Beef and veal prices rose 15.0% year over year, so your “splurge” steak night now comes with sticker shock. BLS data puts uncooked beef steaks around $12.30/lb in January 2026 (after $12.51 in December), and USDA forecasts a 9.4% beef-and-veal price increase in 2026.
A 2025 survey of 3,000 US shoppers found 88% plan trips and 78% hunt deals before they shop.
A retail analyst wrote, “price elevation is curtailing purchases”, so why does “8 expensive meat cuts chefs say aren’t worth the splurge” keep trending?
Pat LaFrieda gives you the cheat code: “know when the cut truly matters, and when it doesn’t.”
Tomahawk ribeye
One steakhouse guide notes that many tomahawks hit 24 ounces or more, and steakhouses price them by weight, so you pay for a bone that won’t feed you.
I bought one for the photo once, then I realised I paid extra for a handle, so now I just buy a normal ribeye instead.
Porterhouse or T-bone
Kenji Lopez-Alt warns that the bone can ruin pan contact on a T-bone/porterhouse, so he tells home cooks to grill or broil for better browning. Another meat director says you should treat the strip and the filet as separate cuts, so buy them separately and control both temps. Why gamble on one steak cooking two ways?
Filet mignon
Lots of chefs call filet mignon overrated because it sells tenderness with almost no fat, and fat carries flavour. David Burke puts it bluntly: “I don’t dislike filet… but it’s certainly not the best cut of meat.” IMO, I’d rather buy a strip or a flat iron and actually taste the marbling.
American Wagyu and Akaushi
Paul Qui calls American wagyu/akaushi overrated and says, “Just because it has a Japanese name doesn’t mean that it’s great.” I buy USDA Prime when marbling looks obvious, and I skip any label that sells vibes without receipts.
Wagyu with fuzzy labelling
A steakhouse guide points out that the USDA doesn’t enforce a federal rule that ties “wagyu” to a minimum genetics threshold, so sellers can price wildly different beef as if it belongs in the same tier. I ask where it came from and order wagyu by the ounce, because I don’t need a whole steak that tastes like butter fought my arteries.
Dry-aged steaks beyond 28 days
Dry ageing shrinks the steak and makes it inherently more expensive, because restaurants literally shrink the product during the process. A steakhouse executive chef told a food site that anything dry-aged beyond about 28 days turns “overrated.” I stick to moderate ageing and spend my effort on a killer sear.
Beef short ribs
A beef-buying guide quotes a chef-owner who says short ribs “sky-rocketed in price,” so he braises budget-friendly chuck and accepts a small trade-off in melt-in-your-mouth texture.
TBH, I save short ribs for guests and use chuck for weeknights.
Rack of lamb
A lamb recipe writer calls rack of lamb one of the most expensive cuts (try $20+ per pound), and a butcher showed how two racks can shrink down to about five servings. A chef-patron also blamed the rack’s many bones for turning chefs off. I buy lamb shoulder or shanks for the same lamby hit at a happier price.
Key takeaway
Splurge when meat plays the star, and save money when sauce, spice, and time do the heavy lifting. Before you pay, ask: “Am I buying flavour… or am I buying a story?”
Read the Original Article on Crafting Your Home.
