What Type Of Steaks Does Texas Roadhouse Use?

Nobody is going to Texas Roadhouse for soup and a side of arugula. When the moment calls for a meaty showdown with a side of sizzle, your beef has got to be on point. So we're queuing up the steak menu for the most melt-in-your-mouth cuts.

Tragically, not all outposts do the peanut shells-on-the-floor routine anymore. But Texas Roadhouse still serves up that fresh, never frozen beef. Each steak is prepared in-house by meat-cutting pros who work by hand at 34 F. Texas Roadhouse has nabbed Loudest Restaurant in America, No. 1 Steakhouse in America, and No. 1 Steak titles from critics and customers, while hosting an annual National Meat Cutters Challenge where butchers chop their hearts out for a $50,000 prize. Don't mind us over here waiting wide-mouthed like Homer Simpson by the donut factory line for the next beefy bite.

From the American steakhouse chain that spawned a zillion copycat recipes comes slightly-Southwest, slightly-country, always-cozy comfort on a plate. Grab a legendary margarita, a warm basket of rolls, and answer the call of the neon sign (with the state of Texas tipping its cowboy hat) while we highlight all the steak dishes on the Texas Roadhouse menu.

This beef is the best-selling steak on the menu, with Texas Roadhouse dubbing it, "Lean, juicy steak priced at a great value." Available as 6-ounce, 8-ounce, 11-ounce, or 16-ounce cuts, the smallest size gets ordered the most.

This muscular, primal cut clocks in as one of the most affordable of the bunch. Texas Roadhouse proudly serves USDA Choice sirloin, which features less fatty marbling than USDA Prime top sirloin but still hangs on to plenty of big, beefy flavor when it's cooked well. Psst. Love those rolls that pair well with it? You can order them for the holidays.

Get your hand-cut sirloin dressed up as a combo with ribs, shrimp, grilled barbecue chicken, or even chicken critters (buttermilk-battered and fried chicken tenders, for the uninitiated). Don't forget the Texas Roadhouse kids menu, which offers Lil' Dillo Steak Bites or the Andy's Steak 6-ounce sirloin that's cooked just as tender as the big kid version.

A top candidate for cooking dirty-steak directly on the coals, New York strip tastes just as good when Texas Roadhouse makes it. With a soft chew that's even more tender than the sirloin, this cut arrives at your table with two sides and proper grill marks.

Texas Roadhouse steaks come from farms in the U.S. and Canada, where sustainable beef production has less impact on thriving forests. While suppliers stick to North American animal welfare guidelines, meat cutters in the restaurant adhere to specific size standards for the New York strip. Whether it's the thicker 8-ounce cut or the more traditional 12-ouncer, portions are crafted for ultimate flavor. As company butcher Joel Herher said, "If you don't get it right, the texture and the juiciness of the steak will suffer." Longtime customers often mention the lean, yet full-bodied New York strip. Extra credit if you order the sweet potato side topped with honey cinnamon caramel sauce and toasted marshmallows.

If a magical, meaty cloud fell from the sky and onto your dinner plate, it would be the Texas Roadhouse Dallas filet. The menu calls this lean cut a "tender steak that... melts in your mouth," and customer reviews back that up with comments like, "The Dallas filet... does melt in your mouth." Okay, so melty-mouthiness: confirmed.

The Dallas Filet might seem like a sort of pièce de résistance, throwing back to the chain's early days. But since Texas Roadhouse was launched in Clarksville, Indiana — not Dallas — it could be a nod to the Texas roadside steakhouses which inspired the chain's founder to launch what would become an $11 billion company. This filet comes from the lean tenderloin and is served as 6 or 8 ounces. Part of the mouthwatering flavor has to do with the kitchen's generous pre-seasoning regimen featuring Texas Roadhouse spices, followed by a searing and a final grilling over an open flame. Looking like a snack with a loaded baked potato and a side of slaw, the Dallas Filet tastes best after a medium-temp cook, according to the Roadhouse. Even better, you can order this cut as a combo with a rack of barbecue ribs or buttery, lemon pepper shrimp.

The Texas Roadhouse Porterhouse T-Bone might be one of the spendiest cuts on the menu, but the "King Steak" gets you a whole lot of meat for your hard-earned cash. This 23-ounce beaut features both filet and strip cuts which you will in turn demolish with sides like a baked potato, buttered corn, or that fan-favorite chili.

