During our travels around South America, I fell in love with picanha. If you go to a churrascaria — a Brazilian steakhouse — they’ll likely cook this steak over an open flame and serve you big hunks of picanha on a skewer. Typically known as the rump cap here in the United States, picanha is a popular cut of beef in Brazil and other Latin American countries. You can tell it’s a picanha roast by how the meat is folded, with the thick fat cap coming over the meat and sealing in that beefy, freakin’ delicious rich flavor.
Because I think everyone should have a chance to experience this cut outside of traditional Brazilian barbecues, I want to walk you through the world of picanha: what it is, how to find it, how to cook it and (most importantly) how to enjoy it with your family and friends.
Why You’ll Love Picanha
The picanha steak is a beef cut from the rump area above the butt, where it sits on a thick layer of fat. Most American butchers would call this area the round. This prized cut of meat is tender, juicy, holds ample amounts of flavor and has a texture similar to sirloin steaks. Even though there’s a thick fat cap, the picanha steak itself holds very little fat inside the meat.
It’s also worth mentioning that the fat cap on this cut is different than the fat you might be familiar with on other cuts of beef. For a picanha, the fat cap is very buttery and savory once cooked. To me, there’s nothing better than a slice of the lean meat with the fat cap still on the end. It’s like an added punch of flavor that makes the picanha insanely delicious!
Looking for more ideas on how to cook picanha? I’ve got a roundup of my favorite picanha recipes!
My Go-To Picanha Ingredients
There are so many different ways to prepare your picanha. When in doubt, keep it simple: coarse kosher salt, black pepper, and olive oil work great. You can also go with your favorite steak seasoning (my Cowboy Butter Seasoning works great here) or marinade for your best results.
A Little Picanha History
Brazil has a pretty incredible beef legacy. The country is one of the largest beef producers in the world, exporting more than 2 million tons of beef in both 2022 and 2023, and cattle are often raised in vast pastures. That grazing produces really delicious meat, with lots of marbling and beefy flavor. Picanha’s popularity started in Brazilian cuisine and then moved to Portugal, where it became just as famous and desirable. No one’s quite sure where the name came from, though. One theory is that Brazilian cowboys would tell their fellow cowboys to prick the cows to get them moving. The phrase “picana do bicho” means “prick the animal” in Portuguese. And those cowboys poked the cow on the rump, right on the location of this cut.
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How to Cook Picanha
Because the fat is concentrated within the cap and not in the picanha steak itself, you’ve got to cook it perfectly or you’ll end up with a tough steak. An instant-read meat thermometer is clutch for checking the internal temperature of the beef and making sure you don’t overcook it.
Here are the basics for how I tackle a picanha steak recipe. If you’re using a whole roast, your first step is to sear the meat. You want to sear the meaty and fat side on a hot grill for 3-4 minutes.
Once you’ve seared the fat, pull it off the grill and slice the whole picanha against the grain to make individual thick steaks.
Those steaks should be a crescent shape or a C shape (like the photo above). Then, place the sirloin cuts back on the grill over high heat so they can finish cooking. You’ll cook them as you would normally cook a steak.
To cook a picanha cut the traditional way, cut the meat with the fat layer still on and cook them on long metal skewers. You can try that style out here with my grilled, smoked, or rotisserie picanha.
Want more instructions? I’ve got a whole post on how to cook picanha here!
Where to I Buy Picanha
I highly recommend finding a local butcher shop that does full animal breakdown since they’ll be able to get this cut that is familiar with the popular cuts from Brazilian steakhouses. Any good butcher should understand what you mean if you want to get sirloin cap steak with the thick fat cap still on!
You can also shop online. PorterRoad.com is a specialty butcher that has fantastic picanha for sale. They also can ship to any location inside the 48 continuous states! If you want to try out a picanha recipe for yourself, you only have to make sure that it is in stock as it sells out quickly.
