Petite tender is the traditional name in United States. Outside that tradition, butchers carry comparable beef cuts under different names — sometimes the same anatomical piece, sometimes a close cousin. The alternatives below are grouped by country so you can match what your local butcher actually carries.
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).
A regional cut, the dish that defines it, and a side-by-side comparison — straight to your inbox.
Free. Roughly monthly. No tracking pixels.