Often served as a dinner for two, this XXL T-bone comes from the short loin of the cow — just like a regular-sized T-bone does. While the Porterhouse might feature a little more connective tissue and fat than a T-bone, the lean meat cooks into a steak that's easy to chew. One Redditor in Dallas, Texas described it as "Very juicy and supple. Flavorful throughout," while spreading the meat gospel to Roadhouse rookies. However, one poster, reporting to be a staffer who helped launch new Texas Roadhouse locations, posted this little nugget: "The only steak NOT hand-cut in house is the Porterhouse T-bone. They do not have a bone saw and so these are not usually the most fresh." Still, this person also claimed that if you order a custom portion that's just larger than the biggest on the menu, your steak will be fresh-cut-to-order the minute you say it out loud. We hear the 17-ounce sirloin is lovely this time of year.

Well, it doesn't give off the same party-steak vibes of the other cuts on the menu, but at Texas Roadhouse, Road Kill never tasted so good. This 8-ounce burger patty-style chopped steak gets topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and plenty of melted jack cheese. And if you're still wondering whether this combo hits the mark on comfort, allow us to mention the oodles of Road Kill copycat recipes online. Spoiler alert: No part of this dish was ever sourced from the highway.

Even though chop steaks and hamburger steaks are both designed to satisfy high-end cravings on a fast-food budget, chop steak differs from ground beef-based hamburger steak because it's made with less-fatty ground sirloin. But while it's leaner, it's definitely not light on flavor. And that goes double for a dish that has the looks for an audio podcast, not a YouTube channel. "The Road Kill is really underrated," posted one Reddit fan. "Looks like road kill but tastes like heaven." Someone else said their Road Kill was cooked perfectly medium-rare, just like they asked for. A fan from Beverly Hills bowed down to the Texas Roadhouse scrapper, describing it on Yelp as, "Basically glorified hamburger meat, but it is all so tasty."

Over it with all the knife-sawing just to enjoy a steak? Order the Texas Roadhouse Steak Kabob where all you need is a fork and your appetite. And maybe a still get a knife — because of the honey cinnamon butter, duh.

Marinated sirloin gets cubed and kabob'd alongside a separate skewer of onions, mushrooms, red and green peppers, and tomatoes, then plated with seasoned rice and your favorite Texas Roadhouse side (the green beans got bacon, just sayin'). Featuring roughly 6 ounces of steak, it's a lighter meal in a sea of generous portions that diners happily take home. One person even praised the veggie portion of the meal, posting on TripAdvisor, "Chunks of meat cooked perfectly tender and juicy. Red and green bells, onion, and thick mushroom slices all seared and seasoned well and flavorful on tasty rice."

With entire forums, threads, and subs devoted to deciphering the proprietary steak marinade recipe (this appears to be one of the few sauces crafted off-site), fans are left guesstimating ingredients. One former Texas Roadhouse kitchen manager suggested on Reddit mixing Catalina salad dressing, minced garlic, soy sauce, and black pepper, calling it the "Closest thing I've found to the secret jugs we used to get delivered in the dead of night by tribal elders." You could also just grab a bottle of Texas Roadhouse Gold Sauce or Classic Steak Sauce and call it a day.

Famous for spur-jingling flavor from plenty of luscious marbling, the Texas Roadhouse Ft. Worth Ribeye offers a whole lotta bang for your buck. Make no bones about it (no, really, there's no bone in this cut) — at 12, 14, or 16 ounces, you'll find a size for every appetite.

This cut is sourced from between the cow's ribs, from muscles that don't see much action, leading to a soft, tender chew. Each hand-cut ribeye gets treated to 1 tablespoon of Texas Roadhouse seasoning per side before it hits the griddle for a sear, and gets finished on the grill over an open flame. This steakhouse-favorite cut also mixes it up as a combo on the Texas Roadhouse menu, served alongside barbecue ribs or grilled shrimp. One 5-star Yelp reviewer described the Ft. Worth Ribeye, writing, "Extremely delicious. An atomic explosion of flavor in your mouth!" While most fans order this one medium-rare, one Redditor posted a pic of a 16-ounce Ft. Worth Ribeye — cooked perfectly rare — and cut in a cross-section for the camera. Still, if you prefer your ribeye with the bone-in, you can request that.

Rich ribeye flavor, but make it caveman style. The Bone-In Ribeye at Texas Roadhouse slaps a husky 20 ounces of meat on your plate with the bone left in for all that "prairie butter" flavor. It's the yellow marrow from inside the bone that some think seeps into the meat, giving it a sweet, buttery flavor. Yee-haw.

