Sheet Pan Hanger Steak with Mushrooms and Carrots

How to create a sheet pan hanger steak recipe when things don’t go as planned? Well, these things happen and I don’t mind.

Jump to:

• Plan A
• Plan B
• Plan C
• Preparation
• Cooking
• The moral of this story
• 📝 Recipe

Cooking is an adventure and, for me, it starts at the market when I see something that catches my eye. 

Plan A

The other day it happened to be a nice hanger steak, sitting on a shelf in the beef section, looking up at me and whispering, “Grill me.” I love hanger steak, and before I could answer with a resounding yes, it was in my shopping basket. 

How do you get a hanger steak? A rich-flavored rib eye steak has a baby with a mouth-tender beef tenderloin, that’s how 😂

Grilling it is today! Let’s get some vegetables and we are good to go. It’s winter but who cares. It will be nice and warm working at the grill with some real hardwood, creating that magic flavor only real wood can provide. 

I paid and happily left the store. On my way to the car, it started to rain. It was too warm to snow. I wasn’t thinking about the weather when I picked up the hanger steak. Checking the forecast now, it promised to rain steadily all day long. Bummer. There goes my plan to build a fire with hardwood and grilling the steak and vegetables outside. 

Plan B

Ok, no problem. I once read that you can use cooling racks in the oven as nifty grilling racks by putting them upside down on a sheet pan. 

So why not cook the vegetables on a sheet pan simultaneously with the hanger steak? I can broil the steak on an upside-down cooling rack, positioned right above the vegetables. The meat drippings will surely do wonders for the vegetable’s flavors. Put the vegetables on a rimmed sheet pan, the steak on the upside down cooling rack, and in it goes… or not.

At this point, Viana walked into the kitchen and asked me if it was safe to use cooling racks for broiling, and I cooly nodded that it is. Well, kind of. They are NOT safe to use if they are coated with a non-stick material. They will melt. And mine were black, coated with a non-stick material. They would have melted. Please make sure yours are not coated before attempting this recipe. 

Plan C

Luckily, we remembered that last summer we purchased a small grilling rack for vegetables and other foods that would otherwise fall through the grilling grates. This rack is heat resistant and comes with handles that are the perfect height for the meat not to touch the vegetables. Phew... 

Preparation

This beauty uses five ingredients plus salt and pepper.

First, make sure you really dry the meat with paper towels. This will help to get a good sear when broiling.

Next, season the meat with Maldon sea salt (either immediately before broiling or at least 40 minutes before) and freshly cracked black pepper. I probably use about a teaspoon each on each side of the meat. I believe that most home cooks don’t use enough salt when it comes to meat, especially beef. 

Arrange your oven rack so that the meat will be about 6 inches from the broiler. Then, preheat oven to 500℉. 

Clean the mushrooms with a paper towel and chop into ½” pieces. Peel the carrots and chop to a similar size.

Toss in a bowl with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, add Worcestershire sauce and mix everything. Try it. It might sound a little weird to add a “meat sauce” on vegetables, but oh boy, what a flavor boost it creates. 

Cooking

Place mixture onto a rimmed sheet pan, add the (slightly oiled) “cooling rack” upside down on top, and add the steak.

Put your little architectural set up (carefully) in the oven. After about 6 minutes, turn the meat. It’s okay if you hear it sizzle and it smells incredible when you open the oven door.

Broil for another 6 minutes, then remove the meat and rest it on a cutting board, lightly tented with aluminum foil.

If you’re not sure about the doneness of your steak, I really encourage you to buy a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.  I like my steak medium-rare, so I remove it when the temperature reaches 130°F at the thickest part. The internal temperature will increase another few degrees while it’s resting. 

Leave the vegetables in the oven for another 10 minutes or until they reach the softness you like. Use a fork to test them. I like mine a little bit crunchy. A better description would be “al dente.” I’m not sure if this can be applied to vegetables, but you know what I mean. 

Cut the hanger steak in slices against the grain and plate together with vegetables.

If you are a regular reader of my recipes, then you know what should come next: add your homemade chimichurri and enjoy. But because it’s cold and wet outside and I feel like changing things up a bit, I made my other favorite steak topper: homemade garlic herb compound butter. Yeah, baby, now we’re talking!

Add a couple slices of garlic herb compound butter on top of the steak. If you have some parsley handy, add some to make the plate look pretty. 

This dish can be paired with red or white wine. An ice cold beer goes nicely with this dish, as well. Heck, even an ice cold cola would do.

The moral of this story

I can’t come up with one. Cooking is fun. Be creative. Challenge yourself. 

Love one-pan meals? Check out more of our one-pan recipes:

• Carne Asada Quesadillas
• Homemade Beef Jerky
• One Pan Pasta, Deliciousness from the Pantry and Two Fresh Ingredients
• One Pan Chicken Pasta from the Essential Pantry
• One Pan Butternut Squash Risotto with Mushrooms
• Deliciously Creamy One Pan Chicken and Beans
• Sheet Pan Butternut Squash with Spicy Italian Sausage
• Super Easy Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil
• Drying Porcini Mushrooms - and other magical mushroom techniques

Did you make this Sheet Pan Dinner recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.