The perfect Valentine’s Day Dinner starts with your grill or smoker. Hands down, live-fire cooking adds amazing flavor to steaks, seafood, sides, and even desserts!
Below we have crafted several options to help you construct the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner menu. Start with your choice of steak, pair with a seafood item, followed by a side dish, dessert item, and finally, an optional topping or an alternative main protein like chicken, lamb, or smoked venison. Some recipes already contain a compound butter. However, you can substitute them for other toppings like Crab Oscar or bacon butter! The options are plenty, so light up your grill and get ready for a memorable night!
Valentine’s Dinner Steaks:
We can all agree that a well-made steak is key to a successful Valentine’s Day Dinner! We have three favorite steak recipes to choose from, including the traditional steak of love, aka, the filet mignon, followed by the meat lovers cowboy steak, and finally the tried and true T-bone.
1.) Garlic Butter Tomahawk Steaks
These tender steaks are beefy with a rich butter flavor. They are well marbled, juicy, and perfect for grilling and slow roasting. Because of their impressive size and thickness, we recommend cooking them low and slow, then reverse searing them to achieve a flavorful crust.
2.) Pellet Grill Cowboy Steak
There is nothing more rewarding than biting into a perfectly cooked cowboy steak. And even better, we take these bad boys to the pellet grill for a low and slow cook, then reverse sear them to form a delicious crust on the outside. This steak will be one of the best you’ve ever had! Get the RECIPE!
3.) T-Bone Steaks with Herb Rub
These T-Bone steaks are slathered with a flavorful oregano, basil, and garlic seasoning rub then grilled. Reverse searing creates a beautiful crust, where the herb paste caramelizes to perfection. Absolutely delicious! TRY IT!
4.) Sous Vide Filet Mignon
If you haven’t tried sous vide filet mignon, you are in for a treat. These steaks are tender and evenly cooked, and the seared crust adds a great texture and flavor. Top it off with a little compound steak butter for the perfect steak experience.
Seafood:
Make surf n’ turf the theme of your Valentine’s Day Dinner! Pair these delectable seafood offerings with one of the steaks above. Not too keen on red meat? Serve one or two items as the main course for your romantic dinner.
1.) Cast-Iron Jumbo Shrimp
These Latin-American inspired cast-iron jumbo shrimp are marinated in lemon juice, sazon, garlic, shallots and cooked hot and fast on the grill. We leave the shells on these shrimps, adding a little extra flavor to the sauce during the cooking process. Plus, it’s fun to slurp all that seasoned goodness off of them. YUM! Get the RECIPE!
2.) Grilled Lobster Tails with Pesto
Lobster is one of our favorite items to take to the grill. Not only does it cook quickly, but the flame-kissed flavor is amazing! Our recipe for grilled lobster tails with pesto will have you coming back for more. These halved tails are grilled over charcoal and topped with a cilantro-pumpkin seed pesto to die for—the perfect main course for special occasions. Make it NOW!
3.) Cast Iron Scallops on the Grill
These succulent seared scallops are bathed in a buttery lemon-pepper sauce. Serve them as an appetizer or main course. Either way, it will be a delicious treat for you and your special someone! Recipe HERE!
Chicken:
Want to keep it light, yet flavorful? These chicken recipes are perfect for those who want a little spice in their life. Pair these zesty Latin and Caribbean-inspired recipes with a cooling side salad and rice to balance the flavors.
1.) Mango Jalapeno Chicken Thighs
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are amazingly juicy and tender. Add a simple BBQ rub and a deliciously sweet, fruity, and mildly spicy mango jalapeno barbecue sauce, and it’s pure perfection. Even better, we use simple, budget-friendly ingredients for this recipe.
2.) Sazon Grilled Chicken
Sazon spice mixture is used in a lot of Latin American cooking, including rice, beans, stews, and soups, but it makes a great grilled chicken rub. These chicken thighs and drumsticks are coated with sazon, then grilled over charcoal. Of course, you are not limited in what type of grill you use, and you can bake the chicken in the oven as well.
3.) Jerk Marinated Chicken
Caribbean cuisine is incredibly diverse, but one thing remains true, Jamaican jerk marinated chicken hits the top of the flavor list every time. The mixture of herbs, earthy spices, and piquant flavors is amazing!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Sides:
Potatoes and steaks go hand in hand, but don’t worry; we have a low-carb side dish as well. Most folks love bacon, so we recommend adding it somewhere on your Valentine’s Day dinner menu!
