The Affordable Meat Swap For Just-As-Good Beef Tips
Whether you're making traditional beef tips or you're looking for some to make other dishes like saucy teriyaki beef and noodles, you're probably in the market for the best cut of meat for beef tips. Typically created from cuts of sirloin or tri-tip scraps, you may be looking for more affordable cuts of meat to get yours from. To find out which cuts work best, Food Republic spoke to Maricel Gentile, chef and owner of Maricel's Kitchen and author of "Maricel's Simply Asian Cookbook."
According to Gentile, grabbing a package of stew beef — which is typically cubed or diced cuts of beef like chuck or round — is an affordable way to make beef tips without breaking the bank. "It works well because the pieces are sized for even cooking," she said. This is particularly helpful in recipes where you're using beef tips since you want them to brown evenly, which Gentile says is a technique that will help build flavor before simmering them low and slow. "Add aromatics early, and finish with seasoning at the end once the beef has softened," Gentile recommended. "That's how you turn a budget cut into something luxurious."
More tips for choosing the best stew beef
When you're shopping in the meat section for beef tips, it's important to look for tell-tale signs of quality product, according to Maricel Gentile. For example, checking for good marbling, which is the fat content, can help you determine how tender a piece of beef is — and it is a surefire way to ensure you're getting some melt-in-your-mouth stew beef. This is the same technique you would use to find the perfect steak at the store.
While you may see a bunch of packages in one section, take care not to just pick up the first one you see and toss it in your cart. "Not all stew beef is the same," Gentile warned. "Some are trimmed too lean or too small, which can make them dry out." To help determine whether or not yours will work, she suggested checking with the butcher to find out which part of the cow the stew beef was cut from. "If it's chuck, that's a good sign," Gentile said. "You want some fat and a bit of sinew, it may look less 'clean,' but it'll cook up beautifully." Additionally, if your store doesn't carry stew beef, you can also grab a chuck roast and cut it yourself (this will also help you save even more money). Then just cube the meat into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces before carrying on with your recipe.