Ribeye Steak substitute
Chuck eye steak (poor man's ribeye)
Use the same amount by weight as the ribeye steak you are replacing
The best cheaper substitutes for ribeye are chuck eye steak, sometimes called poor man's ribeye, and flat iron steak, both at 1:1 by weight. For a thicker steak served whole, top sirloin or New York strip work well. The job ribeye does is fat: its heavy intramuscular marbling melts as it cooks, which is what makes it juicy, rich and unusually forgiving if you overshoot the temperature. Leaner substitutes taste beefier but drier, so add butter or a pan sauce and be stricter about pulling them at medium-rare.
Other ribeye steak substitutes
Ranked, with the exact amount to use
Substitutes for Ribeye Steak with ratios
2New York strip (striploin, sirloin steak in the UK)
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- a steak served whole on the plate, pan-searing, grilling, steak with a pan sauce
The best substitute if you want the same steakhouse experience. It is a little leaner and firmer, so it has more chew and a cleaner, slightly more mineral beef flavor rather than ribeye's buttery richness, and less fat renders into the pan. It is also less forgiving, so pull it at 130 F. Score the fat cap so the steak does not curl as it cooks.
3Flat iron steak (top blade, oyster blade)
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- grilling, pan-searing, sliced steak, steak salad, tacos, weeknight cooking
Remarkably tender for the price, with a faintly mineral shoulder flavor. It is much leaner than ribeye, so the mouthfeel is noticeably less rich and there is no pool of rendered fat, and it dries out faster past medium. Finish it with a knob of butter or a spoonful of chimichurri and it eats very well. It is thinner too, so cut the cooking time.
4Top sirloin steak
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- weeknight steak, grilling, steak and potatoes, kebabs, steak salad
Considerably leaner, so it tastes cleaner and firmer and feels much less indulgent, and it will go dry if you take it past medium. It is the most reliable and cheapest of the whole-steak options. To bring it closer, baste it with butter in the pan for the last minute and let it rest under a compound butter so some fat gets back into the picture.
5Ribeye cap (spinalis dorsi) or Denver steak
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- special occasions, grilling, rolled and skewered steak, pan-searing
The ribeye cap is the outer crescent of the ribeye and is richer and more tender than the whole steak, so if a butcher sells it, it is an upgrade rather than a compromise. Denver steak is a marbled shoulder cut that comes surprisingly close to ribeye's richness at a much lower price, though it is slightly firmer and needs careful cross-grain slicing.
6Beef tenderloin or filet mignon
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- special occasions, steak served with a rich sauce, guests who dislike fat
Far more tender, almost soft, but much leaner and considerably milder, so it delivers the opposite of what a ribeye lover wants: texture instead of flavor. It is usually just as expensive or more. Wrap it in bacon, sear it in butter or serve it with a peppercorn or bearnaise sauce, because on its own it can taste flat next to a ribeye.
7Skirt or flank steak (only when the steak gets sliced)
Different textureWhat changes
- Best for
- tacos and fajitas, steak sandwiches, stir-fry, marinated grilled beef, steak salad
Honest limitation first: these cannot replace a thick ribeye served whole, because they are thin, chewier and only good sliced. Where the beef ends up in strips, though, they are arguably better, since skirt in particular is more intensely beefy than ribeye and takes a marinade far better. Cook two to three minutes a side and slice thin, hard across the grain.
What is Ribeye Steak?
Ribeye Steak is a heavily marbled steak cut from the rib section of the steer, sold as rib eye, Scotch fillet in Australia and New Zealand, entrecote in France and Spencer steak or Delmonico in some American shops, whose seams of internal fat are what keep it rich and juicy under high, fast heat.
Cooking tips
- Ribeye is forgiving because its fat keeps it moist, and every substitute here is leaner, which means the thermometer suddenly matters. Pull leaner steaks at 130 F for medium-rare rather than the 135 F you might get away with on a ribeye.
- Fat is flavor, so if you are trading down in marbling, add fat back deliberately. Baste the steak with butter, garlic and thyme in the last minute of cooking, or rest it under a slice of compound butter that melts into the meat.
- Get the pan much hotter than feels comfortable and dry the steak thoroughly first. A ribeye's rendering fat helps it brown almost by accident; a lean sirloin or flat iron only browns if the surface is dry and the heat is high.
- Ribeye's fat cap and the seam of fat through its centre need heat to render or they stay unpleasantly waxy. Stand the steak on its fat edge for a minute at the start. Leaner substitutes do not need this, which is one less thing to manage.
- Rest every steak on this list for five minutes, then slice across the grain. On a ribeye you can serve it whole and it will still be tender, but chuck eye, flat iron, skirt and flank all improve dramatically from being cut at right angles to the fibres.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest steak that tastes most like a ribeye?
Can I just leave the steak out?
Is ribeye the same as Scotch fillet, entrecote or Delmonico?
Can I use chuck roast or round steak instead of ribeye?
Why does my substitute steak taste dry when the ribeye never does?
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