Nigella Lawson says cheap steak will taste 'magnificent' if cooked with 1 vital ingredient

Cookery icon Nigella Lawson has shared a timeless tip for cooking steak with a 'magnificent' flavour from just one vital ingredient - even if you use cheap meat.

Steak is one of the most popular indulgences for British foodies, even if the price can be as eye-watering as the flavour is mouthwatering. But Nigella has shared a method to turn even cheap and less prized beef cuts, like flank steak, into delicious cuisine. She told ABC News: "The thing about when a steak is expensive, the thing you can do is cook it very fast and it needs nothing done to it. Now these are two different cuts: that's a flank steak, and that's skirt.

"But as you can see they don't look quite as good. But the taste, I think is better. It's magnificent.

"These cheaper cuts are often denigrated, but the cheaper cuts, as all our grandmothers knew, the flavour is better."

The main thing when using a cheap cut though, is to add an ingredient which cannot be bought - time.

The other advantage of cheaper cuts is that they can also be cooked faster because they're thinner.

She added: "A thinner steak, half the size, therefore half the price, which cooks faster.

"The difficulty is, in a way you can only save money when you've got one vital ingredient: and that vital ingredient is time.

"On the days you don't have time, you can't use a cheaper cut because it's going to be tough."

To make Nigella's budget steak, heat a teaspoon of oil in a large frying pan, then cook the steak on high for one and a half minutes per side.

Serve onto a warm plate, then sprinkle salt and pepper over to taste. Finally, squeeze the lemon juice into a hot pan and let it bubble up with the meat infused oil, before pouring over the steaks.

Nigella added: "What you really need to do though, I think, is marinade it a bit, and put it with a bit of oil and a bit of soy sauce, maybe a spritz of lemon and leave it like that for a while. That slightly tenderises the meat, and then it's best cooked slowly.

"You can grill them, but it's best to tenderise them first."