Brazilian Picanha Recipe {Best Steak!}

This Brazilian Picanha Recipe is a favorite in Brazil! It's a tender and delicious cut of beef seasoned and grilled perfectly! I have all of the tips on where to buy it and how to cook it the traditional way!

Picanha is hands-down one of the best cuts of meat and the favorite in Brazil. This Brazilian Picanha recipe will give you the most flavorful meat that's tender, juicy, and filled with flavor. t's a particular cut of beef that comes from the top of the rump. It's also known as the top sirloin cap and comes with the fat cap still on. That fat cap is what helps to give this steak so much amazing flavor.

Background: I first had picanha meat when I visited my husband's (then fiance) parents in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 2004. They took me to a Brazilian Steakhouse, or Churrascaria, called Porcao and I experienced my first delicious picanha steak! I see why it's so popular in Brazil. It truly such a tender cut with so much flavor.

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Ingredients and Substitutes

• Sirloin Cap with Fat Cap (Picanha) - These will usually come in 2-3 pound cuts, all of which is great for this recipe. As mentioned, Picanha is also known as the top sirloin cap, rump cover, or rump cap and comes with the fat cap still on. You will not likely find this readily available in your grocery store, but you can ask your butcher for it. Often, butchers will cut it into other steaks, so it may not be available. I ordered mine through ChopBox. More on this below under the section Recipe Tips and Where to Buy.
• Kosher Salt or other coarse salt - Any coarse salt, sea salt, rock salt, or similar will be great. If you don't have a coarse salt, table salt is fine.
• Brazilian Steak Seasoning - Check out my easy recipe for this Brazilian steak seasoning blend that you can always have on hand. It's made of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, ground coriander, mustard powder, salt, and ground black pepper. If you do not have all of these, you can use any of these seasonings or just stick with coarse salt.

Simple Equipment and Tools

Nothing special for this picanha recipe! Just skewers, a very sharp large knife to slice the steak roast, and a sheet pan place the steaks.

If you are going to use an outdoor grill, gas or charcoal will work.

For the skewers, you only need these if you want to cook the Picanha the traditional Churrascaria way. You can certainly simply lay the steaks on the grill without the skewers. If you do go the skewer route, I like metal skewers vs. wood so that you don’t have to worry about them burning up. You also can wash and reuse metal ones. LONG skewers are best. Look for 14″ or longer so that whether you want to grill a little or a lot of food, you have the space on the skewer. Here is the long metal skewer that I really like!

I also like to use a large sheet pan (I use a 17×11) to place the skewers as I build them.

Recipe Tips & Where to Buy

Plan ahead! If you want to make this Brazilian Steak recipe, make sure that you have the skewers. Make the Brazilian Steak Seasoning ahead. And make sure you order the steak ahead if you need to.

The Brazilian Picanha cut is a particular cut of steak that is not usually readily available at grocery stores in the United States. You can ask your local butcher if they can cut a whole picanha for you, but it may already be cut into other steaks. If you have trouble sourcing this cut from the local store, you can buy it online very easily! My personal preference was to buy it through ChopBox. ChopBox partners with farms that value sustainable farming practices. You also do not need to sign up for a monthly membership if you only need to make this one purchase.

How to Make this Picanha Steak Recipe

The best way to prep the meat is to place the sirloin cap (picanha) steak with the fat side down on a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife, cut the steak going with the grain into 1-inch thick slices. Each slice will have a thick layer of fat along the bottom.

Once the steak is sliced into thick pieces (you will get 6-8 slices depending on the size of the steak), season with the salt and then the Brazilian steak seasoning.

Skewering is the traditional recipe and way it is cooked. If you want to skewer the picanha for the classic preparation, you will start to skewer through the fat side, fold over the steak and skewer back through the other fat side. If grilling outside, I like to place the raw skewered meat on an aluminum foil lined sheet pan. Then when I transfer it to the grill, I discard the aluminum and have a clean pan to place the cooked meat.

Grilling your Brazilian Steak Recipe

For grilled picanha steak, preheat the grill (gas grill or charcoal grill) on high heat (approximately 400 F degrees). Place the skewers or place steaks on a diagonal along the grill.* Cook for 5 minutes and then flip and cook for another 5 minutes. If you want medium rare, the steaks are probably done at this point. If you want Medium, flip again with the steaks going the other diagonal direction to get beautiful cross grill marks. Cook another 5 minutes. And finally, for well done, flip a fourth time, again going the opposite diagonal direction and cook for 5 minutes.

Total cooking times: Medium rare = 10 minutes, Medium = 15 minutes, Well = 20 minutes.

*Note: this cut of meat generally does not need any additional oil, but if you are concerned about it sticking to the grill, you can brush with olive oil.

Broiling the Picanha Brazilian Steak

If you do not have a grill available, the broiler is a great option to cook picanha as it's an open flame that can give the meat a nice char and really bring out the natural flavor. Preheat the broiler on high heat. Place the skewers on a sheet pan under the broiler and cook for 8-10 minutes, until you start to see a char on the top. Flip and cook for another 0-10 minutes. If it tool 10 minutes to brown the meat and you want medium rare, you may not want to flip them at all, as they are likely cooked to Medium-Rare.

Total cooking times: Medium rare = 10 minutes, Medium = 15 minutes, Well = 20 minutes.

What to Serve with Brazilian Brazilian Steak

Traditionally, you will find Rice and Feijao, a Brazilian Beans recipe. My mother in law, who grew up in Brazil, always serves steak with this absolutely bright and delicious Tomato and Onion Sauce. It's a salsa-like sauce, almost like a pico de gallo so you eat a little bit with each bite of steak. It has tomato, onion, white or red wine vinegar, and fresh herbs, such as basil.

Brazilian Cilantro Chimichurri Recipe is delicious on any steak and this one is no exception!

You can also serve delicious Kale with Bacon - Couve Mineira, which is kale sauteed with bacon and it's divine! Finally, Hearts of Palm Gratin is a creamy and delicious side for this Picanha.

Brazilian Steak Recipe FAQs

Check out the web story for this Picanha Brazilian Steak Recipe!