Filet Mignon substitute

Best substitute

Teres major (petite tender, shoulder tender)

Use the same amount by weight as the filet mignon you are replacing

Best for steak dinners

Close match

The best substitutes for filet mignon are a teres major, sometimes labelled petite tender or shoulder tender, which is almost as tender for a third of the price, a top sirloin or flat iron steak cut thick if you want a good steak dinner without the premium, or a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin medallion if beef is not an option. Filet mignon's job is texture, not flavour: it is buying softness, since it is one of the mildest cuts on the cow, so any substitute needs to be tender first and beefy second.

Other filet mignon substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Filet or medallions cut from a whole beef tenderloin
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Not a different cut, but usually a much cheaper way to buy the same one.
What changes
A whole tenderloin, sometimes sold as a peeled or unpeeled tender, costs significantly less per pound than pre-cut filets, and you slice your own two-inch steaks from the centre and use the tapered tail for stir fry or stroganoff. Identical flavour and texture, since it is literally the same muscle. The only cost is fifteen minutes of trimming and the need to freeze what you do not use.
Best for
cooking filet often, dinner parties, saving money without changing the cut
Tie each medallion with string so it holds its round shape in the pan.
3Top sirloin steak, cut thick
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The straightforward supermarket answer.
What changes
Ask for a two-inch-thick piece and you get something that looks like a filet on the plate and costs a fraction as much. It is much beefier in flavour and distinctly firmer and chewier, with a definite grain you notice when you cut it. That means it wants slicing across the grain rather than serving whole, and it must not go past 130F, since lean sirloin dries out fast. A red wine or peppercorn sauce closes most of the gap.
Best for
steak dinners on a budget, grilling, sauced steaks, anniversary dinner at home
Buy the thickest piece the counter will cut. Thin sirloin cannot imitate a filet at all.
4Flat iron steak (top blade)
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
One of the most tender cuts after the tenderloin, well marbled, and about a third of the price.
What changes
It is richer and more deeply beefy than filet, and softer than sirloin, so it splits the difference nicely. The shape works against you: flat irons are wide and thin rather than thick and round, so you cannot serve one as a tall medallion. Cook it two to three minutes a side and slice it across the grain into fanned strips, which plates beautifully in its own right.
Best for
pan-seared steak, sliced steak plates, steak salads, good value tenderness
Buy the version with the central gristle line already removed.
5Pork tenderloin medallions
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
The same muscle on a pig and, like beef tenderloin, exceptionally tender and very mild.
What changes
Cut it into inch-and-a-half medallions, press them lightly flat, and sear them, or wrap them in bacon as filet often is. Pork is sweeter and lighter and has no beef depth at all, so a peppercorn or bearnaise sauce that flatters filet tastes odd here. Switch to mustard cream, apple, or a mushroom and thyme sauce and it becomes an excellent dish. Cook to 145F and rest five minutes.
Best for
elegant weeknight dinners, very cheap tender medallions, mustard or apple sauces
Do not overcook. Pork tenderloin is as lean as beef filet and just as unforgiving past done.
6Beef tenderloin tail or chain, or a small ribeye
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Two honest fallbacks.
What changes
The tapered tail of the tenderloin is the same meat sold cheaper because it will not cut into neat rounds, and it is ideal for medallions or stroganoff. A small ribeye is the other direction entirely: far more marbled and richly flavoured, but noticeably chewier than filet, so someone who orders filet because they dislike chew and gristle will not be satisfied by it. Choose the tail for texture and the ribeye for flavour, and be clear which one you are after.
Best for
stroganoff and stir fry, medallions, flavour-forward steak dinners
There is no cut that is both as tender as filet and as cheap as chuck. Pick which quality matters.

What is Filet Mignon?

Filet Mignon is a thick round steak cut from the narrow end of the beef tenderloin, also sold as tenderloin steak, fillet steak or beef medallions, and bought for tenderness rather than for beefy flavour, because it comes from the least worked muscle on the animal.

Cooking tips

Filet and its tender substitutes are lean, so the fat has to come from the pan. Sear in a very hot skillet, then drop the heat, add butter, garlic and thyme, and spoon it over the steak for the last two minutes. This is the single technique that makes a home filet taste like a restaurant one.
Thickness is what makes a medallion behave like a filet. Anything less than an inch and a half will overcook in the centre before the crust forms. If your substitute is naturally thin, like flat iron or skirt, do not try to serve it whole. Sear it fast and slice it across the grain instead.
Use a thermometer rather than timing, because these cuts have a very narrow window. Pull at 125F for rare, 130F for medium-rare, 140F for medium, and rest five to ten minutes. Filet at well done is genuinely dry, since there is no marbling to protect it.
Tie each medallion around its circumference with kitchen string. Untied, they slump into an oval in the pan, which means the edges overcook while the centre lags behind, and the neat tall shape is half of why filet looks special.
Bacon wrapping is not just decoration on this cut. Filet and pork tenderloin have almost no fat of their own, and a strip of bacon or caul fat around the outside bastes the steak and adds the salt and savour the lean muscle lacks. Par-cook the bacon slightly first so it crisps in the time the steak needs.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest substitute for filet mignon that is still tender?

Teres major, also sold as petite tender or shoulder tender, at roughly a third of the price. It is the second most tender muscle on the animal and has more beef flavour than filet. Flat iron steak is the next best and easier to find. Both need to be bought from a proper butcher counter or a well-stocked market, since supermarkets often sell them under vaguer names like shoulder steak.

Is filet mignon the same as beef tenderloin?

Filet mignon is a steak cut from the tenderloin, specifically from the narrow tapered end, so they are the same muscle in different formats. A whole tenderloin roast is what you use for chateaubriand or beef Wellington, while filet mignon means individual round steaks. Buying a whole tenderloin and cutting your own steaks is usually much cheaper per pound than buying them pre-cut.

Can I use ribeye instead of filet mignon?

You can, and many people prefer it, but understand the trade. Ribeye has far more marbling, so it tastes richer and more strongly beefy and is more forgiving if you overcook it. It is also noticeably chewier, with pockets of fat and connective tissue. If the reason someone loves filet is that it is buttery soft with nothing to chew through, ribeye will not satisfy them. Teres major will.

Can I just leave the filet out?

In a steak dinner the filet is the dish, so no. If it appears as a component, in beef stroganoff, steak bites, or steak and mushroom pie, then any tender quick-cooking beef works, and thick-seared portobello mushrooms make a genuinely good vegetarian version because they are dense and meaty. Keep the sauce, since a peppercorn or red wine sauce is doing most of the flavour work anyway.

Why does filet mignon taste so mild?

Beef flavour comes largely from fat and from muscle that has done work, and the tenderloin does almost none, sitting protected along the spine. That is exactly why it is so tender and also why it tastes far less beefy than a ribeye or a strip. It is the reason filet is traditionally served with a sauce, wrapped in bacon, or topped with butter: those additions supply the savour the cut itself does not have.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Filet Mignon substitute

Other filet mignon substitutes

2Filet or medallions cut from a whole beef tenderloin

3Top sirloin steak, cut thick

4Flat iron steak (top blade)

5Pork tenderloin medallions

6Beef tenderloin tail or chain, or a small ribeye