Eye of Round substitute

Best substitute

Top round roast

Use the same amount by weight as the eye of round you are replacing

Best for roast beef

Close match

The largest muscle of the same rear leg, sold as topside in Britain and inside round in Canada.

Other eye of round substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Bottom round or sirloin tip roast
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The outside of the same leg, sold as silverside or outside round, plus the sirloin tip just above it.
What changes
Best for
roast beef, pot roast, jerky, sliced beef, braciole
Nearly identical in leanness and price. Bottom round has a distinctly coarser grain, so it eats a little chewier and cross-grain slicing matters even more. Sirloin tip is a step more tender than either and slightly more expensive. Neither changes the method: rare and thinly sliced, or braised for three hours, with nothing good in between.
3Top sirloin roast
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
A more forgiving roast with real marbling, for a moderate increase in cost.
What changes
Best for
roast beef served rare, sliced beef for a crowd, cooks without a thermometer, steak salads
The obvious upgrade. It is juicier, more tender and much richer tasting, and because there is fat inside the muscle it still eats well at 140 F where eye of round is already dry. If you have overcooked eye of round before and been disappointed, this is the fix. It is not a jerky cut, since the fat spoils in dried meat.
4Beef tenderloin (for a premium rare roast)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
The other long cylindrical roast in the animal, and structurally the closest shape match to eye of round.
What changes
Best for
special occasion rare roast beef, carpaccio, beef Wellington style dishes, cold sliced beef
Similar shape and similar leanness but incomparably more tender, buttery rather than firm in the mouth, and much milder in flavor, so a big peppery crust or horseradish suits it well. It also cooks considerably faster, so check it early. The obvious cost is price, often five times eye of round, and you lose the deep beefy flavor round cuts have.
5Chuck roast (for slow-cooked recipes only)
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
A collagen-rich shoulder cut, and the right answer whenever the eye of round was destined for long moist cooking.
What changes
Best for
pot roast, slow-cooker beef, shredded beef, stew, beef and gravy
In a slow cooker chuck is not a compromise, it is much better: its connective tissue melts into gelatin and the meat goes silky and moist, where eye of round comes out shreddable but distinctly dry and the gravy stays thin. It cannot replace eye of round for a rare roast, deli slices or jerky, because it neither carves cleanly nor dries well.
6Rump roast
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The cut just above the round, and a common budget roast in both American and British shops.
What changes
Best for
pot roast, roast beef, shredded beef sandwiches, slow-cooker dinners
A little fattier and slightly more forgiving than eye of round, so it stays moister in a pot roast and shreds more willingly. Roasted rare, the results are close, though the shape is less regular so slices vary in size. A sensible middle option if you cannot decide between round for slicing and chuck for braising.

What is Eye of Round?

Eye of Round is Eye of round, also called eye round roast or eye of the round, is the small, tight, almost perfectly cylindrical muscle buried inside the steer's rear leg, and it is the leanest roast in the beef case.

Cooking tips

Eye of round has no marbling to protect it, so the entire recipe is one number: pull it at 130 to 135 F for medium-rare. Ten degrees past that and it is dry and faintly livery, and no resting or sauce will rescue it.
Reverse-sear is the method this cut was made for. Roast at 225 to 250 F until the centre hits 125 F, rest it, then sear the outside in a rippingly hot pan or a 500 F oven for a few minutes. The gentle first stage keeps almost the whole interior pink instead of ringed with grey.
Salt it heavily all over and leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge for twelve to twenty-four hours. On a cut this lean, dry brining is the difference between a good roast and a dry one, and it dries the surface so it browns properly.
Slice it paper-thin, across the grain, and use a long sharp knife. Thin slicing is not a garnish here, it is how a tough lean cut becomes tender in the mouth, which is why deli roast beef is shaved rather than carved.
Eye of round is the classic jerky and bresaola cut precisely because there is almost no fat in it to go rancid. Freeze it for an hour before slicing so you can get clean quarter-inch cuts.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave it out?

No, it is the main protein. But it is among the easiest cuts to substitute, because its only job is to be a large lean piece of beef. Any roast from the round, rump or sirloin will do, and for anything slow-cooked, chuck will do better.

What is the difference between eye of round, top round and bottom round?

All three come from the rear leg. Top round, or topside, is the biggest and most tender and slices widest. Bottom round, or silverside, is coarser and a bit tougher. Eye of round is the small tight cylinder between them, the leanest and least forgiving but the neatest to slice. They swap for each other freely.

Why did my eye of round turn out dry and tough?

Almost certainly it went past medium-rare, or it was sliced thickly or with the grain. With essentially no intramuscular fat there is nothing to keep it moist, so 145 F reads as dry. Cook to 130 to 135 F, rest fifteen minutes, and slice as thin as you can across the fibres.

Can I use eye of round for pot roast or stew?

You can, but it is the wrong tool. It has little connective tissue, so hours of braising squeeze it dry and stringy instead of melting it into something silky, and the gravy stays thin because nothing dissolved into it. Buy chuck for those recipes and save the round for roasting rare.

What is the cheapest good substitute for eye of round?

Bottom round or top round, both usually within a few cents per pound of eye of round and slightly easier to cook well. If you are pot roasting rather than roasting, chuck roast is often no more expensive and will give a much better result.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Eye of Round substitute

Other eye of round substitutes

2Bottom round or sirloin tip roast

3Top sirloin roast

4Beef tenderloin (for a premium rare roast)

5Chuck roast (for slow-cooked recipes only)

6Rump roast