Beef cheek is an inexpensive and flavorful cut of meat that comes from the facial muscles of cattle While not as popular as traditional steaks and roasts, beef cheek has been gaining more attention in recent years for its rich taste and tender texture when braised If you’re looking to expand your culinary repertoire, learning more about beef cheek can open up new and delicious possibilities in the kitchen.
What Exactly is Beef Cheek?
Beef cheek is the cheek muscle of a cow, aptly named for where it comes from. It’s a working muscle that cows use frequently for chewing, so beef cheek contains a lot of connective tissue. This connective tissue needs to be broken down through long, slow cooking to make beef cheek palatably tender.
Raw beef cheek is compact and fibrous with an oval shape It can range in weight from 350-400 grams Beef cheek has a good balance of fat marbled throughout for added moisture and flavor. When trimmed of sinew and silverskin, it reveals deep red, lean beef.
Where Does Beef Cheek Come From on a Cow?
There are only two beef cheeks on a cow one for each side of the face. The beef cheek muscle runs from the cheekbone down to the jowl area. Butchers extract the entire cheek muscle then trim away excess fat, sinew, and silverskin to prepare beef cheek for cooking.
Beef cheek was previously more of a specialty cut found mainly in restaurants. But it has become more readily available at butcher shops and some grocery stores as its popularity rises. Ask your local butcher if they can source beef cheek.
Flavor, Texture, and Best Cooking Methods
When braised slowly over several hours, the collagen in beef cheek breaks down into gelatin, leaving meat so tender it falls apart at the touch of a fork. The texture of braised beef cheek has been compared to a pot roast or pulled pork. The meat easily shreds and yields a rich mouthfeel.
In terms of flavor, beef cheek tastes remarkably like a good steak. It inherents robust, beefy flavor from its abundance of muscle fibers. When braised, beef cheek also absorbs spices and aromatics from the surrounding liquid.
Best Cooking Methods for Beef Cheek:
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Braising: The long, slow cooking time required makes braising ideal for rendering beef cheek meat tender. Braise for 2-4 hours.
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Stewing: Simmering beef cheek in flavorful liquid delivers fork-tender meat perfect for stews. Cook for at least 1 1/2 hours.
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Slow cooking: Set it and forget it in a slow cooker with vegetables and seasonings for an effortless braise. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
Serving Suggestions for Braised Beef Cheek
Beef cheek makes a wonderful addition to stews, pot roasts, soups, and pasta dishes. The rich, gelatinous liquid left from braising beef cheek can also be used to create tasty pan sauces. Here are some tasty ways to serve up this underrated cut:
- Shredded in tacos or burritos
- Over creamy polenta
- In beef stew or pot pie
- On top of creamy pasta like pappardelle
- Mixed with risotto
- As the meat layer in lasagna
- In French onion or beef barley soup
- On mini sandwiches or sliders
Buying and Preparing Beef Cheek
When purchasing beef cheek, allow 1-2 cheeks per person. Look for a deep red color without dried or brown edges. Make sure the cheeks have been trimmed of excess exterior fat and sinew. Plan to cook beef cheek within 2-3 days of purchasing for best quality.
To prepare beef cheek for cooking, remove any remaining silverskin or large pieces of fat with a sharp boning or filet knife. Cut into smaller pieces if desired to reduce cooking time. Pat dry well, then season generously with salt and pepper or your favorite spices.
Searing beef cheek before braising will add depth of flavor and help lock in juices. Use a very hot pan or grill and cook briefly on all sides until well browned. Then transfer to your braising liquid to finish cooking low and slow.
Is Beef Cheek an Affordable Cut?
One of the appeals of cooking beef cheek is its affordable price in comparison to popular steak cuts like ribeye or strip. On average, beef cheek costs around $15 per pound, making it budget-friendly.
Factor in shrinkage during cooking and plan on about 1/2 pound finished cooked weight per cheek. The prep of long braising times also reduces waste versus quick-cooking cuts. For the flavor and tenderness achieved, beef cheek offers great value.
