Let Them Eat Steak

Q: I’m trying to cut down on calories and fat—is eating beef a no-no?

A: Not necessarily; beef can be healthy as long as you trim away all of the visible fat and are mindful of portion size.

Compared to lean cuts of chicken and pork, lean cuts of beef pack more fat, calories, and cholesterol per ounce. But this doesn’t mean you need to strip beef from your diet completely—just be smart about cutting the fat.

If you don’t trim your steak, you could be unknowingly adding up to 20 grams of fat and 180 calories to your meal—that’s because beef fat has about 20 grams of fat per ounce. And rather than cut the portion size of a steak down to a skimpy 3 ounces (as we found in many other recommendation sources) we allot 6 ounces of beef per person (raw weight), which is a satisfyingly ample yet still “healthy” portion size for dinner.

PER 6 OUNCES, ALL TRIMMED OF VISIBLE FAT

Boneless Top Sirloin: Cal 220; Fat 7g; Sat Fat 2.5g; Chol 70mg
Boneless Strip Loin: Cal 230; Fat 9g; Sat Fat 3g; Chol 90mg
Flank: Cal 240; Fat 9g; Sat Fat 3.5g; Chol 55mg
Filet Mignon: Cal 260; Fat 11g; Sat Fat 4g; Chol 115mg
Blade Steak: Cal 250; Fat 12g; Sat Fat 4.5g; Chol 100mg
Boneless Rib Eye: Cal 270; Fat 14g; Sat Fat 5g; Chol 100mg

Do you have a question about healthy cooking? Email thefeed@americastestkitchen.com and it might be featured in an upcoming To Your Health.