Want Steak To Be 10x More Tender? Marinate It In This Canned Ingredient

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If you're cooking up a filet mignon, it just takes a simple pan sear and oven finish to have an exceptionally tender hunk of beef. But if you're working with a tougher (and oftentimes more affordable) cut, such as a flank steak or bottom round, you'll need to take extra steps to tenderize it. A simple way to do this is to use a marinade. One of the most effective options comes in a can — and, before that, it came in a coconut. Yep, we're talking about coconut milk, and no, it won't make your steak taste like a piña colada. 

Marinading meat is a surefire way to soften lean cuts that are packed with connective tissue. While acids and enzymes are often employed in marinades to help break down and loosen muscle fibers, they can sometimes be too harsh and risk softening a steak to the point of mushiness. Coconut milk, on the other hand, takes a gentler approach. Instead of depending on acid, this plant-based ingredient uses fat to coat and lubricate the meat, supplying and locking in moisture. It's useful with lean cuts, in particular, since it essentially makes up for their lack of natural marbling.

Using coconut milk for meat sauces and marinades is not quite a newfangled idea. It has long been a staple in South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East African cuisines. You can find it in such dishes as coconut curry chicken and Samaki Wa Kupaka, a Swahili recipe featuring grilled fish coated in coconut milk and spices. Indeed, the fat content in the liquid also works as a flavor carrier, infusing meat with the taste of fat-soluble spices. So, it's not a bad idea to mix the liquid with various aromatics when whipping up your marinade. Of course, the creamy ingredient also leaves its own flavor imprint on steak, fish, chicken, and other foods. Its nutty, slightly sweet profile complements the savoriness of beef without overpowering it.

If you decide to give this method a try, you'll need to snag the right kind of canned coconut milk. The best option for marinating a steak is an unsweetened, full-fat variety. Multiple brands have a version of it, including Thai Kitchen and Goya as well as private labels like 365 by Whole Foods. Given its thick texture and similar creaminess, it also makes a great vegan alternative to yogurt-based marinades — even if it does lack the extra tenderizing feature of lactic acid. You can consider this a creative (and actually useful) way to use that can of coconut milk that's been sitting in the back your pantry for months.