Find the Best Cuts of Beef for every cooking method here! Whether you’re looking for the best cut of beef on the grill, roasted, smoked, sous vide, or in the slow cooker or Instant Pot, you will find what you need in this collection.
Cuts of Beef Chart
Click here for a free printable version of this chart: Best Beef Cuts Chart Chuck roast is a versatile cut of beef from the shoulder area of the cow. A flavorful but lean cut of beef, chuck roast is suitable for pot roasts, stews, and even as braising for taco meat. In fact, this is one of the best cuts of beef for roasting! Most chuck roast recipes will be slow cooker recipes or dutch oven recipes, but you can also cook this incredible cut of beef on the grill or in a smoker. Other names for chuck roast include chuck eye roast, chuck pot roast, chuck roll roast, arm roast, 7-bone roast, or blade roast. You may even see it chopped into bite-size pieces and labeled simply as “stew meat”! More chuck roast recipes:
Smoked Chuck RoastDutch Oven Pot RoastInstant Pot Roast BeefBeef Birria Recipe
Bottom round roast is a lean and affordable cut of beef perfect for braising or roasting, as well as Instant Pot and slow cooker recipes. It is one of the best cuts of beef for roasting, and although it contains less fat than chuck roast, they work as substitutes for each other in most recipes! Other names for bottom round roast include rump roast, and you may find similar cuts listed as top round roast. More round roast recipes:
Mississippi Pot RoastInstant Pot Beef Stew
Eye of round roast is an lean, inexpensive cut of beef also from the “round” area of the cow. This is a flavorful cut of beef and is one of the best cuts of beef for roasting or slow-cooking, so much that it’s known as the “poor man’s prime rib”. Other names for eye of round roast include beef eye round roast or eye round pot roast. Prime rib is a gorgeous cut of beef from the rib primal section of the cow. It features beautiful marbling, which renders down to tender perfection during the cooking process. Though higher in price than other cuts of beef, prime rib is an excellent choice for a holiday meal or special occasion. Prepare prime rib in the oven, grill, smoker, and even the Instant Pot or Air Fryer. Other names for prime rib include standing rib roast and rib roast. Bone-in and boneless varieties are both sold, and it comes in three different grades based on the quality of the meat: USDA Prime, USDA Choice, and Select. Learn more about prime rib recipes here: Best Way to Cook Prime Rib More prime rib recipes:
Slow Cooked Prime RibSmoked Prime Rib RecipePrime Rib on the GrillAir Fryer Prime RibInstant Pot Prime Rib Roast
Beef tenderloin is cut into both roasts and steaks. If you’ve ever had filet mignon, you’ve had beef tenderloin steak! Tenderloin is best cooked in the oven, on the grill, or even sous vide. You can even prepare filet mignon in the air fryer! Other names for tenderloin include beef loin tenderloin roast, filet mignon, châteaubriand, fillet, or simply filet. If you buy a porterhouse steak, half of it is the tenderloin cut! More beef tenderloin recipes:
Grilled Beef Tenderloin RecipeSous Vide Beef TenderloinSous Vide Filet MignonAir Fryer Steak (using filet mignon)
Ribeye steak is my personal favorite cut of steak and my first choice for most recipes. It is a very rich cut of beef with plenty of beautiful marbling, making it a great steak to pair with most any side dish. This is one of the best cuts of beef for grilling, though you can also cook ribeye in a pan, or reverse sear it in the oven. Other names for ribeye steak include sarket steak, Scotch fillet, Delmonico, Spencer, and beauty steak if you visit a butcher, though you will most often find it at your local grocery store simply as ribeye. More ribeye steak recipes:
Grilled Ribeye SteakReverse Sear RibeyeEasy Bulgogi Bowls
Beef short ribs are a versatile rib cut you can find in both bone-in and boneless varieties. They are best when braised in a slow cooker or dutch oven, though you can also cook them on the grill or in the smoker, just like chuck roast. Beef short ribs will truly shine and become fall-off-the-bone tender this way! You can find short ribs cut in a few different ways, including the English cut or Flanken cut, but generally they will be sold simply under the name “short ribs”. More short ribs recipes:
Slow Cooker Short RibsInstant Pot Beef Short Ribs StewKorean Beef Short RibsGrilled Short Ribs
