Picanha Steak With Herb Compound Butter
Coulotte Steak should become a staple in your kitchen! It’s delicious, easy to cook and can be cooked in like a million different ways!
Let’s Learn About Picanha Steak
Coulotte or Picanha steak is a very underrated and underappreciated cut. This cut of meat is from the cap muscle and is one of the 3 muscles that make the sirloin butt! The coulotte steak is also referred to as picanha and the top sirloin cap.
This cut of meat can be prepared in many ways, which is why it is known as being a very versatile piece of meat. Some like to leave the fat cap on, take it off completely, or even cook it whole like you would a tri-tip roast.
The best part of this meat is it is super easy to prepare AND it’s very affordable.
Now let’s get started with the preparation and cooking.
How to Prepare Your Picanha Steak
First, you want to begin with trimming some of the silver skin on the bottom side of the meat. Next, you want to trim the fat cap to your desired thickness. We left around 1/2 inch of fat on the cap.
If you purchased your meat whole, you can easily slice it into separate steaks. We cut ours into 2-inch slices. This is the ideal thickness to get that perfect medium-rare cook.
Cooking Your Picanha Steak
As we mentioned above, this meat can be cooked and served in so many delicious ways. In this recipe, we decided to whip out our cast iron skillet because it was rainy out and this is actually the quickest way to cook your coulotte steak.
To get the juiciest and most flavourful steak, heat your pan on high heat for about 2-3 minutes, add a little bit of olive oil and sear your steaks for approximately 2-3 minutes a side. This will depend on how thick you cut your steaks. This timing is based on steaks that are cut between 1 1/2 -2 inches.
Don’t forget to sear the side with the fat cap too! You want to make sure that fat cap gets a beautiful crispy coat.
If you like it medium-rare, allow your steaks to reach an internal temperature of 135F and allow them to rest. We used a meat thermometer to ensure we aren’t overcooking our meat!
Now is the perfect time to add your compound butter on your steaks. While your steaks are resting, the butter will melt and ooze all over your meat. YUM!
We served our steak with a side of roasted artichokes, sweet potatoes, roasted peppers and a giant salad!
ENJOY!

Coulotte Steak With Compound Butter
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
- 2 kg Coulotte Steak
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Compound Butter
- 1 Stick Butter Softened
- 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Clove Garlic Minced
- 3 Tbsp Fresh Parsley
- 1 Tbsp Basil, Oregano, Rosemary
Instructions
- Remove steaks from the fridge and let them rest at room temperature.
- Next, you want to prepare your compound butter. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until they are combined well.
- Place butter mixture on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log form. Twist ends to seal well.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Once your steaks are ready, start by trimming a little bit of the fat from the meaty side of the meat. Opposite to the fat cap.
- Now slice your meat into 2-inch steaks.
- This is an important step. You want to trim a small layer of the fat cap off and score the remaining fat. This will allow the fat to render down while you are cooking it.
- Time for some seasoning! All you need is salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat up your skillet on high heat. Make sure it is nice and hot!
- Cook on both sides and on the fat cap until you get a nice sear and reach an internal temperature of 135 °F.
- Take out steaks, and as always, allow to rest.
- While the steaks are resting, quickly slice your butter compound and place it on your steaks. The butter will begin to melt as your steaks are resting!
- Slice and enjoy!

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