🔪 Meat Cut Selector
Browse 30 common cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. Filter by animal, cooking method, tenderness, and budget to find the right cut — and how it's best cooked.
🔪 30 cuts match
Richly marbled and forgiving — the marbling bastes it as it cooks. A high-heat sear cut.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Grill, Sous-vide
Classic dishes: Ribeye steak, Rib roast, Tomahawk
The most tender cut of all, but lean and mild — don't overcook it; a sauce or bacon wrap adds richness.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Grill, Roast, Sous-vide
Classic dishes: Filet steak, Beef Wellington, Chateaubriand
Also called striploin or sirloin steak in the UK. Firm, beefy, and well balanced between tender and flavourful.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Grill, Sous-vide
Classic dishes: Strip steak, Kansas City steak
Leaner and cheaper than the loin steaks, with good flavour. Don't take it past medium or it toughens.
Best cooked: Grill, Pan-sear, Roast
Classic dishes: Sirloin steak, Kebabs, Steak salad
Lean and grainy — marinate, cook hot and fast to medium-rare, and slice thinly against the grain.
Best cooked: Grill, Pan-sear
Classic dishes: Fajitas, Stir-fry, London broil
Loose, beefy fibres that drink up a marinade. Sear hard and fast, then slice across the grain.
Best cooked: Grill, Pan-sear
Classic dishes: Fajitas, Carne asada, Steak tacos
Collagen-rich and unforgiving of shortcuts — hours of low, slow heat turn it meltingly tender.
Best cooked: Smoke, Braise, Slow-roast
Classic dishes: Smoked brisket, Pastrami, Pot roast, Salt beef
The workhorse braising cut: cheap, deeply flavoured, and packed with connective tissue that melts to gelatin.
Best cooked: Braise, Stew, Slow-roast
Classic dishes: Pot roast, Beef stew, Ground beef / burgers
Meaty ribs with abundant marbling and collagen — braise until the meat falls from the bone.
Best cooked: Braise, Slow-roast, Smoke
Classic dishes: Braised short ribs, Korean galbi, Bourguignon
Sinewy and gelatin-rich around the marrow bone — long, wet cooking gives an unctuous, sticky result.
Best cooked: Braise, Stew
Classic dishes: Osso buco, Beef shin stew, Bone broth
Bony and rich — slow braising renders a glossy, deeply savoury sauce full of gelatin.
Best cooked: Braise, Stew
Classic dishes: Oxtail stew, Jamaican oxtail, Kare-kare
Alternating fat and meat. Slow-roast for crackling on top and silky fat below, or braise until spoonable.
Best cooked: Slow-roast, Braise, Roast
Classic dishes: Crispy pork belly, Bacon, Char siu, Braised belly
The king of low-and-slow pork: cheap, fatty, and forgiving, shredding effortlessly after long cooking.
Best cooked: Slow-roast, Braise, Smoke
Classic dishes: Pulled pork, Carnitas, Ragù, Roast shoulder
Large and lean — easy to dry out, so roast to 145°F and rest. Not to be confused with the smaller tenderloin.
Best cooked: Roast, Pan-sear
Classic dishes: Roast pork loin, Porchetta, Pork roast dinner
The most tender pork cut, small and quick-cooking. Sear then finish in the oven; cook to 145°F, not beyond.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Roast, Grill
Classic dishes: Pork medallions, Roast tenderloin, Schnitzel
Bone-in stays juicier than boneless. Brining helps; pull at 145°F and rest for pink, tender meat.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Grill, Roast
Classic dishes: Pan-fried pork chops, Grilled chops, Smothered chops
Leaner and shorter than spare ribs, from up near the backbone. Low and slow until tender but not mushy.
Best cooked: Slow-roast, Smoke, Braise
Classic dishes: Barbecue ribs, Oven-baked ribs, Sticky ribs
Bigger, fattier, and meatier than baby backs — more forgiving over long cooks and deeply flavoured.
Best cooked: Smoke, Slow-roast, Braise
Classic dishes: St. Louis ribs, Chinese spare ribs, Barbecue ribs
Smoky, gelatinous, and cheap — simmered low it enriches soups, beans, and stocks with body and salt.
Best cooked: Braise, Stew, Smoke
Classic dishes: Split pea soup, Collard greens, Ham stock, Bigos
Little T-bones of lamb — tender and quick. Sear hard for a crust and keep the centre pink.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Grill, Roast
Classic dishes: Lamb chops, Barnsley chop, Grilled chops
An elegant roast — sear then roast to medium-rare, rest, and carve into cutlets. Don't overcook.
