Lately, there's been a lot of focus on cheap joints of meat, which are great for keeping costs down and when you have more time – cheap cuts need longer cooking – but sometimes we need something a bit more instant, so look out for these quick-cooking cuts of beef, lamb and pork.
Beef
Sirloin
Often sold as slices of meat, this cut is a large piece of meat taken from the middle of the animal’s back, next to the fillet. A good piece of sirloin should have a visible marbling of fat, to give good flavour, and be almost as tender as a piece of fillet. Beef sirloin recipes.
Rump
A good value steak that has much more flavour than a fillet or sirloin as the muscle that it comes from works harder in the animal. This also means that it can be chewier, particularly if the meat has not been matured properly. Beef rump recipes.
Fillet
The most prized and expensive piece of meat on the animal – in a 300kg beef carcass there is only about 2kg of fillet! It is very tender as it is the least used muscle, but it doesn’t have as much flavour as some other cuts, so be careful not to overcook it. Beef fillet recipes.
Rib eye
A very popular steak in America. This is the trimmed fillet or eye of a forerib of beef, which is a classic roasting joint. It has lots of marbling, which gives it fantastic depth of flavour.
Pork
Chump chops
Further down a whole loin of pork comes the chump end. Chops from here are the most generous as they are boneless and nice and lean.
Escalope
The eye of a loin that has been trimmed, then sliced into rounds for quick frying. Pork escalope recipe.
Cubed loin
Rather than a whole chop, the loin can be trimmed and diced for cooking in stir-fries and quick dishes.
Lamb
Leg steaks
These are slices of boned leg of lamb, which are ideal for frying and grilling. Lamb leg steak recipes.
Loin chops
From the centre of a loin of lamb, these have a good layer of fat, making tender and tasty chops. They can be a bit fiddly to eat because they have a bone. Lamb loin chops.
Cutlets
From the best end of lamb, otherwise known as a rack of lamb, the cutlets can be cut from the rack and pan-fried individually. Lamb cutlet recipes.
See our marinades and rubs for these cuts
Meat Guide