My Favorite Budget Beef Cuts

                                                                 image from Pinterest

Last week I mentioned I'd cooked a roast and used leftovers as sandwich meat and roast beef hash.   Susanmarie asked what cuts of beef I bought and which I considered 'budget' cuts.  Years ago, I was able to keep our price per pound costs to below $2 but these days, one is lucky to keep them at about $5 a pound even for ground beef!

First let's look at this chart for beef cuts.  It's important to know where each is located because it's also a key in how the meat should be cooked.  Keeping beef costs low is as much a matter of knowing how to cook various cuts as it is of what you can expect to buy in different seasons.







I do want to say to you all to beware of those grocery store meat ads...Photos of roasts tend to be used without discretion.  You're just as likely to see a photo of a rump roast used for a sirloin or eye of round as you are for the actual photo of a rump roast.   I cannot suggest strongly enough the need to educate yourself by walking down the meat aisle and familiarizing yourself with various cuts of beef and their price points, too.  This is the very best way to learn what each cut looks like and to get an idea of what is available in your market.   Otherwise you'll never know a good sale when you see one.

Also note that cuts may vary from region to region, as well.  Briskets have been largely unknown in the south, except as corned beef, until very recently.  It is still not common to find briskets in every market but some do carry them.  With an ever increasing Hispanic population in our area, we can often find skirt steak, flank steak and cuts popular with the cultural dishes they enjoy.   Delmonico steaks are not found in the South but New York Strip is.  It's only been in the last ten years I started to see short ribs routinely.  With an increased Asian culture in our area as well, we now see some cross cut short ribs which are marinated and broiled or grilled like a steak...So again, the best way to get to know your beef is to walk down that section of your grocery store meat counter and see for yourself!

I will tell you all that cuts vary in popularity across decades.   In the 1920's  a roast under five or seven pounds was uncommon.  It's difficult now to find a roast that weighs much over two pounds.  If you ever ate at one of those cafeteria type restaurants with the huge honking beef roast that they carved as it was wanted, you're likely looking at a whole sirloin roast.  Just this past weekend a local grocery had those whole sirloins for sale and advertised that they would 'slice for free'.  That was typical in my area about 20 years ago.  It's a rarity now to see a sale on those whole cuts, much less to see a store offer free slicing of said whole cuts!

When I first began homemaking a round steak was a standard item at the market and often went on sale.  Ask for a round steak these days and the butcher will look at you as though you had three heads.  Frankly I liked round steak as a great slow cooking meat and for cubed steaks but that is no longer possible to purchase.

Beef is often sold seasonally.   In winter, you're most likely to find chuck roasts, sirloin roasts, stew beef, short ribs on sale.  Come summer, it is more likely to be steaks and ground meat.   There are less common cuts of meat that you might find in market in winter as well: shanks and ox tail, both of which are delicious in soups, stews and for making rich beef broth.  Watch for sales on those cuts as well.  I occasionally find them in the marked down bin at one grocer and I snatch them up if they are decent in price.

John and I priced out buying beef quarters but found we'd end with a few cuts we were less than fond of having and the price per pound did not average out to anything resembling a savings.  It was far less expensive to watch for sales on those cuts we knew we liked and have the occasional splurge piece.

Now I've gotten far off track, let's get back to Susanmarie's real question: what cuts of beef do I recommend?   Seriously, not being a smart aleck, whatever is the most affordable at the time I am shopping.  We mostly eat ground beef and I have a plethora of recipes that I can make with it but sometimes you just want something that isn't ground.

In the mid-Georgia area where I shop I lean hard on Sirloin steaks.   They are lean steaks with a firm texture but  usually tender.  It's versatile as a pan fried or broiled steak or good sliced thin and cooked for fajitas or stir fry meals. I sometimes cut into serving pieces and make Swiss steak in my crockpot as well.  Typically these steaks run about $4.99 a pound at Aldi.  I think they are closer to $6.99 at most other stores.   A steak usually weighs about 2 pounds and so I cut it into three sections when I get it home and use each section to feed the two of us three times.

At Aldi I can also buy a package of thin sliced sirloin which are basically  very thin breakfast steaks and this is nice for Steak sandwiches ( Italian or Philly Cheese or a knock off Prime Rib type sandwich we sometimes order at our favorite restaurant).  If it were up to John, for sure they'd be frizzled in a hot frying pan and served with fried eggs.

Very occasionally we'll get a London Broil steak  (also from the sirloin of the cow) which is usually about an inch thick and is meant to be broiled or grilled and cooked only to medium doneness and then cut into thin slices.  It leans towards being a firm to chewy texture.  London Broil can be delicious though if you like your beef rare to medium.

