Hanger Steak substitute

Best substitute

Skirt steak

Use the same amount by weight as the hanger steak you are replacing

Best for steak frites

Different texture

The best substitutes for hanger steak are skirt steak or flat iron steak at 1:1 by weight, with flank steak as the easiest supermarket option. The job hanger steak does is deliver the most intense, mineral, almost bloody beef flavor on the animal in a cut that is still tender enough to eat at medium-rare, which is why bistros build steak frites around it. Any substitute needs to be a fast-searing cut sliced across the grain, and if flavor intensity is the point, skirt steak gets closest.

Other hanger steak substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Flat iron steak (top blade, oyster blade)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
A tender, evenly shaped shoulder steak that is easier to find and usually cheaper than hanger.
What changes
Best for
pan-searing, steak with a pan sauce, grilling, a steak served whole
The best match for hanger's tenderness, and it shares a faint iron-like undertone, though it is milder and less dramatic overall. Where hanger tastes almost aggressively beefy, flat iron is polite. It is a neater rectangle, so it looks better on a plate and slices more evenly. Cook it hot and fast to 130 to 135 F. This is the swap for someone who wants reliability over drama.
3Flank steak
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
A wide flat steak from the belly wall, stocked in essentially every supermarket.
What changes
Best for
feeding a group, sliced steak platters, stir-fry, marinated grilled beef, sandwiches
Solidly beefy but noticeably leaner and less rich than hanger, and the grain is coarse enough that slicing technique becomes critical rather than merely helpful. It is unforgiving past medium-rare, going stringy quickly. Its advantage is size: one flank feeds four, where hanger steaks are small. Marinate it for a couple of hours to make up some of the lost richness.
4Sirloin steak or top sirloin
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
A thicker, leaner, conventional steak that is available everywhere at a moderate price.
What changes
Best for
steak served whole with a sauce, pan-searing in butter, grilling, steak salads
Cleaner and considerably milder, with none of hanger's mineral edge, and firmer in the mouth rather than loose and juicy. It is the least exciting swap on the list and the most reliably available. Because it is often an inch or more thick, cook it several minutes longer than the recipe suggests and go by internal temperature. A pan sauce with shallots and butter closes much of the gap.
5Ribeye steak
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The rich, heavily marbled premium option, for when price is not the constraint.
What changes
Best for
special occasions, pan-searing, grilling, steak with compound butter
More marbled and much richer, so the plate tastes fattier and more indulgent rather than mineral and lean. It is far more forgiving of overcooking than hanger, since the marbling keeps it juicy. What you lose is the specific savoury intensity that makes onglet worth ordering, and what you pay is often double. A genuine upgrade in luxury, a sidestep in character.
6Beef heart, sliced and seared (unconventional but honest)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Worth mentioning because it is cheap, widely available and closer to hanger's mineral character than any ordinary steak.
What changes
Best for
chimichurri, skewers, very high-heat searing, adventurous cooks
Leaner and firmer than hanger with a much stronger iron and offal note, so it tastes like hanger steak turned up loud. Trim all silverskin and fat, slice half an inch thick across the fibres, and sear hard for a minute or two a side, stopping at rare to medium-rare, because it turns rubbery if overcooked. Not a match for everyone, but it is the only cheap cut that hits that flavor register.

What is Hanger Steak?

Hanger Steak is Hanger steak is a single thick strip of muscle that hangs from the steer's diaphragm, known in French cooking as onglet and to butchers as the hanging tender or butcher's steak.

Cooking tips

A whole hanger steak has a tough band of silverskin running down its centre that never softens. Cut it out and cook the two lobes separately. If your substitute is hanger-adjacent, like a hanging tender you were sold whole, do the same before you season it.
Hanger is thicker than skirt and thinner than sirloin, so no timing rule survives substitution. Sear over the highest heat you have, then check with an instant-read thermometer and pull at 130 F for medium-rare. Any of these cuts is at its worst past medium.
Because hanger and skirt are the most flavorful cuts here, they need the least help. Coarse salt, pepper and a hot pan is the classic bistro treatment, and a squeeze of lemon or a spoon of chimichurri at the end does more than any marinade.
The grain in hanger and skirt runs across the narrow width of the strip, not along its length. Look at the cooked steak, find the direction the fibres run, and cut at right angles to them in slices no thicker than a pencil.
Rest for five minutes only. These are thin cuts, and a long rest lets them cool to lukewarm without improving them. Slice, then spoon the resting juices back over the meat.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave it out?

No, the steak is the dish. But you are free to buy whatever tender fast-cooking cut your shop has, cook it hot and fast, and slice it thin across the grain. That combination, not the specific name on the label, is what makes a hanger steak recipe work.

Why is hanger steak so hard to buy?

There is only one hanger steak per animal, weighing a pound or two, so supply is genuinely tiny. Butchers historically kept it for themselves, which is where the name butcher's steak comes from, and restaurants now buy most of what reaches the market. Asking for onglet or hanging tender sometimes gets a different answer than asking for hanger.

Is hanger steak the same as skirt steak or flank steak?

No, though hanger and skirt are close relatives from the diaphragm area and taste similar. Hanger is a thick single strip, skirt is long and thin with a loose grain, and flank comes from the belly wall and is leaner and coarser. In most recipes they are interchangeable if you adjust cooking time.

What is the cheapest substitute for hanger steak?

Flank steak in most American supermarkets, or chuck eye steak if your store carries it. Skirt steak used to be the bargain option but has risen in price as fajitas and carne asada made it popular, so check both before you decide.

Can I use a slow cooker or braise a hanger steak substitute?

No. Hanger, skirt, flank and flat iron are all tender cuts with little collagen, and long moist cooking squeezes them dry and stringy rather than making them silky. If braising is what you want to do, buy chuck or short ribs instead and let them go for three hours.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Hanger Steak substitute

Other hanger steak substitutes

2Flat iron steak (top blade, oyster blade)

3Flank steak

4Sirloin steak or top sirloin

5Ribeye steak

6Beef heart, sliced and seared (unconventional but honest)