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Bone-in tomahawk ribeye — the US cut closest to chuletón
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Chuletón is known in English as Prime rib.
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Bone-in tomahawk ribeye — the US cut closest to chuletón
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Chuletón is a very thick bone-in rib steak in Spanish, especially associated with Basque txuleta and mature beef grilled over coals.
Also called
Krista, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Etxebarri_txuleta.jpg
Spain's signature steak — a thick bone-in rib steak, traditionally from old dairy cows (vaca vieja or buey) that have been retired from milking and finished on grass for several months. Aged extensively (often 30+ days), salted heavily, and grilled rare to very rare over hard wood coals. The Basque country is the heartland of the tradition (the Basque term is *txuleta*); the *asadores* of San Sebastián, Tolosa, and Getaria built international reputations around it. Distinguished from generic rib steaks by minimum thickness, breed/age specification (mature dairy cow), and the salt-and-coal preparation.
Chuletón vs other bone-in steaks
- Chuletón
- A thick cross-cut from the rib, commonly served sliced from the bone after hard searing over coals.
- Côte de boeuf
- The closest French presentation: a thick bone-in rib steak, though aging and cattle traditions differ.
- Not a T-bone
- A T-bone comes from the short loin and includes strip loin plus tenderloin separated by a T-shaped vertebra.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Chuletón | Used in Spanish-influenced US restaurants; English-speaking world often translates as 'Basque rib steak' on menus. |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Chuletón | |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Chuletón | |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Chuletón | Argentine usage borrows the Spanish name for thick bone-in rib steaks at high-end steakhouses. |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Chuletónprimary | Basque tradition (Basque: txuleta); aged ex-dairy-cow rib steak, salt-and-coal grilled rare. |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Chuletón | |
| 🇧🇷Brazil | Chuletón |
What to ask for
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Classic recipe
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$ · indoor steak searing and plancha-style cooking
Sear a thick chuletón the way a plancha does
Hard sears when a grill is unavailable or inconvenient.
Lodge 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet
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