For slow cooking roasts: Chuck or Sirloin roasts make great choices.  The Chuck roast is a bit more marbled than the sirloin roast.  Either may be cut into stew meat (easy to do yourself).  Typically the Chuck roasts runs about $4.99 a pound but come fall we'll see some sales on this and it may drop to as low as $2.99 a pound.  Last year one store even did a buy one get one free special.  I bought four, and cut them in half, making each portion about 2 pounds which is sufficient for a meal and a leftover makeover meal.  I admittedly miss the days of 7-bone and bone in chuck roasts though.  A seven bone roast was just one bone shaped like the number '7'...However, most of all the meats we buy these dyas are bone free.

Personally I prefer the sirloin tip roast if I'm planning to make stew.  It's often far less expensive than stew beef and has the same firm slightly chewy but tender texture that you'd get from stew beef.   A sirloin roast may also be rolled into a thicker, more dense roast, tied with string and is excellent baked or grilled to the desired doneness and sliced thin to serve.

By the way, if you like Hispanic cuisine, the chuck roast is generally what is used to make Ropa Veja and Barbacoa type beefs.

Rump roasts and top or bottom round roasts are also good to use as a slow cooked roast but they have a firmer texture.  You won't get the sometimes stringy tender texture you get from a Chuck roast, nor the softer texture you get from a sirloin tip roast that has been slow cooked.  These roasts are meant to be sliced into thin slices and served. I have baked these roasts in an oven until just medium rare but you will really get a more tender roast if it's slow cooked.  Now that doesn't mean it must go into the slow cooker.  You can bake in the oven at a low temperature for a longer period of time and get the same degree of tenderness.

In Spring, around St. Patrick's day we often have corned beefs on sale.  I try to buy the flat cut corned beef but now and then we get a tip cut.  The difference is that one comes from the center of a the brisket and the other tends to be cut from an area nearer the bone and therefore isn't as flat.  Briskets are best slow cooked.

You might notice that most of what we buy are all leaner and cheaper cuts, and are best as a slow cooked roast.  Only rarely do we indulge in say a Rib Eye Roast which is usually best priced along about Christmas in our area and runs $6.99 a pound.  If I've got the budget I'll buy the very largest I can and cut part into bone in rib eye steaks (usually $8.99 a pound or more) and leave part as a 3-4 rib standing rib roast.   Now this cut is meant to be baked and only for about 20 minutes per pound at best.   However, even if you prefer your meat well done this roast will be tender and juicy and worth every penny you pay for it.  Bonus: the bones can be used for beef broth.

Those are the cuts I most commonly buy as they go on sale (or the craving for beef  other than ground meat is stronger than my budget).   I think most of what I buy are fairly common to nearly all markets



13 comments:

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I am so hungry for a nice big marbled with fat chuck roast.We have had so much chicken lately I am starting to cluck. We haven't had any cool spells long enough that I was able to get one bought and cooked. I don't have room in our little refrigerator freezer to have one just hanging around. I'm so desperate I might have to use my crock pot to cook it, though I much prefer my good old stove oven. I also watch the direction I slice chuck roast in, or I will get stringy instead of tender. I am unable to explain how exactly I can tell which way I have to cut it to work out right. I have to turn it this way and that and study the way the grain is going and cut across the grain, instead of with the grain so I get tender slices and not string hunks of meat.

Lana said...

If I watch the sales closely I am able to buy beef for around $3 a pound in my area except for steaks. I don't buy meat that is not on sale for a great price and we stay very well stocked. Ingles has been putting sirloin steaks on sale for 3.98 a pound and they have been absolutely delicious and tender. Ingles is mostly my go to store for beef of all kinds because they have such wonderful beef and great sales but Lidl puts ground beef on sale for great prices as in all the ground chuck in my freezer was 1.29 a pound. While we were at the lake Bi-Lo had whole eye of round roasts in the shrink wrapped pkg for 2.99 a pound and we got a 7 pound one and froze it to bring home. I had $11 in rewards on my card that I used toward it and only paid about $10 total. I am planning on thawing that and canning a good bit of it for soups and stews this winter but I will also cut some thin steaks from the center of it. I usually only keep one roast in my freezer at a time and replace it after I cook that one. I realized that we really don't want another roast for at least 6 weeks which is plenty of time to find another good sale. Keeping more than that often results in freezer burn. Sometimes I buy bottom round roast and cut it into steak for things like Swiss steak or stew. Remember the round steak with the round bone that always went to the dog? That was a thing from childhood. Mom pretty much only bought round steak for steak of any kind. Occasionally she would buy cube steak for steak sandwiches that we so tough you could not chew them. Cube steaks are much better now.

Leopard shoe alert! I saw on Hip 2 Save that Walmart has cute leopard booties and slip on sneakers! The sneakers are adorable!

terricheney said...

