Red meat can form part of a perfectly healthy and nutritious diet. If you are watching your weight, trying to build muscle, or just interested in maintaining good health, leaner beef cuts are an excellent choice to include in your eating plan. The cuts that are most renowned for their flavor are usually those with a higher percentage of fat. However, lean beef cuts are actually very flavourful, so there is no need to sacrifice taste in favor of health – choose the right steak, and you can have both.
Check the nutrition labels for beef
If you want to know which cuts of beef are the leanest, you can ask your butcher or pay close attention to nutrition labels. Meat cuts are classified as lean or extra lean, depending on their fat and cholesterol content. Lean cuts are those in which a 3.5-ounce serving contains less than 10 grams of fat, no more than 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol. For a cut to be classified as extra lean, it must contain less than 5 grams of fat, less than 2 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol.
Selecting cuts of beef
Of the many cuts of beef available, a few have been identified as being able to qualify as lean or extra lean. The leanest beef cuts are sirloin tip side steak, top round roast and steak, bottom round, roast and steak, top sirloin and eye of round roast and steak.
Sirloin tip side steak
Sirloin tip side steak comes from the part of the animal referred to as the round. Because the muscle here is exercised frequently for movement, less fat collects there, making the beef leaner and slightly less tender. Sirloin tip side is often used for roasts as well as steaks, and it is good for grilling, oven roasting, broiling, skillet frying and braising. The average sirloin tip side (about 85 grams cooked weight) contains 1.6% saturated fat (10%) and 24 grams of protein (48%).
Top sirloin steak
Top sirloin is cut from the primal loin or subprimal sirloin. These steaks differ from sirloin in that the bone has been removed, together with the bottom round muscles. They are great for grilling, but are also good for skillet cooking, broiling and stir-frying. An 85-gram top sirloin steak contains about 1.9g of fat, and is exceptionally high in protein – 26g or 52%.
Find the best selection of beef at Chophouse Steaks
At Chophouse Steaks, you will find some of the best cuts of beef in Canada, whether you choose lean beef cuts or not. We stock high-quality Brant Lake Canadian Wagyu, as well as authentic Japanese Wagyu. We are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but we ship to most parts of the country. Browse our online store or contact us for more information.
If you are looking for quality striploin steak, select your cuts from Chophouse Steaks. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, We ship to most parts of Canada. Try our Brant Lake Canadian Wagyu or authentic Japanese Wagyu strip loin steaks. We select our beef from the top 2% of the hard or better, giving you steakhouse quality, guaranteed. Take a look at our online store or contact us for more information.