What to Serve with Picanha
If you go to a Brazilian steak house, they’ll serve picanha with corn cream, rice, deep fried cassava, beans or fried eggplant. Give one of these sides a try for the full experience! You could also serve picanha with rice and beans and a simple green vegetable side, like collard greens or sauteed chard.
I also love chimichurri sauce on steaks, and it fits the picanha flavor profile perfectly. If you’ve been waiting for the right cut to try my smoked chimichurri, this is the one!
For More Steak Tips (Advice, I Mean)
Leftovers and Reheating
To store leftover picanha steak, tightly wrap the meat in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Place it in an airtight container and then refrigerate it for up to three days. When you’re ready to reheat, wrap the meat in aluminum foil and grill it. Also, pour in some beer or broth to maintain its juiciness. You can also enjoy the meat cold in some epic chimichurri sandwiches.
FAQs
Picanha is called sirloin cap, rump cap or coulotte steak here in the U.S. North American butchers actually break picanha down into other cuts of beef like rump, round, loin, top sirloin cap rump and top sirloin steaks, which means they sacrifice the highly-prized large fat cap in the process. For that reason, picanha can be hard to find in the U.S., but it’s gaining popularity and becoming easier to track down.
You can definitely eat the fat cap. In fact, most Latin American countries keep the fat top sirloin cap on for added flavor! It’s a very soft, buttery fat layer. If you don’t like to eat the fat, you’re welcome to cut it off. However, I wouldn’t cut it off until after you’ve cooked it. That way you’ll get some of the rendered fat on the steak while it’s cooking, for added flavor.
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It is difficult to find picanha here in the US. Thanks to you we will be eating churrasco this weekend! Muito obrigado!
You can usually find it at a WholeFoods or I’m lucky in my area of Boston to have this amazing small butcher M.F. Dulock that butchers on site (these days it feels like lots of “butcher shops” are really just repackaging cuts or breaking down certain sections and don’t often get the good bits and the more unique butcher cuts.) I just picked some up yesterday from Michael (Dulock) and I’m looking forward to grilling it today! I was on here trying to find a good chimichurri recipe as I forgot the exact ratios.
any latin or Brazilian market has it! Readily available in Florida.
This cut of beef, these metal skewers and this Gaucha knife make me think you have visit the Rio Grande do Sul.
And this article makes me hungry.
Greetings from Brasil
We braai picanha in South Africa and we definitely eat the fat. Now living in Florida and looking for a butcher that sells it! We are going to have to learn to spice it ourselves, back in South Africa, the butcher spiced the meat for us. My braai master is a bit flummoxed by the idea that he now has to marinate his own meat before cooking – he was spoiled by our very excellent Portuguese butcher there, but we already did some Tri-tip and it turned out well, so we’ll figure it out.
I get mine from Grassland Beef: https://grasslandbeef.com/products/beef-sirloin-ball-cap-roast-25-lbs
Half the price of Porter Road, but not dry-aged. It’s fine. Cut it into steaks, dry brine 8-12hr, reverse-sear. Awesome.
Can this meat be fried or cooked in a crock pot?
Its similar to sirloin, so I would recommend grilled, pan seared or baked ideally.
Your photos certainly do Picanha justice! It’s such an underrated cut. I first tried it while holidaying in Miami and found these guys ship it nationwide: https://meatnbone.com/collections/picanha-collection
Is picanha similar to tri tip
They look very similar, but they are two different cuts actually.
Have you ever tried doing it whole without slicing it into steaks? That’s the way we do it in Uruguay. 45min fat side, around half that time the other way to sear it. Let it rest for a bit and slice after. Juicy fatty heaven
I have but I have never done a recipe! I really should!
Exactly!! It is even better cooking the whole meat without cutting it into slices! Sooo perfect!
Our Costco always has it and recently I have seen it in our Publix (and this is a small town in middle Alabama!! LOL!)
A tip for the grilling – I use Smores skewers that are metal, they work perfectly for this! I’ve been grilling up Picanha for quite a few years, and season mine with Cajun Seasoning for an extra flavor boost. Delicious!
Wow looks great