Susie I know what you mean about turning the chuck roast this way and that to slice it across the grain. I do that too until I can't do it anymore, lol.

Lana, Yes, indeed that round steak was my cubed steak. I'd have the butcher at the meat counter cube it twice, recommended by an older butcher who said he bought sirloin on sale and did that.

Shall run by Walmart while I'm out tomorrow and check the leopard shoes. Thank you!

Wendi said...

I use to be able to keep my freezer stocked with Manager Special round steak. Like you, I can't find it anymore. I use to cube it and make beef and noodles. Now I have to buy more expensive cut of beef.

Anonymous said...

Just why don't we have much bone in meat cuts anymore. I know any bones you buy from the butcher cost as much per pound as the meat does. I was floored when I asked! I still remember when they would throw one in free for the dog {or your next soup meal ! lol } I miss the bones to make broth. Meat cooked with the bone tastes so good. Thank you Terri for the information. I ask the butcher then forget half of what he says when I walk away. :( We tend to stick to the same cuts mostly year after year just change out the recipes. Sarah

Carolyn said...

So interesting how availability varies by state or region. Here in Texas we’ve always been able to find round steak and brisket in abundance. Thanks so much for this post ... quite interesting!!!

terricheney said...

Wendi I can find what is called chuck round steaks here but they are very gristly and chewy. Not at all like a nice firm round steak!

Sarah, No, no courtesy soup bones. As you noted you pay as dearly for those as you do for the meat...and I'll wager we'd all rather pay for the meat tan the bone if they are the same price!

Carolyn, Exactly why I assured readers they should go down meat market aisles and look for themselves at what is offered! And they need to check more than one store as well. Some stores will offer cuts another mightn't, even in the same town.

Tammy said...

Nebraska is ranked second in the country for beef production. We happily purchase straight from the farmer. This makes some cuts a little more expensive than purchasing in the store, but it makes other cuts a LOT cheaper.
In stores here, we rarely find "skirt" or "flank" steak. Brisket is very easily purchased, but usually is fairly expensive. Greg loves brisket for making barbecue, though.
I like rump roasts or bottom rounds for making sliced roast beef for sandwiches. Chuck roasts for "pot" roast. We use cube steak mostly for chicken fried steak (Greg's favorite meal), though I have made Pioneer Woman's recipe for Marlboro Man's favorite sandwich. It's tedious to make, but really, really good.
I have some sirloin steaks to use up, but I'm not a fan of them on the grill. I also have several "soup bones" that are definitely more meant than bone. Yum. We have a package of shanks and I want to make Osso Bucco. Now that school has started I'm hoping to spend serious time in the kitchen.

terricheney said...

Tammy, Stroganoff is good made with sirloin and so is beef and broccoli stir fry.

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I don't remember when I last saw a round steak with a bone in it or any fat at all around the edges. I like some fat left around the edges of meat for flavor. It can be cut off after cooking if someone doesn't eat fat. As I am thinking about it now, I don't think I've seen any round steaks at all in quite a while at the store.

I used to be able to find affordable oxtails (I think actually just chopped beef tails). The ones I used to get had some meat on them along with gristle that got very soft when braised and also bone marrow in them. I seasoned them and braised them with onion in water that I added a little beef bouillon powder to. I really liked them, marrow, meat and soft gristle. My husband and kids only liked the meat and broth and noodles that I made as a side.

I remember my daughter, who was probably around 8 at the time, saying how good they were and asking what kind of meat they were. I renamed them right then, and told her they were beef rounds, and made sure to stuff the plastic wrap with the printed product label way down in the kitchen garbage so she wouldn't read the label and learn my secret. I knew if I told her ox tails, neither she nor my son would eat them ever again. They are so expensive now, and don't even have much meat on them, that I haven't had them in years.

Louise said...

You might consider going on shares with someone to buy a beef from a local farmer... some farmers will even kill the animal for you and then get it hauled to a meat market to be cut and wrapped.. Still works out cheaper than buying meat from the stores.

Chef Owings said...

we still have some butcher shops around that sells pretty much any cut you want. I do most of my shopping on the buy 1 get 1 or marked down. If I am looking for something that isn't at local grocery I go to the butcher shop. Most grocery stores no longer do their own cutting so the bones are where the meat was actually cut into the pieces. I get lard and bones and ox tail (son 2 favorite) from the butcher on a regular bases. I get prime rib at Christmas. Order as much as I can afford and cut it in to smaller roasts when I get it home. I will cut the bones out sometimes and put back for stock.

Anonymous said...

Having a hard time posting comments on my iPad for some reason. Trying again on the computer, let's hope it works. Thank you so much for this post! I'm learning a lot! I'm going to print it out, hi-light it and put it in my shopping binder. My husband will be thrilled to have more beef meals added to our meal plan!
Susanmarie in the Pacific Northwest