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Understand the Cut - What is Chuck Eye Steak?
Before you cook chuck eye steak, known as the poor man's ribeye because of its budget pricing, it is helpful to understand the structure of this economical cut.
Chuck eye steak is a cut of beef derived from the first four to six inches of the chuck roll. It is the continuation of the muscle group that makes the ribeye within the rib primal. As a butcher would say - the chuck eye is separated from the ribeye by just one knife cut. This steak has a lot more flavor than the ribeye but also a bit more chew.
TOP TIP: Chuck eye steaks are cut as a cross-section of the four muscles of the chuck roll (you can watch a professional butcher carve them here.) As such the muscle components of each steak are easily separated during cooking. For convenience chuck eye steaks often come tied with butcher's twine which you should remove only after cooking. If yours is not tied you can do so yourself or simply use wood skewers to hold the steak together while cooking.
What is the Best Way to Cook a Chuck Eye?
The best way to cook chuck eye steak is to pan-sear it or grill it. The tender and well marbled meat of the cut lends itself very well to high heat, develops a delicious crust and cooks through similarly to a ribeye steak.
Ingredients for Pan Seared Beef Chuck Eye Steak
Chuck eye steaks. Note that even though comparable to the ribeye these steaks are usually cut a bit thinner. A common thickness is about 1 inch. Chuck eyes smaller in area are sometimes cut a bit thicker to yield about 10 ounces per steak.
Kosher salt and black pepper. To season the steaks before you sear them.
Butter and olive oil. Butter helps create a delicious and crisper crust, the olive oil helps keep the butter from burning in the skillet.
Garlic and rosemary. A couple of cloves of garlic and fresh rosemary sprigs provide an aromatic infusion to the butter.
How to Cook Chuck Eye Steak in Skillet
Below is a quick overview of the process of searing chuck eye steaks. The Recipe Card at the end of the post includes images to illustrate each step.
Season & rest. Take the steaks out of the refrigerator, pat them dry with paper towels (dry surface forms superior crust) and season them with salt and pepper. Allow them to sit on the counter for about 20 minutes - they will come to room temperature and the salt will better penetrate the meat.
Sear and baste. Heat the butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter stops foaming add the garlic and rosemary and carefully lower the steaks into the skillet. Sear each side for about 2-3 minutes as well as the periphery of thicker cut steaks (see doneness and temperature tips below). Occasionally baste with butter.
Rest. Allow the seared steaks to rest on a cutting board as the residual heat continues to cook them and the juices within redistribute. After about 5 minutes slice and enjoy.
Doneness & Temperature Recommendations
The below values for the chuck eye steak temperatures are identical to those for ribeye steaks of about 1 inch thickness. This steak is best served rare to medium-rare. Keep in mind that thicker chuck eye steaks will take longer to reach the temperature range, rely on your meat thermometer and use the time ranges only as guidelines.
| Doneness | Mins per Side | Pull Range | Final Range |
| Rare | 2 to 3 | 115-120 F | 120-130 F |
| Medium-rare | 3 to 4 | 125-130 F | 130-140 F |
| Medium | 4 to 5 | 130-135 F | 140-150 F |
| Medium-well | 5 to 6 | 140-145 F | 150-160 F |
Tips for Cooking Chuck Eye Steak
Tie or Skewer. If your chuck eye steaks are not tied around to stay in one piece during cooking, either tie them yourself with butcher's twine or use a small wooden skewer to attach and hold the different muscle groups together. As you see in the picture below, this time around the tie around one of our steaks came off while in the skillet so to keep it from falling apart we quickly inserted a skewer on that side.
No Oven Needed. Chuck eye steaks do not need to be transferred to the oven to finish cooking through like most ribeyes. Because they are on the thin side, they quickly reach medium-rare and medium temperatures. Take the internal temperature with a meat thermometer and you will know exactly how much longer to contnue searing.
Variable Thickness. It is very possible, especially if you are buying chuck eye steaks online, to have a wider and thinner steak and a smaller in area but thicker one. Naturally, you will need to stop cooking the thinner steak with a wider area earlier, assuming that you want both to finish medium-rare at 135 F. The specific times will be driven by each steak.
We cooked both of the steaks you see in the pictures for exactly 3 minutes per side. The thinner one finished closer to medium, the thicker one perfectly medium-rare. This illustrates how thickness influences the time to desired doneness.
Storage an Reheating
Store leftover chuck eyes steaks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Our favorite way to reheat this steak is sliced in a skillet over medium-high heat, with a bit of olive oil. A few quick turns around the pan and the slices are warmed through and perfect to enjoy in a steak salad or on top of a noodle bowl.
Other Delicious Steaks
Merlot Steak | Cowboy Steak | Tomahawk Steak | Grilled Outside Skirt Steak | Grilled Picanha Steaks | Teres Major Steak | Mock Tender Steak | Sirloin Tip Steak
Recipe
Beef Chuck Eye Steak Pan Seared
Equipment
- 10 inch cast iron skillet or other heavy bottomed skillet such as Hexclad
- butcher's twine or small wooden skewers to secure muscle groups within each steak together
Ingredients
- 2 10 oz chuck eye steaks, tied*
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Pat dry the chuck eye steaks and season with salt and pepper. Allow to rest for about 20 minutes to reach room temperature.
- Over medium-high heat add the butter and olive oil. The butter will foam as its water content evaporates but the oil will stop it from burning.
- When the foaming stops, add the garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs and carefully lower the steaks to begin searing.
- Sear for about 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare (reference the temperatures for doneness below). Briefly sear the periphery of thicker chuck eye cuts (over 1 inch).
- Baste with butter as you sear the second side of each steak and use your meat thermometer to take temperature.
- Rest the beef chuck eye steaks before you slice them against the grain.
Notes
| Doneness | Mins per Side | Pull Range | Final Range |
| Rare | 2 to 3 | 115-120 F | 120-130 F |
| Medium-rare | 3 to 4 | 125-130 F | 130-140 F |
| Medium | 4 to 5 | 130-135 F | 140-150 F |
| Medium-well | 5 to 6 | 140-145 F | 150-160 F |
James
This cut surprised me with its strong flavor. I almost liked it more than a ribeye. I did actually. The simple preparation is well suited.
Ken
Fantastic steaks! I wasn’t sure what this cut will be like when I received my monthly butcher’s box. Thank you for explaining about tying the steaks. They were delicious.