Our picanha steak recipe is going to transport you to Brazil!
This special cut of meat is packed with flavor and is terrific whether you serve it as a traditional steak filet or if you add it to a brazilian picanha bowl.
What is picanha?
If you’re looking for a taste of Brazil (or just a taste of the famous all-you-can eat Brazilian churrasco steakhouses), look no further than picanha.
Picanha is a cut from the rear section with a ½ inch fat cap left on the top. The additional fat helps to baste the meat with flavor as it renders.
The picanha cut is meaty, juicy, tender with a rich beef flavor. It’s amazing with pao de quiejo and this feijoada recipe
Where to buy picanha
Although picanha is the holy grail in Brazil, it can be challenging to find this relatively uncommon steak in many other places of the world.
Of course master butcher and meat provider, Omaha Steaks, carries this specialty cut.
In addition to typical steaks, they have other unique offerings like veal t-bones, massive king cut ribeyes and tomahawk steaks, and our favorite steak ever, the ribeye crown cut.
A ribeye crown cut steak is essentially an entire steak consisting of that perfect, small “eye” best bite of your life section of a ribeye steak.
On the Omaha Steaks website, search for their “Sirloin Cap Roast” (specifically linked here) in order to find picanha.
Know that the picanha cut can also be referred to as coulette.
How to cook picanha
There are a few ways to cook this picanha meat:
- Roast the entire picanha roast in the oven (or sous vide) in one large piece, low and slow, and slice and serve the meat like a traditional roast.
- Slice the picanha meat along the grain into sections and hand cut your own picanha steaks. Then, cook it like you would a normal cut of steak. Pop it on the grill or use our favorite cooking method, sous vide. Don’t miss our guide with a tutorial video on how to sous vide steak.
- Another option is to make picanha brazilian steakhouse style. This is how we prepared our sirloin cap roast to transport us back to our favorite city on Earth, Rio De Janeiro. You start by slicing the picanha meat into three sections across the grain. Then fold each cut picanha in half, fat side out and impale the meat with a large metal skewer or even a rotisserie skewer. Grill the meat or roast it on a rotisserie.
Whichever method you choose, you’ll be in for a treat.
Grilled Picanha Steak Recipe
- Start by slicing the picanha meat into three sections across the grain.
- Generously season with salt and pepper. You do not need a lot of special seasonings for picanha as a lot of flavor comes from the fat cap.
- Use a knife to score the fat cap into a crosshatch pattern, being careful not to cut deep enough to reach the meat.
- Next, fold each cut picanha in half, fat side out and impale the meat with a large metal skewer or even a rotisserie skewer. Technically you can grill your picanha without skewering it, but if you are looking for a Brazilian Churrasco feel at home, go for it!
- Preheat your grill to 400-450 degrees F and grill the meat until medium rare, which is an internal temperature of 125 degrees F, flipping the steak every 4-5 minutes (about 15-20 minutes total).
- Let the meat rest, then slice the meat off of the skewer.
- For a Brazilian picanha bowl, add the meat to a bowl with black beans, rice, our cilantro chimichurri sauce, pickled onions (try our easy pickled red onion recipe), a fried egg, and farofa (we used this Brazilian farfoa recipe). If you can get your hands on some pickled biquinho peppers, also known as sweety peppers, they are a great authentic addition as well. You can order pickled biquinho peppers on Amazon.
Brazilian Picanha Steak Recipe
How to create a Brazilian Steakhouse at home! Learn how to prepare and grill picanha steak to make a Brazilian bowl.
Ingredients
- 2.25 pound Sirloin Cap Roast
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Use a knife to score the fat cap into a crosshatch pattern, being careful not to cut deep enough to reach the meat.
- Next, fold each cut picanha in half, fat side out and impale the meat with a large metal skewer or even a rotisserie skewer. Technically you can grill your picanha without skewering it, but if you are looking for a Brazilian Churrasco feel at home, go for it!
- Preheat your grill to 400-450 degrees F and grill the meat until medium rare, which is an internal temperature of 125 degrees F, flipping the steak every 4-5 minutes (about 15-20 minutes total).
- Let the meat rest, then slice the meat off of the skewer.
- For a Brazilian picanha bowl, add the meat to a bowl with black beans, rice, our cilantro chimichurri sauce, pickled onions (try our easy pickled red onion recipe), a fried egg, and farofa (we used this Brazilian farfoa recipe). If you can get your hands on some pickled biquinho peppers, also known as sweety peppers, they are a great authentic addition as well. You can order pickled biquinho peppers on Amazon.
This post was sponsored by Omaha Steaks, thanks for supporting the brands that we love. Also, if you’re a new Omaha Steaks customer use code CIK40 for $40 off orders of $159 or more.
Click this link to pin this Picanha Steak Bowl Recipe on Pinterest.
Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more recipes and recommendations, we love to see when you make our recipes!
If you’d like to automatically receive our posts in your email, register here.
No Comments