You don’t have to tuck away that steak for a special occasion because it’s an expensive ingredient. Sure, I bet you can think of plenty of costly steaks around. You know the ones that are very tender while being forgiving when cooking. But these aren’t your only options. You can also get some budget-friendly steak cuts to whip up for your family. Read more below….

The best budget beef cuts often come from the shank, flank, round, plate, or chuck of the cow. Though tougher, these beef cuts can easily be turned into tender, juicy, and tasty beef dishes with proper cooking techniques.

The cuts of steak I list below often don’t have the beautiful marbling or melt-in-your-mouth tenderness that some of the expensive cuts provide, but they don’t have to be dry or flavorless either. Instead, cooked correctly, these steaks can be amazing and something you and your family will learn to love.

4 Ways I Can Make a Budget-Friendly Steak Taste Even Better

Marinate

The three steaks on this list aren’t all that tender when cooked directly. I’ve cooked all of them the same way as I would a more expensive tender cut of meat and it works too, but I know I can use these steaks even more if marinating first, which helps to break down some of the fibers within the steak, making it more tender.

Meat Mallet

Meat tenderizing methods like a meat mallet helps make it more tender by breaking down the fibers. The spiky side is for tenderizing by physically breaking down dense tissue and fibers of the meat. The flat side is for pounding to make it thinner but not necessarily alter the texture. This will help turn tougher cuts of steak into great cuts of steak.

Use Plenty Of Butter

Cooking your steak in a ton of butter always helps it along. Try spooning the melted butter over the steak as you’re cooking it. This butter bath simply adds to the steak’s flavor, giving it much more complexity.

You can compliment with not only Herbed butter, but other spices as well.

Don’t Cook It Well Done

Most budget-friendly steaks are best when cooked to medium rare or even medium. Cooking it beyond this point can easily ruin the steak, giving you very chewy meat that isn’t tasty at all.

I grew up with well done steak and I hated steak (it was up there on the most hated dinner list along with Hamburger Helper night) until I had a medium rare and medium steak and my life changed. My kids have had a different experience, they love steak.

If you want a well done steak, you’ll need a cut with a decent amount of fat. Most of those are more expensive than the ones I cover here.

One or more of these steaks is usually found in one of our handcrafted beef boxes. Grab one today by clicking HERE to make a budget-friendly steak for multiple mouthwatering dishes your family will love.

Enjoy!

Tessa

PS: Monthly Beef Subscriptions Open Up Again in April 2024 – plan on joining.