New York Strip vs Ribeye- what’s the difference? Here is everything you need to know about these two delicious cuts of meat!
I’ve often wondering what the difference between a New York Strip and Ribeye when at the grocery store. They have similar looks, similar pricing, and I’ve cooked both and they are both delicious.
Turns out they are nearly the same cut.
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Cuts of a Cow
The top portion of a cow, past the neck and along the back, is made up primarily of the Chuck, Rib, and Sirloin, with the end of the cow called the Round.
Between the Rib and Sirloin there is a section that can be broken out called the short loin, and within the sirloin you will find the tenderloin.
The chuck sits right behind the neck and is comprised of slow-moving muscles that are a bit more tough but have more fat. A lot of the time this meat is used for green chile stews, chuck roasts in the oven, and slow cooking.
The chuck roast can be broken down into smaller pieces like chuck eye steaks. These are separated from a ribeye by one cut from the butcher.
These have a little more chew to them than the chuck roast but have a large piece of the spinalis muscle which is very tender. Marinating the chuck steaks will help tenderize the tougher parts.
The ribs of the cow start in the chuck and go through the sirloin.
- Chuck Section: Ribs 1-5.
- Rib Primal Section: Ribs 6-12.
- Loin Section: Ribs 13 to the hip bone.
I love using leftover steak for steak pasta, tacos al carbon, beef fajitas, and steak quesadillas!
What is the Spinalis muscle?
The spinalis muscle runs along the top portion of the chuck eye steaks, ribeye, and New York strip steaks.
It’s very tender and very flavorful.
Rib Primal Section
The Rib Primal Section has the ribs, plate, and navel- and for this article we are going to just focus on the rib section.
The rib section can be kept whole as a rib roast or cut into individual ribeyes. This section has lots of marbling, very flavorful, and tender.
It’s best to cook this to rare/medium for optimal flavor and texture. See my smoked ribeye post for a tasty recipe!
What is a Ribeye?
A ribeye comes from the Rib section of the cow. Typically ribs 6-12.
Keep in mind that in the rib section you have one end that is close to the chuck (eye is smaller but spinalis is bigger) and one end that is close to the sirloin (larger eye but smaller spinalis).
What is a Ribeye Steak?
A Ribeye Steak contains a large eye and a small piece of spinalis. On a ribeye the spinalis is called the ribeye cap, it is more tender than the eye, has lots of marbling, and there is a thick line of fat separating the cap from the eye.
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A bone in ribeye steak contains bones that if cut away would be back ribs.
Ribeye roast is your typical holiday roast that contains all the back ribs and is also called the prime rib. You can also get a boneless ribeye roast which has the ribs removed.
What is a Tomahawk Steak?
A tomahawk steak is the cut from the rib section that still has the bone from the rib plate attached. The bone from the rib plate if it is not attached to form a tomahawk, is typically cut to make short ribs.
Strip Section
The Strip section goes from the rib primal section all the way down to the sirloin end. It is comprised of the short loin (next to the rib section and also known as the strip loin) and the sirloin section. Toward the end of the sirloin section, you can get a small amount of silver veining which can be a little chewier.
Most people tend to prefer the center cut of sirloin because of that.
The Strip Section contains the tenderloin. This is eaten as a roast or steaks and is where the filet mignon comes from.
Helpful Tip: In the sirloin section, right up against the round, there is a tasty cut of meat called the Tri Tip. Popularized in California, this cut is super tasty!
You can check out my smoked tri tip, oven baked tri tip, tri tip sandwiches, and tri tip tacos here!
New York Strip
The New York Strip is from the short loin section. It also is known as strip loin steak, Omaha strip, ambassador steak, club steak, or porterhouse steak.
The NY Strip might have a small portion of the tender spinalis or it might not if it's a cut closer to the hip.
Bone-in strip isn’t as common as bone in ribeyes but you can find them occasionally.
New York Strip vs Ribeye
The short answer is that they are very similar and both very delicious. The Ribeye is preferred over the NY Strip due to more marbling and having a ribeye cap.
The ribeye is made up of an eye and a cap (aka the spinalis which is very tender) with a thick layer of fat between the two parts. The spinalis gets smaller the further down the rib section into the strip section, as the eye gets larger.
Some NY Strips might not have the spinalis at all, but will just have a thick layer of fat at the top.
Where to get the best steaks?
Lately I’ve been really enjoying Good Ranchers meat. They send you meat straight to your door and its high-quality American raised beef, chicken, and seafood!
They have fantastic ribeye steaks, NY strips, flat iron steaks, wagyu beef burgers and they even sell delicious chicken!
If you want to try Good Ranchers go here and make sure to use code JOY on checkout for an extra $30 off!
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Lisa says
Love this article! So informative!