Butchers Reveal: Top Underrated Beef Cuts You Need to Try!

There’s nothing quite like insights from an expert butcher. These professionals spend their days expertly cutting, trimming, and slicing meat. They truly are the artists of the butcher shop.

Curious about which beef cuts are flying under the radar, I consulted several butchers to uncover their top picks for underrated beef cuts, yielding some insightful choices and viewpoints.

Meet the Butchers

• Ed Campbell: Butcher at Kings Food Market in Hoboken, N.J., boasting over ten years of experience
• Danny Arriaga: Assistant butcher at Whole Foods Market in Weehawken, N.J., with a 13-year career
• Brian Guarnaccia: Butcher at Stew Leonard’s in Newington, Conn., five years deep in his craft

Top Underrated Beef Cuts

Chuck Roast

Campbell praises the chuck roast for its cost-effectiveness and adaptability. While filet mignon is celebrated for its softness, it’s not practical for daily meals. Conversely, chuck roast is packed with flavor and much more affordable. It’s perfect for slow-cooked dishes like pot roasts and stews, where it becomes wonderfully tender and flavorful.

Porterhouse

Arriaga’s choice was unexpected: the porterhouse. Initially, it seemed odd to label such a well-known cut as underrated. However, he explained that from a value standpoint, the porterhouse offers a dual experience: New York strip on one side and tenderloin on the other.

Since porterhouses are sliced from the back end of the short loin, they feature a larger section of tenderloin, adding to their appeal. In comparison to a T-bone, which has a tapering tenderloin, the porterhouse provides more of that sought-after filet mignon. Despite its luxurious composition, it’s generally more affordable than purchasing filet mignon alone, thanks to the inclusion of the bone and the attached New York strip.

The challenge lies in the cooking. Arriaga points out that with two different types of meat on one bone, achieving the perfect doneness for each can be tricky, as the tenderloin tends to cook faster than the strip.

Boneless Short Ribs (Denver Steak)

Guarnaccia highlighted an alternative choice: boneless short ribs, also known as Denver steak. He emphasized that while they may not carry the cachet of more premium cuts, they offer great flavor and tenderness at a lower price.

He enjoys grilling these ribs as steaks, but also braises or smokes them for different dishes. This flexibility makes them particularly appealing for home chefs.

Personally, I’m a fan of slow-braised short ribs in red wine—a sumptuous choice for any celebration. Their natural marbling and fat content provide a richness akin to ribeye, yet they maintain the firm texture of a New York strip, offering the best of both worlds.