What Is The Eye Of Round Steak?

In an era of high beef prices, you might consider looking at the many more affordable cuts of steak at the supermarket. In doing so, you are bound to stumble on eye of round steak. It's not a cut that gets much attention, as it's not nearly as desirable as something like ribeye or even sirloin steaks, which accounts for its low price. And that cost makes it an attractive alternative; even after recent inflation, you can find eye of round for under $8 a pound, which puts in on part with ground beef as some of the cheapest beef you can get. So what do you actually make with an eye of round steak?

Eye of round comes from the larger round primal cut of the cow, which is the rear and rump section, which also produces the top round and bottom round. It's perhaps the leanest part of a tough section: The eye of round is a subsection of the bottom round, which is also sometimes called the outside round, because it's near the exterior of the leg, and is even tougher than the rest of that cut. Eye of round is often sold as a roast like the rump roast, but it can also be broken down into steaks.

While you can slice eye of round steaks, or find them pre-cut, one of the best ways to cook an eye of round involves roasting and then slicing it. Because eye of round is both lean and tough, it does best with low, slow cooking methods that give the muscle fibers a chance to break down and make the meat more tender, such as roasting or braising it, like this German-style pot roast with beer gravy. Just make sure it's only cooked to rare or medium rare so it doesn't dry out, and be sure to slice it thin when served to make it easier to cut and chew.

If you're working with smaller eye of round steaks, they should be tenderized by pounding and ideally marinated to keep them juicy, and then seared or grilled to nothing more than medium rare. Even better, you can compensate for eye of round's leanness by making braised steaks, like an easy swiss steak, which will help keep everything moist and juicy and tenderize the beef as it simmers. Finally, eye of round can also be cubed into lean stew meat. It may not be the best steak cut, but there are still plenty of ways to turn eye of round steak into a delicious and satisfying dinner.