Ribeye doesn’t need help. It needs time and a fire built on one side of the grill. Salt the steaks an hour ahead, let them cook gently on the cool side until the center creeps toward rare, then slide them over the coals for the crust.
No marinade and no steak sauce, because the marbling carries the flavor on its own. Add a pile of snow crab legs and a dish of herb butter for both, and you have surf and turf at home for four.
🔪 Ingredients for Grilled Ribeye Steaks and Snow Crab
- Bone-in ribeye steaks: the marbling off the upper rib carries the flavor, so there is no marinade and no steak sauce.
- Kosher salt: goes on an hour ahead so it seasons the surface and the outside dries.
- Vegetable oil
- Pepper
- Snow crab legs (optional): for surf and turf.
- Herb butter (optional): for the steak and the crab.
Equipment
- Wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet
- Paper towels
- Charcoal or gas grill
- Chimney starter (optional)
- Instant-read thermometer
- Foil
📝 How to Make Grilled Ribeye Steaks and Snow Crab
Our grilled bone-in ribeye sears first and finishes over indirect heat. This one runs the reverse sear: gentle heat on the cool side first, crust over the coals last.
- Pat the steaks dry and salt both sides. Set on a wire rack in a baking sheet for 1 hour.
- Light a full chimney and bank the coals in an even layer on one side of the grill (gas: one burner on low, the rest off). Set the clean grate in place, cover and let it heat for 5 minutes.
- Brush the steaks with oil and season with pepper. Cook on the cool side, lid closed, until the center reads 75°F, 10 to 20 minutes.
- Flip and keep cooking on the cool side until the center reads 95°F, another 10 to 20 minutes.
- Move the steaks over the hot side and sear, flipping as needed, until well browned and the center reads 120°F for rare.
- Rest on a clean rack under foil for 15 minutes, then slice off the bone and serve.
🔄 Substitutions
- Boneless ribeye: same method. Check the temperature early, since it cooks faster.
- Strip steak or porterhouse in place of ribeye.
- King crab legs or steamed lobster tails in place of snow crab.
- Melted butter with lemon in place of herb butter.
Cooking a different cut? Our steak recipes guide covers more cuts and methods.
💡 Meat Nerd Tips
- Gentle heat first, crust last. The center cooks evenly on the cool side, so the sear only has to brown the outside.
- Know your pull temperature. Pull at 120°F for rare; carryover during the rest takes it into the 120 to 125°F rare range. For medium-rare, pull at about 125 to 130°F for a 130 to 135°F finish. Our meat temperature guide has every doneness.
- Give the salt its hour. Time on the rack lets the salt work in and the surface dry, and a dry surface is what browns.
- Probe the thickest part, away from the bone. The meat next to the bone reads cooler.
🍽️ What to Serve with Grilled Ribeye Steaks and Snow Crab
- Snow crab legs: heated through and served with herb butter. For another crab night, try steamed stone crab claws.
- Baked potatoes or salt-crusted potatoes
- Creamed spinach or a wedge salad
🧊 Leftovers and Storage
- Refrigerate sliced steak in an airtight container up to 3 days.
- Warm it gently in a low oven, or eat it cold on a salad or sandwich. High heat overcooks a rare steak fast.
- Crab is best the day it is cooked.
Grilled Ribeye Steaks Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Ribeye steaks bone in
- 4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Set a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel, sprinkle both sides liberally with salt and allow to sit on prepared rack for 1 hour before cooking.
- Meanwhile, heat your grill. For this recipe, I strongly recommend using charcoal. If you are intimidated by a charcoal grill, go invest in a $10 chimney starter, it makes lighting charcoal so much easier and quicker and will instantly boost your charcoal self esteem. Build an even layer over half of the grill with fresh charcoal and top with heated coals. Place a clean cooking grate on top, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
- If using gas, just preheat burner to high and let warm up for a few minutes. When ready to cook, turn main burner to low and the others off.
- Rub the steaks with vegetable oil and sprinkle with pepper. Place the steaks on the cooler side of the grate and let cook 10 to 20 minutes, or until they register 75°F. Flip and allow to cook until they reach 95°F, 10 to 20 minutes longer (I like my steak rare, so I did 12 on each side without temping.)
- Finish off steaks on hotter part of the grill, to give them a nice brown finish, and a temp of 120°F. Transfer the steaks to a new clean wire rack, cover with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Notes
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Quick Summary
Bone-in ribeyes salted for 1 hour, cooked on the cool side of a two-zone grill to 75°F, flipped and taken to 95°F, then seared over the coals to 120°F for rare and rested 15 minutes under foil. Serves 4. Plan on an hour of salting, 20 to 40 minutes on the grill and a 15 minute rest.
❓ FAQs
This recipe pulls at 120°F after the sear and rests 15 minutes, landing in the 120 to 125°F rare range.
Yes. Light one burner on low and leave the rest off, cook on the unlit side, then finish over the lit burner turned to high.
The salt dissolves and seasons the surface, and the rack lets the outside dry so it browns hard on the grill.
Nope, no A1 in my fridge. Wish I had those rib eyes though. Wow, they look amazing. And the crab legs. Love them too, but steak always gets top billing.
Amazing, amazing meal!!