Pan Seared Steak Tips with North African Chermoula Sauce

Most steak tip recipes bury the meat under a marinade or a spice rub. These get kosher salt and a hot pan, and that’s it. The chunky, hand-chopped North African chermoula goes on at the end and does all the talking, so the beef can just taste like beef, and I love that.

Why This Isn’t Another Chermoula Marinade

Search “chermoula steak” and you’ll see the same recipes over and over. Blend the sauce, put half of it in a bag with the steak, let it sit, grill it, and serve the rest on the side. That works great on skirt or flank, where the marinade is the flavor.

I want the opposite. The tips get salt and a hard sear, so they taste like beef. The chermoula goes on at the end, still loud with parsley, garlic, and lemon.

Filet mignon tips are what you’ll see in my photos, but sirloin tips work too. They cost a lot less, and they have more beefy flavor, but they’re not as tender. Either way, the method doesn’t change.

Why Salt Is the Only Seasoning on These Steak Tips

Salt is the only seasoning these tips get, and that’s on purpose. The chermoula is the star, so the meat just needs to taste like great beef with a deep brown crust. Think of the salt as the quiet house guest who never interrupts, so everybody can listen to the chermoula tell its stories.

Too much seasoning doesn’t do well in a hot pan anyway. It can scorch and turn bitter, which is why steakhouses don’t dump the spice cabinet on a filet. You don’t need a twelve ingredient rub to make steak tips taste like something. You need a hot pan, salt, and a sauce that shows up.

When you salt matters. A wet surface steams instead of sears, so the goal is dry tips going into the pan. Salt them right before they hit the pan, or about 2 hours prior to searing. This way, the moisture the salt draws out gets pulled back into the meat, (along with the salt) so the surface is dry again by the time they hit the pan.

Either way, pat the tips dry before they go in. Wet meat in a screaming hot pan is how you end up with gray tips instead of a crust.

What Is Chermoula Sauce?

Chermoula is a North African herb sauce, and it’s been around for centuries in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Parsley, cilantro, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and warm spices like cumin and paprika are the usual cast of characters. It’s most often served over fish and chicken, which is why steak is a fun twist.

My version adds harissa paste, which gives it a little heat and a red-orange tint in the oil. It also uses preserved lemon, which sounds fancy but is just lemons packed in salt until they mellow out.

Some traditional versions also use saffron. I skip it, because a tiny jar costs more than the steak and this sauce doesn’t need it.

Chermoula vs Chimichurri: Are They the Same Thing?

They look a lot alike, but they’re not related. Chermoula comes from North Africa, and chimichurri comes from Argentina and Uruguay, with origin stories nobody can agree on. Two cultures on opposite sides of the Atlantic landed on the same idea: chopped herbs, garlic, acid, and oil spooned over grilled meat.

Traditional chimichurri leans on parsley, oregano, and red wine vinegar. Chermoula brings cilantro, cumin, paprika, and lemon. My chimichurri recipe uses cilantro, which puts it somewhere in between, so it’s a good place to start if you like one and want to try the other.

How to Make Chermoula Sauce (Rustic, Not Smooth)

Most recipes toss everything in a food processor, and you end up with a smooth sauce. That’s a good call for a marinade, since smooth coats meat evenly. For a finishing sauce, I want to see the parsley and the garlic.

Chop the herbs and mince the garlic and preserved lemon by hand. If this were a marinade, I’d use a food processor or blender here to make it smooth.

Then fold the harissa and oil mixture in gently, because stirring hard dulls the green color. Blending also really mutes the color. The sauce still tastes good, but it just doesn’t look as good on the plate.

A couple of notes on the preserved lemon: The pulp goes and the rind stays, so scoop the pulp out and mince only the rind. And if you can’t find it, use lemon zest and a teaspoon of champagne vinegar instead.

How to Pan Sear Steak Tips

Use a cast iron, stainless, or carbon steel pan. Coat the surface with a very light layer of avocado oil and heat it over medium high until the oil just starts to smoke. Pat the tips dry, salt them, and add them to the pan in a single layer.

Total sear time here is only about three minutes, turning the tips so they brown on every side. Pull the tips when they hit the doneness you like. I take mine off at 130°F, which is medium rare. 

A quick read thermometer takes the guesswork out of it, and it matters with pieces this small. Sirloin tips are chewier than filet at any temperature, so I’d stay at medium rare or medium at most if you’re going with sirloin.

I cook two pounds at once in a bigger pan. If your pan is smaller, cook in batches. Crowded tips steam instead of sear, and you end up with gray meat and no crust.

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Chermoula Steak Tips FAQ