly to the other side.”

For a cookout, Andrés says one of the biggest mistakes is trying to grill every steak at once.

“People have a tendency to cook all the steaks at once,” he says. “Don’t do that.”

Instead, cook one or two steaks at a time, slice them, serve them while they are hot, and then keep cooking.

“Let everybody eat those steaks perfectly warm and cooked,” he advises. “As they are eating, you’re cooking the other two.”

Otherwise, he warns, the meat starts losing its magic.

“By the time you are halfway through, half of the meat is already bleeding, already cold, not as good as when it came from the grill,” he says.

In the cookbook recipe, Andrés finishes the steak with flaky sea salt rather than heavily salting it at the beginning. He loves the way good salt changes the experience of each bite.

“One of the most unique luxuries we can afford is to spend a little bit more on a good salt,” he says.

His favorite salts are delicate sea salts, especially fleur de sel-style crystals.

“You put it in the mouth and it’s like happy salt,” he says.

Finishing with salt lets the meat taste clean and “naked” at first, before the salt crystals crunch between your teeth.

“All of a sudden the meat goes from the meat as it is, as the farmer gave it to you, as barely the smoke of the grill gave it to you,” he says. “In one bite, you go through the entire thing.”

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For a rich, fatty steak, Andrés likes sides that brighten the plate rather than weigh it down.

“The steak benefits from a simple salad with olive oil and vinegar,” he explains.

He also likes sweet onion, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes. But he draws the line at covering up a good steak with too much sauce.

“If you have a good steak, the best sauce is the juices the steak releases,” he says. “Don’t cover up.”

As for what to pour alongside a grilled steak, Andrés does not limit himself to one region or style. He loves bold Spanish reds, but he is equally enthusiastic about wines from Virginia, California, Greece, Argentina, and beyond.

“Any Ribera del Duero, I will not think twice about it,” he says enthusiastically. “Any Priorat, I will not think twice about it.”

He specifically mentions producers like Álvaro Palacios and Raúl Pérez, whose wines are known for balancing power with elegance.

But Andrés is also passionate about American wines, especially bottles from Virginia.

“Virginia wines are the big unknown in America,” he says. “They are mind-blowing.”

For classic steak pairings, he recommends rich reds like Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, but adds that adventurous drinkers should not overlook wines from Greece, Chile, Argentina, or Australia either.

“You cannot go wrong,” he says.

And just as he encourages people to shop local for produce, Andrés believes great steak can come from nearby farms too.

“Go to the farmers market,” he urges. “Sometimes you may be surprised to find the best meat is only 30 or 40 miles away from you.”

Andrés recently went viral for making an egg in the microwave with a little mayonnaise—a hack that delighted people partly because it came from a world-famous chef.

His view is simple: the microwave deserves more respect.

“A microwave is an amazing piece of equipment that we are highly underusing,” he says. “It’s good to see that a microwave is more than reheating leftovers or heating a cup of water.”

That same spirit runs through his grilling advice. Whether he is cooking over live fire or using an everyday kitchen appliance, Andrés is not interested in making food feel precious. He wants it to feel generous, practical, and joyful.

“Simplicity wins the day,” he declares.