Scored from the cow's rib section (ribs 6 through 12, to be exact), the ribeye is tucked in between other prized cuts like short ribs and blade steaks. Lots of fatty marbling melts into the steak as it cooks, giving way to a juicy, succulent chew. As one fan posted on Yelp, "Had the bone-in ribeye and thought I had died and went to Heaven!" But wait — according to former Texas Roadhouse meat cutters and managers, you don't have to limit yourself to 20 ounces of beefy bone-in bliss. One staffer recalled on Reddit, "You can ask for a specific size of a steak, and they'll cut it for you no questions asked. You should've seen the 30-ounce ribeye I had to cook." Take a little spin past the display case by the front entry, choose the exact steak that suits your fancy, then relax in your booth with a basket of rolls while your ribeye's cooked to perfection. Make it a carry-out combo, and you have got dinner for days.

Speaking of those swanky primal rib cuts, Texas Roadhouse serves its Prime Rib cut thick and cooked low and slow to lock in its naturally rich, buttery flavors. Available as 12, 14, or 16 ounces, this steak is worth its bigger-ticket price tag.

While both prime rib and bone-in ribeye come from the same part of the cow, prime rib can boast more flavor than the ribeye because of its higher fat content. While this cut gets dusted with signature seasonings, some point to the multiple bones within the steak as adding more moisture and depth to the taste. The prime rib also gets smothered in a seasoned, soy sauce-based marinade which it's also cooked in for eight hours overnight. Once it's ready to eat, you might have to cut your way around some chewier fatty bits, but you're Michelangelo and this gorgeous steak is your masterpiece. "The prime rib is delectable," wrote one reviewer on Yelp, with another posting about, "The BEST freaking prime rib I have ever had and I have been to some [very] pricey steak restaurants that do not come close!"

Known as a Texas Roadhouse hack to get more for your money, the Filet Medallions dish up an ounce more meat than the 8-ounce Dallas Filet — for a few less bucks. Three filets clock in at 9 ounces together and top seasoned rice, all drizzled with creamy portobello mushroom or peppercorn sauce.

These medallions come from the filet mignon part of the beef tenderloin. They're also perfect for sharing if you're sampling several Texas Roadhouse dishes with friends. "You have got to try the medallions with mushrooms," posted one fan on TripAdvisor, adding, "Great amount of steak that is so tender you could use a butter knife to cut through it." You can also skip the rice part of this dish completely and get your Texas Roadhouse steak sliced up as the Steakhouse Filet Salad with greens, bacon bits, and all blue cheese everything. As a 5-star reviewer noted on TripAdvisor, "If you love blue cheese crumbles on a salad with blue cheese dressing, it is delicious."

Once you have sampled the hand-cut steak selection, don't brush off the Country Dinners category where you will find a gloriously hand-battered protein pleaser calling your name. Texas Roadhouse Country Fried Sirloin does comfort food like nothing else on the menu.

If King Henry VII had tasted this dish, this steak would have been bumped from sir to "Emperor Loin." Not only is this sirloin fresh-cut, battered, and fried until it is golden, you're gonna want to brace yourself for the thick, buttery gravy, which some fans top with mushrooms, onions, and even more gravy. Synonymous with Texas, this dish goes back to European immigrants who introduced German and Austrian wiener schnitzel and Italian fried veal into the culture. Back to the 2020s, plenty of chicken-fried fans love the Texas Roadhouse take. "My food was delicious," noted one happy diner on Yelp, "Like, the best country fried steak I could find so far." Depending on where you come from, this recipe might feel more like a chicken-fried steak (this one's served with white gravy — not the typical brown gravy of a classic country-fried version you might be used to). But even so, another 5-star reviewer posted on Yelp, "The country fried steak is awesome and HUGE," which is exactly why we Roadhouse.

Another red meat entry on the Country Dinners menu, Texas Roadhouse Beef Tips serve up fork-sized morsels of steak with onions and mushrooms, warm gravy, seasoned rice or mashed potatoes, and a big ol' dollop of sour cream you can swirl into all of it. While the "tips" can come from the tail end of the tenderloin(many copycat recipes source sirloin), or denote bitty beef bits from another part of the cow, the most important thing is these beef tips are well-seasoned, cooked-to-order, and slathered in rich, savory sauce.

One fan reminded us of the Texas Roadhouse "Early Dine" discounts on weekdays between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., declaring on Reddit, "[The] beef tips meal is the biggest bang for your buck at any sit down restaurant in America." A fellow Roadie also shared their thoughts on the tips, posting to TikTok, "Everything worked so well with the rice. I felt like I was at a Mexican steakhouse fusion type of place or something. I will definitely order this again." Considering the Southwestern influence on this uber-popular restaurant chain, that feeling seems right on the money.