The Absolute Best Cut Of Meat To Use For Steak Sandwiches

A steak sandwich is one of those ideas that sounds simple until you actually make one. It's just steak on bread, and steak is delicious, and putting meat between bread is amazing ... so how complicated could it be? Then you take your first bite and realize the error of your ways as you gnaw at a hunk of beef after accidentally pulling half of the meat from the sandwich. Turns out that steak is not something you normally bite clean through, and that makes preparing a sandwich a more delicate operation than grilling a filet you'd cut with a knife and fork. Thankfully, this can be rectified with a little preparation and the right choice of steak. So Tasting Table reached out to someone who really knows what they're talking about, Michelle Wallace, owner and founder of B'tween Sandwich Co., to ask her which cut to use for the best steak sandwiches.

Wallace is unequivocal in her answer, telling us: "The ribeye is the prime selection for a steak sandwich." Often considered the best cut for an actual steak, the ribeye's qualities translate perfectly to a sandwich as well. As Wallace explains, "It offers a big beef flavor and tenderness like no other cut." That texture is the real key, as ribeye's well-marbled meat stays soft and juicy with just a quick sear, letting your teeth bite right through it with ease. There's a reason thin-sliced ribeye is the choice for the Philly cheesesteak professionals.

The one downside to ribeye is that it's one of the most expensive cuts, but when you are making a steak sandwich a little goes a long way, and this is one recipe you don't want to cut corners on. Some people opt for flavorful, cheaper cuts like flank or skirt steak but Wallace disagrees. "I like to avoid the skirt steak for a steak sandwich. It is a lean but tough cut," she says. There are certainly ways to tenderize steak, like pounding it and scoring the surface, but Wallace warns that even with that effort, the cut is still too tough for a sandwich. She knows that with any steak that falls short of the ribeye's tenderness standard you're risking the worst. "It's not pleasant to bite into a steak sandwich and all of the meat is pulled out, creating a pile of ingredients on the plate," she notes. That's a big waste for a pricy ingredient.

If you do grab a ribeye for your lunch you still need to be careful with it. For a sandwich, ribeye needs to be cut thin and against the grain. This means locating the lines on your steak that indicate where the fibers run and slicing across them instead of with them. Even a ribeye needs a little help to make for easy chewing for the perfect steak sandwich experience.