Easy Mushroom Sauce for Steak with Cream and Onion Jam
Easy mushroom sauce for steak made with browned mushrooms, Worcestershire, garlic, heavy cream, and onion jam. Rich, savory, and ready in minutes.
Beans to Serve with Steak: 10-Minute BBQ Beans from Cooked Beans
I had a New York strip on the grill and a container of cooked Rancho Gordo Pink Eye Beans in the refrigerator.
Ten minutes later, those beans had become one of the best steak sides I've made in a while.
Sweet. Tangy. Smoky. But with enough soy sauce, vinegar, and lots of freshly cracked black pepper to keep them from turning into candy.
And because you're starting with already-cooked beans, there's really nothing to it.
If you're looking for beans to serve with steak, this is about as easy as it gets.
I served them alongside a perfectly medium-rare New York strip using my high-heat grilled NY strip technique.
How to Turn Cooked Beans Into BBQ Beans in 10 Minutes
This isn't really a recipe that requires measuring cups.
It's more of a formula.
For roughly 2 cups of cooked beans, start with:
- Cooked beans
- A few spoonfuls of ketchup
- A little maple syrup
- A splash of red wine vinegar
- A spoonful of mustard
- A splash of soy sauce
- Paprika
- Lots of freshly cracked black pepper
- A little water
- Butter
Add everything except the butter to a small saucepan.
You only need enough water to loosen things up and give the sauce somewhere to start. The goal isn't soupy beans.
Bring everything to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
As the water cooks away, the ketchup, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, and soy sauce tighten into a glossy barbecue sauce around the beans.
Taste as you go.
Too sweet? More vinegar.
Needs more depth? A little soy.
Needs more life? More black pepper.
And for me, it definitely needs more black pepper.
Once the sauce has thickened and is clinging to the beans, turn off the heat and stir in a knob of butter.
That's the finishing move.
It rounds everything out and gives the sauce a little richness and shine.
Why Pink Eye Beans Work So Well
I used Rancho Gordo Pink Eye Beans because that's what I had cooked.
They're creamy without falling apart, and they have enough flavor of their own that they don't disappear underneath the barbecue sauce.
That's one reason I like starting with good cooked beans instead of canned baked beans.
You still taste the bean.
You're just taking it somewhere else.
You could use another cooked bean here, too. The important part is starting with beans that already taste good before you add anything to them.
What to Serve With BBQ Beans
For me, this started with steak.
I grilled a New York strip over high heat with salt, freshly cracked pepper, and Italian seasoning and cooked it to medium-rare.
I made an easy mushroom sauce with cream.
While the steak rested, the beans finished on the stove.
That's about the right amount of effort for dinner.
These would also work with burgers, grilled chicken, pork chops, ribs, sausages, or just about anything coming off a grill.
But alongside a steak, they hit exactly the right note: a little sweet, a little acidic, plenty peppery, and rich enough to feel like they belong on the plate.
Sometimes the best side dish isn't another recipe you have to make.
It's something good that's already sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for ten minutes of attention.
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