Picanha Roast

Want to make the most beautiful roast for a Sunday supper, holiday centerpiece or just because? You need to learn how to make a Picanha Roast, which starts on the stovetop and finishes in the oven. This fairly hands-off technique is the secret to success and an incredibly delicious meal. Served with the right side dishes, it gives Brazilian barbecue vibes all day, everyday!

So… no grill? No problem!! And if you do have a grill, try our Grilled Picanha Recipe!

Why I love this Picanha Roast recipe

Oi, Gente!

This recipe is perfect for many occasions. Switch up what you serve it with as I show you at the bottom of the post, and you can capture churrasco vibes when you don’t even have a grill, host a fun Sunday supper or straight up impress your meat-loving familia with a stunning and delicious holiday spread.

For real: this is the one roast recipe you need to really know, then rinse and repeat all year long.

And the best part is it’s so so so easy to make.

And yes, this post is a little long, but I promise you the recipe itself is not hard. I’m sharing as much detailed information and why it all matters below, so you can learn why we’re making certain choices and take this knowledge into your own kitchen.

So, don’t fret — a lot of these steps are set it and forget it and just watch the meat (and fat) do their thing!

With all that being said, there is one major thing I want you to keep in mind before we get started because it influences all our choices in this recipe, and it is this: the picanha fat cap is GOLD.

To make sure that we cook everything perfectly and use all that gold to our advantage (and to our tastebuds’ delight), we work our temperatures wisely.

Everything: from when to take the meat out of the refrigerator to the temperature we sear the meat at, to roasting and getting the perfect internal temperature for you is crucial information, and I have all that details for you below!

Now, let’s move on to all these deets, shall we?

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!

Beijinhos xoxo

Other meaty dinner options to try: Steak and Onions (Bife Acebolado), Ribeye Steak Marinade, Tri Tip Marinade!

Ingredients:

• Coarse salt — sal grosso or Brazilian barbecue salt is what you want. I use this one, also linked below.
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh thyme and rosemary — I like to use a little bit of both, but if you just have one or the other, that’s OK, too. Just make sure you use enough to ensure enough aromas are released…
• Bay leaf
• Garlic cloves

And, of course, you can’t make picanha roast without picanha!

Picanha is the Portuguese name for culotte, a cut of meat sourced from the top sirloin, also known as a sirloin cap.

This isn’t a cut that’s available everywhere.

• Usually, in US grocery stores, they’ve already cut the roast into thin steaks, but you can ask the butcher if they have a whole piece of sirloin cap.
• A Brazilian grocery store will most certainly always have it though, so check your nearest one, or a Latin grocery store.

Keep in mind that, a good picanha has a nice fat cap, as shown in the image above. PLEASE do not trim that!! It’s this fat that provides all the flavor, silkiness and mouthfeel to the meat.

Also, a good picanha is never too big, unless it’s from a naturally larger breed of cow — a good size range is from 2.5 lbs./1.2 kg to 3.5 lbs./1.6 kg or so pounds. The one in the photos was about 3.3 lbs./1.5 kg.

If the piece is too big, it may contain parts of another cut of beef. It’ll still be good, but may cook differently and have a different texture.

Shop this recipe

coarse salt – sal grosso

Buy Now →

Cast Iron Braiser

Buy Now →

Instant read meat thermometer

Buy Now →

Brazilian Kitchen Abroad is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

How to make this picanha roast

Rest on the counter. Not you! The meat! Remove the picanha from the refrigerator about 30 minutes to an hour before you intend to cook it.

This is a big piece of meat with a thick fat cap component, so if the meat is too cold in the center it won’t cook properly. I can’t stress this enough, meus amigos. This may seem like useless advice, but it’s actually one of the key steps you need to take towards a perfect picanha roast.

Preheat the oven. We want it piping hot so the meat cooks efficiently, so preheat it as soon as you begin to ensure it is at 395°F/200°C by the time the meat goes in.

Pat dry. Start by removing the meat from its packaging. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Any blood or moisture that goes in the pan will steam and mess up what we’re trying to do in this first step, which is get a nice sear.

We also don’t want any debris that can burn and consequently carry that bitter flavor into our roast. No, thank you!

Cold skillet, fat side down.

Remember this: the fat cap of the picanha is GOLD! Whether you are team “will eat the fat” or team “no fat for me”, the meat fat is our biggest flavoring agent. It provides that velvety mouthfeel and also helps keep the roast moist. So we want to make sure we work this fat right.

