Flank Steak Substitutes: Four Great Alternatives!

Having trouble making your famous fajitas because there’s no flank steak left at the supermarket? Is your local butcher out of stock too? If so, there are some flank steak substitutes that you should know about.

If you want to get a similar flavor, similar texture, and a bargain on your flank substitute, the following cuts should help you make your flank steak recipes, regardless of the changes you’ve made.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Bergin

What Gives Flank Steak its Taste and Texture?

There’s one thing that gives a well-cooked flank steak exceptional flavor — the meat comes from the cow’s abdominal muscles. This means that it’s from an area with lots of blood flow; therefore, it packs a lot of beef flavor.

Flank steak is a cut of muscle. Therefore, it’s easy to overcook and turn chewy. That said, using the proper cooking techniques and tricks you can make an amazing tender flank steak. Packed with flavor and juicy. Like all other muscle cuts, it’s best to slice your flank steak against the grain for tender bites.

Four Choices for the Best Flank Steak Substitute Cut

There are a few cuts of meat that are similar in taste and texture. Each of the following alternatives can be substituted when you run out of luck and can’t find flank steak for your weekend BBQ. Let’s start with the most obvious choice.

Skirt Steak

Many amateur cooks use the terms skirt steak and flank steak interchangeably. However, the two are different cuts of meat. They’re similar in shape and skirt steak tends to have an even beefier flavor, by comparison.

In terms of texture they’re a bit different. Skirt steak is made of the cow’s diaphragm muscles. This makes it much tougher. Even when cooked perfectly, skirt steak still has a chew to it, more so than flank steak.

That said, both cuts benefit from rapid-fire cooking over high heat. Your favorite flank steak marinade will work on skirt steak just as well.

As a bonus, skirt steak, due to being chewy, is also a cheaper substitute. And, at the end of the day, when using the same marinades, there won’t be a big difference in taste between skirt and flank steaks.

How to Properly Cook Skirt Steak

Cooking skirt steak isn’t that different from cooking flank steak. It has little to no fat so it cooks best over high heat. Put it on the hottest part of the grill or in a piping hot skillet.

Don’t cook it for more than two to three minutes on each side, depending on the thickness. While it tastes good even at a well-done temperature, it will be chewy. Usually, three minutes per side should be enough to get you a nice medium-rare steak.

At medium-rare temp the steak will be quite tender, juicy, and packed with flavor. Make sure to cut against the grain quarter of inch pieces. What may help make your bites even more tender is cutting with the knife at an angle. A 45-degree angle should do the trick as it creates additional separation or openness between fibers.

Bavette Steak

The Bavette steak is another great and affordable alternative to flank steak or skirt steak. It’s much more tender and benefits a lot from high-heat grilling. It’s also a cut of meat that absorbs marinades much better due to its structure.

Side by side, a Bavette steak may look just like a skirt steak. However, upon closer examination they couldn’t be more different; the former has an open-grain structure. This means that its muscle fibers are looser, thus creating an openness which allows marinades to penetrate the meat better.

If you’re not super enthusiastic about a potent beefy flavor, this steak could be the best substitute for flank steak. You can alter its taste considerably and tone down the beefy flavor to suit your palette.

How to Properly Cook Bavette Steak

Cooking a flap steak, or a Bavette steak as the French would call it, can be done in many ways. This cut works just as great when sliced thinly and stir fried or when seared in a pan or grilled.

This cut tastes great with a good crust; for a crust, use coarse salt and pepper. Alternatively, you can add sugar to the marinade. This will not only create nice sear marks but will also give the steak a nice glossy finish.

To cook it perfectly, it’s best to start off on very high heat. Sear both sides quickly then move the meat over medium heat. If you cook it over medium heat for three minutes you should get a nice rare steak.

Cook up to four minutes, or five for medium rare. Depending on the thickness, you can cook your Bavette steak for up to seven minutes and it should be medium in the middle. The recommendation is medium-rare as it has the best balance between softness and chew.

It’s also best to let it rest for up to 10 minutes in order to get a very juicy and flavor-packed steak.

Flat Iron Steak

Flat iron steak comes from beef chuck. Chuck steaks are known for having more connective tissue and considerably more collagen than other cuts of beef. Although chuck steaks are tender when slow cooked, they’re not ideal for grilling. More often than not, chuck is turned into ground beef. So you’re likely to find it in your burgers.

That said, flat iron steak is a different type of chuck. This cut is a top part of the blade roast. It’s also not just a piece of meat. Flat iron steak is characterized by the fact that it has the connective tissue removed.

Once it’s removed, the top blade roast becomes two separate pieces. The one with less connective tissue and a rectangular shape is the flat iron steak. Its shape and uniformity is what gave it its name.

This piece has just enough marbling to make it tender and ideal for grilling. A great substitute for any recipe that calls for flank steak, or skirt steak.

However, flat iron steak also calls for a particular grilling method and temperature. The best taste and texture you can get out of it is when you cook it medium rare. Flank steak is a bit more versatile in regards to temperature.

How to Properly Cook Flat Iron Steak

Cooking this delicious substitute is quite easy if you follow some simple rules. Rule No. 1 is never cooking on very high heat.

Flat iron steak is denser and thicker than flank steak. Therefore, it takes longer to reach the desired 135° in the middle for medium rare. Use medium-high heat in the pan or on the grill. This will prevent the outside from charring too much while the center of the steak reaches the desired temperature.

You can even move the steak, once seared on both sides, to an even lower temperature if you’re not comfortable in your ability to control the doneness in the center.

One of the best ways to prep it for the grill is by using a rosemary and wine marinade. Dry rubs work just as well. Especially a chili rub which will make a great steak for tacos.

Honorable Mention – Sirloin Steak

Sirloin is another interesting substitute. This cut comes from the hip and has quite a chew to it. The meat is also much leaner than flank steak but still packs plenty of flavor.

Although you can use this as an alternative when you’re out of options, be advised that there are two types of sirloin — there’s top sirloin and bottom sirloin. The former is recommended for grilling since it’s more tender, while the latter is better when roasted.

If you’re doing a BBQ using sirloin as your flank steak substitute, then you should go with a top sirloin cut.

How to Properly Cook Sirloin Steak

This cut is considerably denser than other flank steak substitutes. It also takes longer to cook. For a 1.5” steak you may have to grill it for up to 15 minutes. Around seven minutes on each side, in order to get a medium-rare steak.

Best Alternative in Strict Flank Steak Recipes

Even though skirt steak is much thinner and cooks faster, it’s the best alternative for any recipe that specifically calls for flank steak. That’s because it’s not only similar in texture but almost indistinguishable in taste.

Best Alternative for More Tender Steak

If you want to make sure that you won’t be eating anything too chewy then a piece of chuck will work well. Specifically, a flat iron steak. Due to its lack of connective tissue and its inherent tenderness, this piece of steak will be much easier to chew.

It’s even better if you want a medium-rare temperature on your steak since flank steak isn’t always ideal in this situation. Also, make sure that you cut your flat iron very thin and against the grain for extra tenderness.

Don’t Forget Your Meat Thermometer

Now that you know what alternatives you have for your favorite flank steak recipes, it’s time to get cooking. But remember to always treat each piece of steak individually when it comes to doneness.

If you think your eyes are deceiving you or you’re not a fan of the thumb press method, a meat thermometer should do the trick. There’s no shame in using one. Remember the following temperatures – 120°, 125°, and 130° for rare, medium-rare, and medium steak