Best cooked: Roast, Pan-sear
Classic dishes: Roast rack, Herb-crusted lamb, Lamb lollipops
The classic Sunday roast. Roast on the bone for flavour, or butterfly and grill. Great with garlic and rosemary.
Best cooked: Roast, Braise, Grill
Classic dishes: Roast leg of lamb, Gigot, Butterflied grilled lamb
Fattier and cheaper than the leg, and better for long, slow cooking that shreds it into tender, juicy meat.
Best cooked: Slow-roast, Braise, Stew
Classic dishes: Slow-roast shoulder, Lamb curry, Rogan josh, Kleftiko
One per person, on the bone — braise for hours until the meat slides off and the sauce turns glossy.
Best cooked: Braise, Stew
Classic dishes: Braised lamb shanks, Lamb tagine, Osso buco style
Lean and mild, and easy to overcook. Pound thin or brine, cook to 165°F, and rest. Skin-on stays juicier.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Roast, Grill, Poach
Classic dishes: Grilled chicken, Chicken cutlets, Chicken parmigiana
Darker, richer, and far more forgiving than breast — hard to dry out and full of flavour, whether braised or crisped.
Best cooked: Braise, Roast, Pan-sear, Grill, Stew
Classic dishes: Chicken curry, Braised thighs, Coq au vin, Chicken adobo
Lots of skin and connective tissue — cook hot for crisp skin, or low and slow before a final blast.
Best cooked: Roast, Fry, Smoke, Grill
Classic dishes: Buffalo wings, Honey soy wings, Crispy baked wings
The centrepiece roast. Spatchcock for even, faster cooking; check the thigh reaches 165°F, and rest before carving.
Best cooked: Roast, Slow-roast, Poach
Classic dishes: Roast chicken, Spatchcock chicken, Poached chicken
Start skin-side down in a cold pan to render the fat and crisp the skin; serve the meat pink, like a steak.
Best cooked: Pan-sear, Roast
Classic dishes: Seared duck breast, Duck à l'orange, Magret
Sinewy and fatty — confit in its own fat or braise slowly until the meat is fork-tender and the skin crisps.
Best cooked: Confit, Braise, Slow-roast
Classic dishes: Duck confit, Braised duck leg, Cassoulet
A reference guide, not a rulebook. Cut names, trim, and prices vary by country, butcher, and market — ask your butcher, who can point you to the right cut and the local name for it. For safe cooking temperatures, use the meat doneness guide and a calibrated thermometer.
Know the cut, choose the method
Good cooking starts at the counter. The single most useful thing to understand about meat is where a cut sits on the animal: the lazy muscles of the loin and rib are tender and want a quick, hot cook, while the hard-working shoulder, leg, and belly are tougher, cheaper, and repay hours of gentle heat. Buy the wrong cut for the method and even great technique can't save it.
This selector is built from real, widely sold cuts — no invented names — each tagged with its primal, tenderness, the methods that flatter it, and the dishes it's classically used for. Use it to shop with confidence, to swap in a cheaper cut that suits your plan, or simply to learn what your butcher is talking about.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a tender cut and a tough cut?
Tender cuts come from muscles that do little work — the loin and rib — so they're best cooked fast and hot, like a ribeye or a filet. Tough cuts come from hard-working muscles full of connective tissue — shoulder, shank, brisket — which need long, slow, moist cooking to break that collagen down into gelatin. Match the method to the muscle and almost any cut can be delicious.
How do I pick a cut on a budget?
Some of the best-value cuts are the tougher ones: chuck roast, pork shoulder, beef shank, chicken thigh, and ham hock are cheap precisely because they need time rather than a quick sear. Filter this selector to your budget and a cooking method you have time for, and it will point you to cuts that reward slow cooking with huge flavour.
Why do cut names differ where I live?
Butchery traditions and naming vary by country and region — a US New York strip is a UK sirloin, and a Boston butt is cut from the shoulder, not the rear. This tool lists common names and the primal each cut comes from, but your butcher is the best guide to local names and how a carcass is broken down where you are.
Can one cut be cooked more than one way?
Absolutely, and this reference lists the methods that suit each cut best. Pork belly can be slow-roasted for crackling or braised until silky; chicken thighs take to braising, roasting, or a hard sear equally well. The tags are a starting point, not a limit.
Does this tell me how long or how hot to cook each cut?
Not directly — this is a cut reference. For target internal temperatures and timings, use the meat doneness temperature guide and the roasting time calculator, and always confirm doneness with a calibrated thermometer. General educational guidance, not a substitute for food-safety authorities (USDA/FSA).