A perfect, dry aged steak off the grill needs nothing more than a little salt and pepper...but for most of us, most of the steaks we eat don’t quite fall into the dry aged, ultra premium, breaking the bank, category - Which is perfectly all right, as you can do far worse than a nicely grilled sirloin on a hot summer night, right?

Here are some steak topping ideas for summer nights when you're serving steak that’s gonna’ be pretty darn tasty, but that wouldn’t be harmed by a little something complementary gracing the top.

It’s the little things that make the difference between great cooks and good cooks – little things like serving a nice steak plain Jane, or serving that same steak topped with a little blue cheese butter!

Steak Topping Ideas

• Mushrooms, sautéed in butter
• Worchester sauce, it’s an oldie but still a goodie…for those of you feeling inspired, try making you own Worcester sauce!
• Butter, you can’t go wrong with butter. A simple pat of plain butter adds an appealing richness to just about any grilled steak, but compound butters are even better. Try a mixture of half butter and half gorgonzola, melting slowly over a thick rib eye as it comes to the table. Heaven on a plate.
• Crumbled blue cheese
• A drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil, some freshly squeezed lemon juice and some crunchy sea salt
• A chimichurri sauce, or any other green sauce of based on extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs (salsa verde)
• Béarnaise, béarnaise, béarnaise….if you can spare the calories, this is as good as it gets
• A sprinkling of crumbled feta
• Herb or garlic butters
• Caramelized onions, on the top
• Sliced steak with an arugula or spinach salad on top
• Truffle butter, butter mixed with a little truffle oil (or for those with BIGGER WALLETS, use real truffles!)
• Shavings of real parmesan cheese
• Horseradish – freshly grated to knock their socks off!
• Topped with slices of bacon…it’s a bit indulgent, but you can’t argue with the taste that bacon adds to pretty much everything
• Dijon mustard
• A tart tomato, radish, cilantro and lemon juice salsa
• Guacamole (good with sliced skirt or flank steak)
• Roasted tomato salsa
• Soy sauce
• Hot sauce
• A fried egg - Yes, a fried egg improves just about anything…

These are just a few ideas to get you started on days when ordinary steak for dinner just doesn’t sound exciting (you know you’re spoiled when…!)