1.) Pellet Grill Baked Potatoes
These smoked pellet grill baked potatoes are crazy good, and you’ll absolutely love them! Not only are potatoes a versatile side dish, but they can be cooked low and slow right along with your main protein. Make it!
2.) Smoked Hasselback Potatoes
These Smoked Hasselback Potatoes are incredibly delicious and so easy to make! We skip the oven and place these perfectly sliced whole potatoes straight into the smoker. In 2 hours, you’ll have a breathtaking side dish for your Valentine’s Day dinner! RECIPE.
3.) Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans
Want to keep your carb count low? Reach for these bacon-wrapped green beans. Let’s be honest here; everything is better with bacon! And, they have great presentation quality, especially when nestled beside a fancy steak!
4.) Grilled Carrots with Maple Glaze
Grilled Carrots with Maple Glaze are a side dish like no other. Fresh, whole carrots are grilled to tender perfection, then coated in a silky, sweet maple glaze. This easy side dish will have you reaching for a second helping in no time. So, gather your ingredients, preheat that grill, and get ready to make this easy grilled carrot recipe.
Dessert:
Some sweets for your sweet! Choose a dessert option below. Choose a quick and easy dessert like smoked chocolate sauce or a longer cooked item like the smoked cream cheese dessert. Either way, your Valentine will love it!
1.) Smoked Chocolate Sauce
This smoked chocolate sauce, infused with a kiss of smoke flavor, will ramp up your dessert game! Drizzle this smoky chocolate sauce over ice cream, grilled fruits, or even chocolate cake. We love this sauce on brownies too. Don’t worry; the smoke flavor will not be overpowering, but it will add depth to the chocolate. Go to the RECIPE.
2.) Chocolate- Caramel Rice Crispy Bars
These decadent rice crispy bars will earn you extra kisses. They are coated with luscious caramel, topped with chocolate, and a light sprinkling of nuts. This recipe is a great way to dress up your Valentine’s Day dinner. Recipe here!
3.) Smoked Cream Cheese Dessert
If you liked our smoked cream cheese recipe, you’re going to love this smoked cream cheese dessert! It tastes just like cherry cheesecake with a little kiss of smoke. Amazingly delicious and so easy to make! The best part is using this dip to top French toast, pancakes, or filling the crepes the next morning! Make it!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Toppings:
Swap out the recipe topping for the ones below! You can tailor your Valentine’s Day dinner menu to suit your needs by adding a few grilled lamb recipes to the mix. We recommend halving the lamb porterhouse recipe if cooking for two.
1.) Crab Oscar Topping for Steaks
This recipe is for a quick and easy version of Steak Oscar. It’s perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, and it’s easy to make, delicious, and the presentation is gorgeous! Get the RECIPE!
2.) Smoky Bacon Butter
Most of us love bacon. And really, who can blame us? I mean, it’s delicious, and it provides a satisfying crunch to breakfast and burgers! Well, we’ve added this same smoky, salty flavor to butter. Want to dress up a grilled steak or side veg like brussels sprouts or broccoli? Top it with this smoky bacon butter. Get the Easy Recipe!
3.) Blue Cheese Butter
This creamy blue cheese butter is the perfect pairing for steaks. Unlike most compound butter, it remains soft as it’s made right before serving. Make it!
Lamb and Game:
1.) Rosemary-Dijon Lamb Porterhouse
These Rosemary-Dijon Lamb Porterhouse are insanely delicious and make the perfect quick and easy grilled Valentine’s Day dinner choice! The combination of Dijon mustard, citrus, and rosemary produces the most fantastic flavor on the lamb. We recommend reducing the recipe by half if you’re cooking for two. Find the recipe HERE!
2.) Garlic Herb Rack of Lamb
Rack of lamb plates beautifully and can make quite an impression. Slathered in garlic and herbs, this grilled rack of lamb makes a lovely main course for your romantic dinner. Make Rack of Lamb!
3.) Smoked Venison Tenderloin
Most of us grill venison tenderloin hot and fast, but cooking them low and slow improves the flavor! This easy recipe resulted in tender medallions of smoked meat. We love pairing these smoked venison tenderloins with a pineapple rum and Asian chili sauce.
