Flank Steak
Beef in the Midwest · steady this week
Per a typical 140g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Beef, flank, steak, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, choice, raw).
Buying flank steak in the Midwest saves about 35% versus the Northwest this week.
- How to pick a good one
- A flat, wide, lean cut with a very pronounced grain running lengthways — you should be able to see the muscle fibres clearly. Look for an even thickness across the whole piece, since thin tapered ends overcook while the middle is still rare.
- What a good price looks like
- Once a cheap cut, now $9 to $14 a pound thanks to its popularity. Under $9 is a good price. Skirt steak cooks and slices the same way and is often cheaper; flap meat, sometimes labelled sirloin tip, is cheaper still and works in every dish flank is used for.
- What you actually get
- A 1.5 lb flank cooks to about 1.1 lb and serves four. Loss is around 25%. It is sold trimmed with essentially no waste, which makes the per-pound price closer to the true cost than for most cuts.
- How to store it
- Three to five days refrigerated. It marinates well, so it is a good candidate for prepping a day ahead.
- In the kitchen
- Thin, lean, and strongly grained. Two rules cover it: do not cook past medium, and slice thinly across the grain at an angle. Get either wrong and it is chewy no matter what you paid. It marinates better than almost any other steak because it is thin and the muscle fibres are open, so an hour genuinely penetrates.
- Getting the most out of it
- Lean and full of flavour but genuinely tough if mishandled. Two rules do all the work: do not cook past medium-rare, and slice it thin across that obvious grain. Marinades with acid help. It is a strong-value cut for fajitas, stir-fries, and salads where it is sliced anyway.
- Steak Pasta SaladRecipe by Two Peas & Their Pod~$2.99 / serving 5 in-season
- Sheet Pan Steak FajitasRecipe by The Recipe Critic~$3.41 / serving 4 in-season
- Slow Cooker Korean BeefRecipe by The Recipe Critic~$3.75 / serving 2 in-season
- Slow Cooker Mongolian BeefRecipe by The Recipe Critic~$3.77 / serving 2 in-season
- Southwest Steak BowlsRecipe by Budget Bytes~$4.11 / serving 5 in-season
- Grilled Flank Steak with Black Bean and Corn SalsaRecipe by Skinnytaste~$4.40 / serving 5 in-season
See all 93 recipes with flank steak →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.
Price from the USDA weekly retail meat report (conventional, per lb). Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.
Flank Steak — FAQ
What's the price of flank steak this week?
As of the week of October 2, 2026, the price of flank steak in the Midwest is $12.99/lb, unchanged from last week. Prices come from the USDA's weekly retail meat report.
Which region has the cheapest flank steak right now?
The Midwest has the cheapest flank steak this week at $12.99/lb — about 35% less than the Northwest, where it runs $19.99/lb.
How much protein is in flank steak?
A typical 140g serving of flank steak has about 30.4g protein and 209 calories (8.8g fat), per USDA FoodData Central.
What can I cook with flank steak?
SeasonSort indexes 93 recipes using flank steak, each priced per serving from this week's data — starting from about $1.99 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.