Round steak often gets a bad rap due to its poor marbling and toughness, but believe me—this affordable meat can be incredibly tasty, tender, and flavorful when prepared right!
To prove this, I’ve compiled the best round steak recipes that deliver delicious meals on par with those made with more expensive cuts.
Ready to transform your cheap meat into a premium dish? Let’s jump right in!
1. Pan Seared Round Steak
Believe it or not, round steak can actually turn out amazing and tender when cooked as a classic, pan-seared steak.
The secret?
Pounding inch-thick round steaks using a meat tenderizer (or mallet) for about 30 seconds or until they feel spongy when touched!
After this tenderizing process, you can proceed to cook the steaks as you normally would.
Season both sides of the meat before searing, baste with butter and aromatics, and allow the steak to rest before serving!
This dish is my lifehack for enjoying steakhouse-quality steak every week without breaking the grocery budget.
Full recipe: click here.
2. Thinly Sliced Round Steak With Sauce
Up next— this recipe coats very thinly sliced round steak in a savory, creamy sauce that’s simmered for hours.
Anytime I crave a saucy dish and still have some round steak in the fridge, this is the default meal that I whip up!
Since the meat is pounded before being pan-fried and then simmered for at least 2 hours, every bite of this steak dish is bound to be so tender, it almost melts off in your mouth.
I love pairing my saucy round steak slices with some mashed potatoes and green beans to create one of the most comforting meals you can enjoy with your family at dinner.
Full recipe: click here.
3. Crockpot Steak and Gravy
Speaking of saucy steak dishes, this crockpot steak and gravy recipe is also a banger that you shouldn’t miss.
It only requires 4 ingredients: sliced steak, water, brown gravy mix, and Au Jus mix.
Simply add all of these in your crockpot, cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (stirring occasionally), and when it’s time for dinner, you’ll have perfectly tender steak slices swimming in flavorful gravy!
Serve this dish over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta for a well-rounded meal.
Note: The recipe originally calls for sirloin steak or London broil, but round steak also yields excellent results despite being way cheaper.
Full recipe: click here.
4. Stir-Fried Pepper Steak
I’ve cooked this stir-fried pepper steak way too often for me not to include it on this list.
It tastes exactly like the ones you can buy at Asian restaurants or stalls. Plus, it takes less than 20 minutes to cook!
To cook this dish, simply stir fry round steak slices and veggies in high heat, combine them, add the sauce and pepper flakes, and continue cooking until everything is well combined.
Of course, fresh-off-the-pan pepper steak calls for freshly steamed white rice for that classic Asian pairing. Brown rice and cauliflower rice also work well as alternatives!
Full recipe: click here.
5. Pasta & Bottom Round Steak
Cooking pasta & bottom-round steak is my go-to hack for preparing fancy steak meals on a budget.
To combat the toughness of round steak, this recipe braises thinly sliced meat for at least two hours!
So, you’ll surely enjoy fork-tender beef that’s perfect as a topping for pasta.
The pasta itself is flavored with a blend of 3 different cheeses: romano, parmesan, and asiago cheeses before being topped with steak, making this dish a beefy and cheesy indulgence.
Full recipe: click here.
6. Chili Cheesy Round Steak
So glad I mentioned cheese because I just remembered how irresistible a well-prepared chili cheesy round steak is!
Cooking this one-pan meal is as easy as topping off pan-fried round steak with buttered onions, tomatoes and cheese, and then baking it for 30 minutes.
You’ll enjoy a cheesy, savory, tangy, and spicy that pairs well with potatoes, rice, and cornbread!
Not a huge fan of spicy food?
No worries, you can always reduce or even remove the chili powder from this recipe to accommodate your taste preferences and heat tolerance better.
Full recipe: click here.
There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Steak Cut
Round steaks are often ranked among the worst cuts of steak.
However, as this list proves, this cheap meat can easily be transformed into a delicious meal if you know how to tenderize your steak and cook it properly!
Whether you want your round steak plainly seared, saucy, spicy, or cheesy, there’s a way to turn it into a flavorful and satisfying dish.
Featured image credit to ©meat_with.
