Copycat Applebee’s Bourbon Street Steak

Indulge in the delicious taste of bourbon-infused steak any night of the week without leaving home. Take your taste buds on a trip to Bourbon Street with a homemade Applebee’s Bourbon Street Steak, made with a simple cut of meat and just a few ingredients that pack a flavorful punch.

Unless you lived under a rock for all of 2021, you know all about the Walker Hayes song Fancy Like. The song is so catchy, and the dance that goes with it is so fun!

In the song, there’s a line, “Yeah, we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night, Got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake.”

So we decided to try to make a “Bourbon Street Steak” at home, and I am so glad we did! It is so good. The meat was so flavorful, and I was singing the whole time we made it. (We’ve had the steak at Applebee’s before, but I haven’t been since things have been shut down.)

What is Bourbon Street Steak?

These delicious steaks pack a punch of flavor from a marinade of bourbon, honey, Creole mustard, and Cajun seasoning – cook them until medium rare and top them with caramelized onions. (If you don’t have Creole mustard, you can use Dijon mustard.) You just have to give these flavorful steaks a try!

🥘 Ingredients Needed

• Steak Sauce – I just used A1 Sauce
• Bourbon Whiskey – I like making this using Bulliet Bourbon.
• Honey – Regular honey from a squeezy bear or local honey is perfect – whatever you can get.
• Mustard – I used Creole mustard because I love the “zing” of Creole mustard. Most groceries stores sell it, but if you can’t find it, you can use Dijon mustard.
• Cajun Seasoning – I use my homemade blend of cajun seasoning but you can use a Cajun seasoning that you like.
• Top Sirloin Steaks – For this recipe, I used two 2 pound steaks and cut them into four pieces to serve four adults – we still had leftovers for lunch the next day. (I like to use top sirloin because it is relatively tender, but it isn’t terribly expensive either. If you can find it on sale, even better – you can get a decent steak and make a nice meal at home.)

🍽 Equipment Needed

• Measuring Cups/Spoons
• A Mixing Bowl
• A Whisk or Fork
• A Large Ziplock Bag
• A Grill, Grill Pan, or Cast Iron Pan (if you are using a grill, you might need charcoal and a chimney to start the grill)
• A Meat Thermometer – We have an iGrill Mini Bluetooth Thermometer, and it is so helpful in the kitchen. I use it ALL the time.
• A Baking Sheet, Foil, and Tongs

🥣 How to Make Bourbon Street Steak

Bourbon street steak is so tasty, and it is so easy to make. At least two hours before you plan on grilling it, prepare the marinade and get the steaks in it.

Combine the Cajun Seasoning, Bourbon whiskey, honey, steak sauce, and Creole mustard in a mixing bowl and whisk it together. (Pictures 1 – 6)

Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag and add the steaks. Mash the steaks around in the marinade until they are fully coated in it. (Pictures 7 – 10)

Pop the steaks in the fridge and let them sit for at least two hours. After two hours, it’s time to grill. Let the steak sit at room temperature for at least 10 – 15 minutes while you heat up the grill; that way, you aren’t throwing a freezing cold piece of meat onto a hot grill. (This will make your meat extra juicy, and no, it won’t give you food poisoning.)

Heat your grill according to the instructions that came with it. Ours is a charcoal grill, so we heat it with charcoal (obviously) and a charcoal chimney to get the coals nice and hot. You want them to be smoldering and turning white/gray.

Once the coals are hot, dump them into the grill and add put the grate over the coals. I like to put the lid on the grill for a few minutes to get it nice and hot and then drop the steaks on.

Sear the steaks on the first side for about five minutes and then flip them. Put the probe of a Bluetooth thermometer into one of the steaks and put the lid on the grill. Cook until the internal temperature reaches about 130°F – 132°F for Medium Rare Steak. (Pictures 11 – 15)

I like to stop there because it will continue to cook a little longer after coming off the grill, and between 130 – 135°F will be a perfectly Medium Rare Steak. For a Medium Steak, it should stay on the grill until the internal temperature is 135°F – 145°F. (If you want to cook it for longer, I listed the temperatures below.)

Look at that gorgeous piece of meat!

While the steak is grilling, I like to caramelize some onions. If you have a grill that you can fit a pan on – by all means, cook away – as you can see – ours is too small, so I cook mine inside.

My parents were visiting when we made these steaks, so I started them cooking, and my mom made sure the house didn’t burn down while I ran back and forth to take pictures.

To make the onions, slice them into thick slices and add them to a pan with a little bit of oil over medium-high heat. Once the edges start browning, reduce the heat and cook and cook and cook until they are soft and reduced. (This will take 20 – 30 minutes.) Right before removing the onions from the heat, I add a pinch of kosher salt.

We like to use about one onion per person because they reduce so much. (Pictures 1 – 5 below)

The onions come out nice and sweet with no sugar added.

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Optimal Temperature for a Cooked Steak?

• Rare: 120°F – 130°F
• Medium Rare: 130°F – 135°F
• Medium: 135°F – 145°F
• Medium-Well: 145°F – 155°F
• Well Done: 155°F
• Ruined: > 165°F

🍳 How to Serve Bourbon Street Steak

Let the steak rest for about 5 minutes, then serve. We like to put a small slice of herbed butter on top that melts into the hot steak – so good. (You can make your own, or to save time, we use Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Butter. They sell it at Publix near us, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find!)

🥫How to Store Leftover Steak

Leftover steak will last for 5 – 7 days in the refrigerator. We like to eat the leftovers cold over a salad or just barely reheat them in the air fryer. Otherwise, the steak will get overcooked and it will dry out.

✏️ Helpful Tips

• We like to make two large steaks and then cut them into smaller portions. This just makes for a little easier cooking – you only need to cook two steaks instead of 4 – 6.
• Let the steak sit in the marinade for at least two hours, but then take it out for 10 – 15 minutes before cooking it so that you aren’t throwing a freezing cold steak onto the hot grill. (This is perfectly safe, I promise.)

Side Dishes to Enjoy with Steak

Sauces

Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce Recipe

Sauces

Tzatziki Sauce Recipe (Cucumber Sauce)

Side Dishes

Easy Quick Korean Pickles

Side Dishes

Easy Cucumber Salad Recipe

Side Dishes

Buttery Yellow Squash and Onions