Gordon Ramsay Steak Diane Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s steak Diane uses minute steaks rolled thin, seared fast, with a mushroom and cognac cream sauce built in the same pan. It uses 200ml single cream, not double, which keeps the sauce lighter than most versions online. Ready in 15 minutes with sautéed potatoes and peas.

“This is another 70s classic and it deserves a serious comeback” Ramsay says in his Cookalong episode. He’s made this on three separate YouTube videos and the technique is identical across all of them. The key line: “the secret to a really good steak Diane is in the sauce.”

The detail nobody mentions is that you season the board, not the steak. Ramsay sprinkles salt and pepper on the chopping board, lays the steaks on top, seasons again, then rolls them thin. The seasoning gets trapped inside the meat as it flattens.

Gordon Ramsay’s Steak Diane

Recipe by Sophie LaneCourse: DinnerCuisine: French, BritishDifficulty: Medium

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

800

kcal

Total time

20

minutes

From Ramsay’s Cookalong series, minute steaks rolled thin on a seasoned board with a quick mushroom, cognac and single cream sauce. Served with rosemary sautéed potatoes and peas. The board-seasoning technique is the detail most steak Diane recipes miss.

Ingredients

• For the steaks:

• 4 thin sirloin or minute steaks

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• For the Diane sauce:

• 2 shallots, thinly sliced

• 150g (5 oz) chestnut mushrooms, sliced

• Small knob of butter (about 15g)

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• Splash of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 2-3 tbsp cognac

• 200ml (scant 1 cup) single cream (light cream)

• Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped once

• For the sautéed potatoes:

• 300g (10 oz) new potatoes, parboiled and halved

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 sprig of rosemary

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions

• Season the board: Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chopping board. Lay the steaks on top, season the other side, then roll thin with a rolling pin. The seasoning gets trapped inside as the steaks flatten.
• Sear the steaks: Heat olive oil in a large frying pan until smoking hot. Fry the steaks quickly on both sides until coloured. Set aside on a warm plate.
• Start the sauce: In the same pan, add the shallots and season. Add the mushrooms, butter and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are dark and softened.
• Add the mustard: Splash in the Worcestershire sauce and add the Dijon mustard. Cook for 30 seconds to give a roasted mustard flavour.
• Flambé: Add the cognac, tilt the pan to catch the flame and let the alcohol burn off.
• Finish: Pour in the single cream and bring to the boil. Look for a warm light brown colour like milky coffee. Chop the parsley once and stir in. Return the steaks and coat in the sauce.
• Sautéed potatoes: In a separate pan, heat olive oil. Add the halved potatoes cut-side down with the rosemary and garlic. Fry until golden and crispy. Serve alongside with peas.

Notes

Roll the steaks thin and even. Uneven thickness means one end is raw while the other is overdone.

FAQs

What goes in a steak Diane sauce?

Shallots sliced thin, chestnut mushrooms, a knob of butter, one crushed garlic clove, all cooked in the pan the steaks came out of. Then a splash of Worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, cooked for 30 seconds. Ramsay says cooking the mustard gives the sauce “a nice roasted mustard flavour.”

Next, 2-3 tablespoons of cognac, flambéed with the pan tilted to catch the flame. Once the alcohol burns off, 200ml single cream goes in and you bring it back to the boil. Flat-leaf parsley chopped once, stirred in at the end.

You can watch the full sauce technique in his detailed sauce video.

Why does Ramsay season the board instead of the steak?

Most people season the steak directly, but Ramsay seasons the board first. He lays the steaks on the seasoned board, adds more salt and pepper on top, then rolls with a rolling pin. As the steaks flatten, the seasoning on both sides gets pressed into the meat.

This is a technique specific to minute steaks because they’re too thin to hold a surface seasoning during a fast sear. The rolling also tenderises the meat and makes every steak the same thickness for even cooking. The sirloin steak method is the thicker-cut alternative if you want a steak that doesn’t need rolling.

Why does Ramsay use single cream instead of double?

Ramsay specifically says 200ml single cream in the detailed sauce video. Single cream has about 18% fat versus double cream’s 48%, so the sauce stays pourable and light. You want a warm light brown colour like milky coffee when it’s done.

Double cream would make the sauce too thick and heavy for a dish that’s supposed to feel quick and elegant. If you can only find double, thin it with a splash of milk to get closer to single cream’s consistency.

What potatoes does Ramsay serve with steak Diane?

Parboiled potatoes, halved, placed cut-side down in a hot pan with olive oil. He adds a sprig of rosemary and a crushed garlic clove while they fry. Season and cook until the flat side is golden and crispy.

Peas go alongside, which Ramsay mentions in the Cookalong as the classic pairing. The potatoes and peas are deliberately simple so the sauce stays the star. Ramsay’s roast potatoes work too if you’d rather use the oven.

How is steak Diane different from steak au poivre?

Both are French bistro pan-sauce steaks, but the techniques are completely different. Au poivre uses thick rib-eye or sirloin, crushed peppercorns pressed into the surface, and a cream sauce with green peppercorns. Diane uses thin rolled minute steaks, no peppercorns, and a cream sauce with mushrooms and mustard.

The overlap is the cognac flambé and the cream, but the flavour profiles are opposite. Au poivre is all about heat from the pepper, Diane is about richness from the mushrooms.

The steak au poivre uses the same pan-sauce method if you want to try both. Ramsay’s peppercorn sauce breaks down that sauce on its own.