Picanha substitute

Best substitute

Top Sirloin Cap or Coulotte (fat cap on)

Use the same amount by weight as the picanha you are replacing

Best for churrasco

Close match

The identical cut sold under its American names. Ask the butcher counter for sirloin cap, rump cap or coulotte and specify that you want the fat cap left intact.

Other picanha substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Tri-Tip
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The triangular bottom sirloin roast familiar from Santa Maria barbecue, similar in size, shape and beefy intensity.
What changes
Best for
grilling whole, churrasco-style dinners, roasting, slicing thin
The best real substitute. It has the same open, mineral, unmistakably beefy flavour and it grills on the same timeline. What changes: it is leaner with no fat cap, so nothing bastes it and it dries out fast past medium-rare, and its grain runs in two directions from the centre so you have to find the seam and slice each half separately. Season a little more generously.
3Top Sirloin Steak
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Thick-cut top sirloin, ideally with a fat edge left on one side.
What changes
Best for
skewers, weeknight grilling, pan searing, smaller portions
The same primal, a neighbouring muscle, easy to buy anywhere. Leaner and a little blander than the cap, and because the pieces are thinner they cook considerably faster, so watch them. Good for churrasco skewers where the meat is cut into chunks anyway. Ask for a piece with fat on the edge and score it, which gets you some of the basting effect.
4Whole Sirloin or Rump Roast
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
A whole rump or top sirloin roast, tied, grilled or roasted and then sliced thin.
What changes
Best for
feeding a crowd, roasting, rotisserie, sliced for sandwiches
Right family of flavour and about the right price, but it is a bigger, more uniform lump of lean muscle, so it needs tying to hold its shape and careful cooking to medium-rare or it turns chalky. Slice it thinly against the grain, which matters much more here than with the cap. Rest it a full 15 minutes.
5Flank or Skirt Steak
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Thin, open-grained, intensely beefy cuts often grilled at Brazilian and Argentine tables in their own right.
What changes
Best for
skewers, fast grilling, sliced very thin, sandwiches
The flavour intensity is right and arguably even stronger, but the texture is nothing like picanha: the grain is coarse and loose, so it eats chewy and stringy unless you slice it very thinly across the fibres. There is no fat cap to render, so it cooks in minutes over high heat. Treat it as a different good thing rather than a copy.
6Chuck Eye or Denver Steak
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Well-marbled shoulder cuts that stay tender and juicy without needing a fat cap.
What changes
Best for
pan searing, grilling, budget dinners, when tenderness matters most
The most forgiving option on this list because the fat is distributed through the meat rather than sitting on top. That is also why it is the least like picanha: it tastes richer and more buttery and less mineral, and there is no crisp rendered fat layer to slice through, which is a large part of the appeal.

What is Picanha?

Picanha is Picanha is the triangular cap muscle that sits on top of the rump, sold with its thick layer of fat still attached, and it is the signature cut of Brazilian churrasco.

Cooking tips

Do not trim the fat cap thin. A quarter inch or a little more is the target, and that layer is where the flavour comes from as it renders down over the meat.
Score the fat in a shallow crosshatch, cutting into the fat but not through to the meat. Unscored fat shrinks and curls as it heats and lifts the meat off the grill.
Coarse salt alone is the traditional seasoning and it is the right call. The cut has plenty of its own flavour, and sugary or paprika-heavy rubs scorch over live fire.
For proper churrasco, cut the whole cap into strips about two inches thick running with the grain, bend each strip into a C on a skewer with the fat facing out, then slice each cooked piece thinly across the grain to serve. Cutting the raw cap into steaks across the grain gives a much chewier result.
Start fat side down over moderate heat to render, then move it to high heat to sear the meat side. Putting the fat directly over flame first means dripping fat, flames and a burnt cap.
Pull it at 130 to 135F for medium-rare and rest it 10 minutes. Picanha turns dry and faintly livery past medium, and a lean substitute like tri-tip is even less forgiving.
A whole cap runs roughly 2.5 to 3 pounds and feeds four to six people, which is useful when a recipe gives you a number of steaks instead of a weight.

Frequently asked questions

What is picanha called in the United States?

Top sirloin cap, sirloin cap, rump cap or coulotte, depending on the butcher. It is the biceps femoris muscle that caps the top of the rump. Most American butchers historically broke it down into sirloin steaks rather than selling it whole, which is why it is hard to find on a shelf even though every cow has two of them. Ask at a butcher counter for sirloin cap with the fat cap on and you will usually get it, sometimes cheaply.

Is tri-tip the same as picanha?

No, though it is the closest common substitute. Tri-tip comes from the bottom sirloin and picanha from the top of the rump, and while both are triangular and beefy, tri-tip has no fat cap. That difference matters more than it sounds: the cap self-bastes the meat and gives you a layer of crisp rendered fat to eat with each slice. Tri-tip grills the same way and tastes excellent, it just needs pulling at medium-rare because nothing is protecting it.

Can I use sirloin steak instead of picanha?

Yes, especially for skewers, since it is the same primal and shares much of the flavour. It is leaner, so it cooks faster and dries out sooner, and it lacks the fat layer entirely. Buy the thickest cut you can find, ask for a piece with fat left on one edge, score that edge, and cook to no more than medium-rare. It is a good dinner and a slightly plainer one.

Do I have to keep the fat cap on?

If you want picanha, yes. The cap is not trim, it is the reason the cut exists: as it renders it bastes the lean muscle underneath, and the crisp browned fat on each slice is a large part of what people are describing when they say picanha tastes better than sirloin. Trimming it leaves you with a plain sirloin roast. If you are avoiding fat, you can trim it after cooking, which keeps the benefit.

Can I cook picanha in an air fryer?

Yes, and it works well for a piece up to about a pound and a half. Score and salt the cap, cook it fat side up at around 400F so the rendering fat runs down over the meat, and start checking the internal temperature at 20 minutes, pulling at 130 to 135F for medium-rare. Rest 10 minutes before slicing. Expect a nicely rendered cap but not the char you get from live fire, so finish it a minute a side in a hot dry skillet if you want browning.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Picanha substitute

Other picanha substitutes

2Tri-Tip

3Top Sirloin Steak

4Whole Sirloin or Rump Roast

5Flank or Skirt Steak

6Chuck Eye or Denver Steak