What is a Coulotte Steak?

By Todd Martin August 11, 2026 3 mins read 4 Views

We outline what is a coulotte steak, including where it comes so you can order it from any butcher, as well as tips for proper preparation. In the future, I will include some video of a meat cutter carving these out of the sirloin primal (yes, it is technically a sirloin steak) so you can see where they come from. Stay tuned for that.

A wooden cutting board covered with sliced coulotte steak, cooked to a perfect medium rare with a black knife near the bottom

What is a Coulotte Steak?

The coulotte comes from the sirloin primal. In particular, from the top of the sirloin which is why it also called top sirloin cap steak. But it’s most famous alias is picanha. Although, with traditional picanha, a thick layer of fat is left on the steak. Remove that fat and it’s called coulotte but the meat section is the exact same as the picanha. Since the sirloin primal is located at the top of the rear legs near the rear end of the cow, it’s also called rump cap, rump cap steak, or rump steak.

“Coulotte” is actually a French word “culot” meaning “cap.”

Keep in mind, there are those that are big fans of the picanha, in fact, most of the South American continent, that will argue vehemently that a coulotte steak is not the picanha without the fat and may actually throw down if they ever see you remove said fat.

Ye have been warned.

Don’t think about showing them this, which is a coulotte folded over like a picanha before going on a skewer. They get real mad when you do 🤣 :

Raw coulotte steak bent over like picanha, held in a hand over a wooden cutting board with a red-and-white checkered tablecloth in the background.

Here is a diagram of where the coulotte/picanha comes from:

A diagram showing what is a coulotte steak

Sirloin Steak?

I realize that when I mention sirloin steak, one thinks of deep red steaks with very little marbling that are overcooked in a heartbeat thanks to a lack of fat. OR, you think all-you-can-eat steak houses that have been around since the 1960’s. Either way, despite both being sirloin, they just aren’t the same. Coulotte steak is more marbled and has a larger window for keeping it tender and juicy. It’s also much more tender.

For me, it is closest to the NY strip steak in terms of both size, tenderness, and beefy flavor. At the same time, it is usually considerably cheaper than the strip loin, which means I’m more than happy to substitute the coulotte for a strip steak to save some money without sacrificing any flavor. For me, the biggest downside is availability. NY Strips are everywhere. Coulotte steaks are hard to find.

This is an entire rump cap or sirloin cap:

Raw rump cap on a dark cutting board with a stainless steel grill in the background on a wooden deck.

The upper left side of the roast is thicker than the point at the bottom right, which gets fairly thin.

I generally carve the sirloin cap into long strips similar to a NY strip steak. I can usually go a little thinner than a typical strip loin, allowing me to feed more people. With a family of 6, that’s important to me:

Raw sirloin coulotte steaks seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic on a black cutting board, with a knife visible in the background.

Notice the marbling on the sides where I sliced as well as the top of that end piece in the pic above.

The thicker side of the sirloin cap, I slice into the long strips.

The flatter, pointy part, I leave wider as it isn’t as thick so the coulotte steaks will have similar weights and similar cooking times:

Three raw beef sirloin cap steaks seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic on a and infrared burner.

Three rump cap steaks on the grill with excellent cross hatch grill marks

Sliced grilled coulotte steak on a wooden cutting board with a chef in the background.

For me, my go-to cooking method is SPG (salt, pepper, garlic) and a super hot grill.

That’s it.

Sure, you can reverse sear it, sous vide it and a cast iron skillet will do wonders, but I’m the Grillin’ Fool, not the Skillet Fool. Wait, I think I need to go see if that domain is available! BRB.

OK, back to the topic at hand.

Once I sear the coulotte steak top and bottom, I serve it. Boom! Done:

Grilled coulotte steak held over a barbecue grill, close-up shot highlighting char marks and juicy texture