In Summary
Beef cheek may not be familiar, but it’s worth seeking out for its full-bodied beef flavor and meltingly tender texture when braised. Taking the time to slow cook beef cheek results in a cut so succulent and rich, it tastes like a luxury. Yet it comes at a wallet-friendly price point. If you love pot roasts and falling-apart-tender meats, adding beef cheek to your repertoire can expand your options for making delicious comforting meals. Give this underappreciated gem a try next time you’re craving hearty, beefy comfort food.
Here’s how to prepare and cook beef cheeks in a cast iron pot
- Firstly, remove any excess fat or sinew – that thin, silver skin that hugs some cuts of meat. This is where a boning knife comes in handy. If you don’t have one just, use a small sharp knife like a utility knife. Run your knife gently under it and remove the sinew. When buying a budget cut of meat, I generally find you should give it a quick check and remove any excess fat or sinew. While fat can contribute to the overall flavor and outcome of a dish, sinew does not. It just becomes chewy and tough.
- In a large cast-iron casserole, add a little olive oil, and sear your meat in batches on medium-high heat to render any fat and seal in the flavor. Then set aside.
- Add your onions or leeks and saute on low heat until translucent
- Pop the seared beef cheek meat back into the casserole. Add the braising liquid – beef broth, tomato passata, or wine are a few of my go-to’s
- Add the flavor. This could be ingredients like bay leaves, black garlic, porcini powder, tomato paste, or Worcestershire sauce just to name a few.
- Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, pop on the lid, then pop the casserole pot into a preheated oven and bake until tender. Most of my beef cheek recipes have a cooking time of approximately 3-4 hours at an oven temperature of 150 degrees C, however, this largely depends on the size of the beef cheeks.
- Season with sea salt and black pepper. Serve with your favorite side dish.
What are beef cheeks?
Beef cheek meat is exactly as it sounds, the dense muscle of a cow’s cheek. It’s a very tough type of meat due to the amount of connective tissue in it. However, with the right cooking method, the tissue is broken down to reveal its pull apart, perfect texture, and rich flavor. While it’s a relatively inexpensive cut of meat in comparison to fast-cooking steak cuts, over the last few years it’s become quite popular with professional chefs and home cooks alike and is classed as a specialty cut of meat.
To get tender beef cheeks, they need to braise in either beef stock or another cooking liquid at low heat in a casserole dish for a couple of hours. This is how I think about it… our cheeks are exercised continuously every day, whether it be from eating or facial expressions. The more that a part of the animal is exercised, the longer the cooking process is to get tender, edible meat. Some of the most popular slow-cook beef cuts are chuck steak, shin, brisket, and silverside.
How To prepare Beef Cheeks
FAQ
Is beef cheek a good cut of meat?
A cow’s cheeks are some of the most used muscles in its body resulting in dense and gelatinous meat. They are incredibly flavoursome and an underrated cut.
What are beef cheeks called in the USA?
Also known as barbacoa meat, beef cheek meat is great in tacos, quesadillas, burritos and other delicious dishes. What is beef cheek meat? Beef cheeks come from the face of the cow, next to the jaw muscle. Our cheek meat produces a wonderful, melt-in-your-mouth bite packed with traditional flavor.
What part of a cow is a beef cheek?
Beef cheek comes from the cow’s facial muscles and is loaded with collagen, which breaks down when slow-cooked, resulting in exceptionally moist meat. Beef cheek is a top choice for braising due to its melt-in-your-mouth texture and intense taste.
Are beef cheeks expensive?
Are Beef Cheeks expensive? Beef Cheeks used to be one of the cheaper cuts & referred to as an Offal cut by the wholesalers. Recently modern chefs are using cuts like this in todays recipes, the demand & price have increased. We offer these at a reasonable price because we make them as a wholesale meat cut.