The Underrated Cut Of Pork You Should Be Using For Steak

If you're looking for an alternative to steak — as in beef — whether to save money or simply to change things up, look to another popular meat choice: pork shoulder. It's not just a great cut of meat for making pulled pork; when broken down into steaks, it's a good substitute for well-known beef cuts such as ribeye, New York strip, and T-bone.

As the name suggests, pork shoulder steak (sometimes known as Boston butt or pork blade steak) comes from the pig's shoulder area. It's nicely marbled and offers a lot of the same things most popular steak cuts do: Rich flavor, juiciness, and, if cooked right, tenderness. Like steak, it can be grilled, pan-seared, or reverse-seared in an oven before it's finished on the stove or grill. Just be careful not to overcook pork shoulder steaks as they can become chewy; just one of several mistakes ruining your pork.

Pork shoulder steak can come bone-in, comparable to a T-bone. In the Midwest, this bone-in version is typically called pork blade steak, and it has a long history as a St. Louis, Missouri, staple for summer barbecues. The boneless version is closer to a ribeye. Besides being well-marbled throughout, some pork shoulder steak includes a strip of fat along the edge, similar to a New York strip. If skirt steak is your thing, a thinner-cut pork shoulder steak that's marinated and grilled is a great substitute in dishes such as fajitas. If you're looking for a dupe for filet mignon, though, this isn't a great option.

The best part of substituting pork shoulder steak for beef may be that pork shoulder steak is much cheaper than most popular steak cuts, including ribeyes, New York strips, and T-bones. As an example, one online retailer, U.S. Wellness Meats, offers its pasture-raised pork shoulder steak for about $15 a pound; that's half the price of its grass-fed ribeye and T-bone steak. You're likely to find pork shoulder steak for even cheaper if you're getting conventional meat at the grocery store. So, next time you're hankering for a steak but living on a tight budget, try a pork shoulder steak for a less-expensive yet wholly satisfying option.