Picanha
Fat cap • Juicy • Beefy • Brazilian favorite
Scorecard
What does picanha taste like?
Picanha is a lean cut topped by a thick layer of fat. As it cooks, that fat bastes the meat, giving a juicy steak with clean, strong beef flavor.
What does picanha look like?
A triangular cut with a thick, creamy white fat cap on one side and lean deep red meat underneath.
Choose Picanha if you like
- • strong beef flavor
- • crisp fat
- • sharing churrasco-style
Skip it if
- • you don't eat fat
- • you want a very soft steak
Where it comes from: Top of the rump, the sirloin cap — the sirloin section. See the beef cut chart.
Also called: Sirloin Cap, Rump Cap, Coulotte, Culotte.
Often seen in: Brazil, Portugal, Churrascarias.
How to cook picanha
Picanha
Medium rare- Best methods
- Skewered over coals · Fat-cap-down in cast iron
- Typical thickness
- Whole cap, or 1.5 in / 4 cm steaks
- Time per side
- 4–5 min
- Rest
- 8 min
- Pull from heat at
- 130°F
- Final after resting
- 135°F
Start fat-cap down over gentle heat to render, then sear the meat side hard. Salt is all it needs.
Common mistake: Trimming off the fat cap — that cap is the whole point.
What to eat and drink with picanha
A fat cap that bastes the meat as it cooks. Brazilian churrasco already solved what to serve with it.
Sides
Farofa (toasted cassava flour)Classic
The traditional churrasco side; its dryness absorbs the rendered fat.
Vinaigrete (tomato-onion vinegar salad)Classic
Served at every Brazilian steakhouse precisely to cut the fat cap.
Sauces
Coarse rock salt onlyClassic
How picanha is seasoned on the churrasco grill — the cap supplies the rest.
ChimichurriClassic
The wider South American answer to a fatty grilled cut.
Wine
MalbecSommelier consensus
Ripe tannin handles the fat cap without tasting harsh.
Douro red or AlentejoSommelier consensus
Portuguese reds are the traditional pour in Brazil for good reason.