Red meat is certainly flavourful, but the most expensive beef cuts in the world are particularly tender and exquisite in taste. In fact, what differentiates the price rates on red meat is the tenderness of it, the fat quantity and quality, as well as how well-nurtured the animal is. While unfortunately a majority of the cows in the world are bred and raised in confined spaces and fed synthetically balanced food, resulting in poor quality meat, the pricier beef cuts have a different origin. Most of the expensive meat comes from naturally fed animals that enjoy at least some sense of free movement, which reduces stress and therefore leads to leaner, more balanced beef cuts.
In a previous article we compiled a list of the 10 most expensive burgers in the world, many of which are created from some of the beef cuts featured on this list. For those who think that grounding an exquisite meat into hamburger form is nonsense, here’s our compilation of quality steaks in their purest state. These are the most expensive beef cuts in the world.
8. Porterhouse Steak
Price: $39 for a single steak
Much like the famous T-bone steak, the Porterhouse is a massive piece of meat, divided through the middle by a large bone. On the one side you can indulge in a strip steak, while the other, somewhat larger side, is tenderloin. Fibrous, yet tender, this beef is best served with a tanned crust on the outside and the price depends on the weight and size of the meat.
7. Filet Mignon
Price: $42 for a 12-oz. filet
Known as the “king of steaks”, this beef cut is so tender that in most cases no knife is required to cut it. The Filet mignon is taken from the short loin, which is the end of the tenderloin beef, of corn-fed cows, making it a high-end meat choice.
6. American Wagyu
Price: $92 for a 12-oz. steak
Wagyu cows are imported from Japan, but in this case raised in the United States. The expensive price is due to their rareness as a breed and the extreme tenderness of the cut. Furthermore, this type of cow enjoys the luxury of eating natural ingredients like rice, maize, and barley and breeders control the stress levels of the animal in order to guarantee maximum quality.
5. Japanese Wagyu Rib-Eye
Price: $144 for an 8-oz steak
The world-famous and prized chef Wolfgang Puck calls this beef cut his baby, as it’s one of his most beloved beef cuts on his restaurant’s menu. Stemming from the Japanese Wagyu cow, this rib-eye is served juicy and tender for customers willing to leave over $100 at the steakhouse.
4. Wagyu Sirloin
Price: $169 for a 10.5-oz steak
This beef cut is so exclusive that only some high-end restaurants offer it. The Al Muntaha Restaurant in Dubai is one of the few locations where you can find this supreme meat, served medium-rare in most cases, to maintain the juices of the tender sirloin steak.
3. Select Special Kobe Filet
Price: $246 for a 5.6-oz filet
Our top three most expensive beef cuts in the world feature price tags above $200, making them a truly exclusive culinary treat. The Kobe Renga-Tei Steak Restaurant in Japan is home to the Kobe filet and the all-female kitchen staff prepares this cut with extreme care, covering it in a fine Japanese paper before resting it on a copper and iron grill. The idea behind this technique is to recall the way professional sumo wrestlers used to grill wild boar over 200 years ago.
2. Fullblood Wagyu Tenderloin
Price: $295 for a 14.1-oz steak
This piece of juicy, fatty meat is one of the most delicious beef cuts you can find on the market and it derives from cows that are grain fed for 600 days before meeting their judgement day. In fact, this cut is the most valuable Wagyu meat found outside of Japan and Australia’s award-winning Wagyu breeder, David Blackmore, sells his cattle exclusively to Prime restaurant in Sydney.
1. A5 Kobe Strip Steak
Price: $350 for a 12-oz steak
To animal lover’s great despise, this steak comes from cows that have a specifically restricted regimen when it comes to movement: in order to develop a thick layer of fat over their muscles, the cow is kept in a small and controlled environment, although they supposedly receive massages to alleviate stress levels. The result: the most delicious steak you could possibly purchase, and the king of the most expensive beef cuts in the world.
