Grilling, searing, roasting, and braising are typically the best cooking methods to choose from for achieving the best flavor from your beef. When you are slicing a steak, be sure to cut against the grain.  Slicing against the grain makes for a more tender and chewable bite. Give your meat a few minutes to rest before cutting to ensure optimal juiciness.  By exploring more underrated beef cuts, you open yourself up to a new, affordable ways to enjoy red meat. And once you master how to prepare these cuts, every week can be beef week.

Tri-Tip

The tri-tip,  is an auspicious, triangle-shaped cut of beef that comes from bottom portion of the sirloin. The tri-tip gained its notoriety from the California barbecue scene. The Santa Maria style of cooking this cut starts with a simple rub of garlic, salt and black pepper. The tri-tip tends to be juicy with a fatty exterior which forms a beautiful crust when smoked or grilled for about 40 minutes over red oak wood. The tri-tip is sliced and served with warm garlic bread, fresh salsa and pinquito beans.  ( A recipe for this will follow) Purist would argue that the flavor of the meat comes from the wood chips, so no need to fuss with the barbecue sauce.

Hanger Steak 

Hanger Steak might just be the most exciting pieces of beef to try on this list. It’s easily cooked in a cast-iron skillet with a quick and simple pan sear, and when paired with compound butter (recipe to follow) the notably rich and beefy flavor and juiciness shines. This cut comes from the plate primal section of the cow, which is considered the lower belly, making it a naturally tender cut. Though once a butcher’s best kept secret, hanger steak has grown in popularity in recent years and isn’t sold quite as cheap as it once was. It is usually less expensive than ribeye, and arguably packs a more sensual flavor and tenderness level.

Stew Meat 

When you want to pull out your slow cooker or Instant Pot, stew meat is the cheap “go-to” cut. Stew meat pieces generally come from the neck and shoulder sections of the animal. It tends to be cut and sold in roughly 1-inch chunks, making it easy jump right into the recipe. If preparing on the stovetop, the meat usually takes 1-2 hours of gentle simmering to become tender, and longer if you’re using the slow cooker. Therefore, you’re best bet with stew beef is to plan ahead and either make it a weekend meal prep move, cut the cook time with your Instant Pot or prep the meat and set the Crockpot in the morning before you head off to work, and allow it to slow-cook throughout the day. By time you come home, dinner will be ready to serve.

Chuck Roast

Some dishes are best when prepared in their most classic and traditional form. A classic Beef Pot Roast for Sunday Supper is always popular. The chuck roast is cut from shoulder blade of the cow and is readily available in the meat section of most grocery stores. It’s  one of those glorious set-it-and-forget cuts of meat that you can cook, largely hands-free in a slow cooker or Dutch oven. This works well in that Instant Pot you are starting to think about buying.

Chuck- Eye Steaks

Chuck Eye Steaks come from the same chuck primal section of a cow as the chuck roast, and is commonly known as Chuck Delmonico or the poor man’s steak given its affordability. This cut is well marbled and when prepared correctly, it’s succulent, and  decadent. Not to mention, when it’s salted prior to searing, the meat forms a glorious crispy crust. Always remember to bast as you cook, as this cut tends to dry out quickly if you don’t.

Cube Steak 

Cube steak is another classic, all-to-familiar cuts many of us remember from childhood, but forget to buy as an adult. This highly budget-friendly cut typically comes from the top round or top sirloin section of the cow and is pounded flat in order to tenderize the meat. The cube steak is best known for being breaded and fried to make an old-school country fried steak but is commonly served sautéed with onions and peppers, and can even used as an inexpensive swap for other steak cuts in dishes.  If you’re an imaginative cook who’s dedicated to saving a money on your grocery bill, the cube steak is your choice.

Flank Steak