Eye of round steak is a steak cut from the round area of the cow, and is essentially the same cut as the eye of round roast, making it lean and economical. This cut of beef is perfect for grilling, pan-searing, stir-frying, and broiling. Other names for eye of round steak include sandwich steak, wafer steak, and breakfast steak. Porterhouse steak is a bone-in steak that is actually two steaks in one: strip steak, and tenderloin. As a result, it is a large, juicy steak often served as a steak for two. This is one of the best cuts of beef for grilling, as these are two of the most tender steaks on the grill. T-bone steaks are often confused for porterhouse steaks, with the difference being porterhouse is larger. You may also see porterhouse labeled as “king steak”. Sirloin steak comes from the sirloin area of the cow, varying in tenderness based on which section of sirloin it is. Top sirloin steaks are one of the best cuts of beef for grilling, while bottom sirloin cuts - like tri-tip - are good for both grilling and roasting. You will find several varieties of sirloin steak, including petite sirloin steak (also known as ball tip steak), tri-tip, coulotte steak, and top sirloin filet. More sirloin steak recipes:
Vietnamese Beef SaladAir Fryer Steak Bites
Tri-tip steak is a sirloin cut of beef, and is lean, boneless, and tender. This flavorful steak is perfect for grilling, smoking, pan-searing, and cooking in a stir-fry. Other names for tri-tip steak include Newport steak, Santa Maria steak, and triangle steak. Coulotte steak is from the sirloin area of the cow and contains gorgeous marbling. It is a juicy steak with plenty of flavor, ideal for grilling, pan-searing, broiling, or cooking in a pan and then finishing in the oven. Other names for coulotte steak include top sirloin cap steak, picanha, fat cap, rump cap, or top sirloin cap. Tomahawk steak comes from the rib area of the cow, and is best known for its long bone and shape that is its namesake. With plenty of marbling, this is a flavorful cut of steak that grills beautifully. You can also cook this steak in a pan, finished in the oven, by broiling, or in the smoker (my favorite!). Other names for tomahawk steak include cowboy steak when frenched without the full bone, and rib steak. Flank steak is a lean, boneless cut of beef from the flank area of the cow. It has an intense flavor, and due to the lean nature of this steak, is best marinated to tenderize it before cooking. Cook flank steak on the grill, in stir-fry, by broiling, smoking, sous vide, or in the Instant Pot. Other names for flank steak include beef flank and flank steak filet. More flank steak recipes:
Instant Pot Beef PhoPepper Steak Stir Fry
Skirt steak is a similar cut of beef to flank steak, so much that they are interchangeable in most recipes. This is a thin, long cut of beef from the short plate area of the cow. It comes in two varieties, the inside skirt steak and the outside skirt steak, with the outside steak being more tender and the inside skirt requiring a marinade to tenderize it before cooking. You can tell the difference by the width of the steak; the outside skirt steak is less wide than the inside skirt steak, generally by about 2 inches. Brisket is a cut of beef from the pectoral area of the cow, and begins as a tough piece of meat requiring a slow cooking process to make it tender. Slow cooker brisket and smoked brisket are the best ways to cook this cut of beef. You will find brisket sold as one whole cut of brisket, or cut into halves: the brisket flat half or the brisket point half. More brisket recipes:
Slow Cooker Beef Brisket
Strip steak comes from the loin area of the cow, and comes in bone-in and boneless varieties. It is a tender and lean cut of beef perfect for grilling, pan-searing, finishing in the oven, broiling, or cooking sous vide. Other names for strip steak include New York Strip Steak, top loin steak, Kansas City strip steak, shell steak, club steak, ambassador steak, strip loin steak, or Omaha strip. More strip steak recipes:
Mediterranean Beef Kabobs
Tips for Cooking Beef
For more tips for cooking beef, and recipe ideas, follow these links:
Beef Temperature Chart - our beef temperature chart covers measuring the temperature of any cut of beef, and includes a free printable!Best Steak Dinner Ideas30+ Popular Beef Dishes
Which cut of beef is your favorite to cook with? Leave a comment and a rating below to let us know what you think! We love to hear from you!
