Petite tender substitutes

Marketed as the "second-most-tender muscle in the steer" after the tenderloin. Petite tender shares the long, narrow, very-fine-grain character of filet mignon at a fraction of the price; the trade-off is less marbling and a slightly more pronounced beefy flavour.

Both small premium chuck-area muscles. Petite tender (teres major) is the US/modern butcher cut, macreuse à bifteck is the French CAP-boucher equivalent in its anatomical zone.

Sister chuck cut — paleron is the larger flat-iron-adjacent shoulder muscle, petite tender is the smaller teres major beneath it. Both come from the same shoulder primal but petite tender is naturally tender (chef-grade), paleron is naturally tougher (long-cook braise).