In this phase, we want to accomplish two things: render the fat from the cap, and get a nice sear.

To do that, we place the picanha fat side down onto a cold skillet off the heat. If the skillet is hot already, it’ll cook too fast and won’t render the fat cap well. We want to melt the fat, and use it as our only fat for cooking and flavoring.

This is particularly important if you are team “will eat the fat” because if the fat isn’t rendered, you’re left with tough, viscous fat to chew. That is not a great experience.

If you’re team “no fat for me,” with properly rendered fat, you’re left with all the flavor even after you slice off the fat before you eat the meat.

Everyone wins!!

Season one side only. We only want to season the “meat” side of the picanha with freshly ground black pepper and coarse salt at this point.

Press the salt gently onto the meat to ensure it sticks. Otherwise, the salt will fall off and won’t season anything right.

Melt that fat. We can now finally place the skillet on the stovetop over medium heat and begin to render the picanha fat.

We want enough heat but not too much to begin, so a medium heat is a great place to start.

Just leave it there, doing it’s thing. No need to touch it or anything… in around 6-ish minutes, you’ll see the fat starting to melt, as shown in the photos below.

Add more flavor. When you start to see enough fat to where you could scoop a nice spoonful of it, add the bay leaf, garlic cloves, thyme and rosemary to the fat.

Let them fry a bit to release the flavors, then begin to baste the meat with the flavored fat using a spoon. Do this while the fat cap crisps up for a few more minutes. Towards the end, you can increase the heat to medium high so we can get a nice initial crisp on the fat cap.

Flip and keep searing. We want to sear the other sides of the picanha with that rendered fat — approximately 3 minutes per side. This will get the meat in more contact with the flavored fat, and it’ll seal the flavor in so the inside of the meat keeps moisture as we bake on our final step.

Change vessels. When all sides are seared, remove the picanha from the skillet and place it fat side up in a baking dish or another ovenproof skillet without any of the rendered fat.

So… what do you do with the rendered fat? You may discard it at this point. The fat has already worked in our advantage, and we don’t want all that fat splattering in the oven because it will create smoke. That’s no help to anyone.

At this point, whatever is left from our fat cap will continue helping to flavor the meat.

Changing to another baking dish also encourages a more even cooking because this dish isn’t already hot from the stove, which would consequently cook the bottom of the roast faster than the rest.

Season the fat cap. Once the meat is in a new vessel with the fat cap up, it’s time to season again. Season the fat cap with freshly ground black pepper and salt.

Place it in the preheated oven.

Bake to temperature. And for that, I recommend you use a thermometer like this one, or any other instant read thermometer.

Baking for approximately 10 or so minutes should get you somewhere in the vicinity of an internal temperature of 119°-120°F, which is rare, as you see in the photos.

Cook the meat for longer if you like it medium well. See below for more detailed information about cooking temperatures and various levels of doneness.

Let it rest. Once the meat comes within 5 degrees of your desired temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest on a cutting board undisturbed for another 10 minutes or so.

Resting the meat does two really important things.

First, it’ll continue to cook through with the residual heat, at least a few more degrees.

Second, it allows the juices inside the meat to recirculate, which will ensure the meat is juicy throughout and allows the meat to retain those juices once sliced.

Slice and serve. After the picanha has rested, slice it. I like to slice mine on a thinner side, around 1/4″, especially since I like my meat so rare. Anywhere between 1/4″ and 1/2″ will look good on the plate and will be pleasant to eat.

What you need to know about cooking temperatures:

The most important thing to note about cooking your steaks and roasts to the right temperature is that the meat will continue to cook as it rests. Usually, the internal temperature of a properly cooked piece of meat can continue to go up another 5-7 degrees before the rest time is over.

With that in mind, always pull your roast from the oven when it reaches 5 degrees less than how you actually like it cooked to allow the temperature to go up and not overcook.

How to serve

On a given weekend, I love to serve this picanha roast with Brazilian white rice, black beans and an easy veggie, like this air fryer broccolini or fried sweet plantains. It’s also great with carrot rice and pinto beans, or black eyed peas salad.

In the summer, it’s delicious alongside cilantro chimichurri or molho a campanha – Brazilian salsa and Brazilian potato salad with mayo. It gives Brazilian barbecue vibes, which I love!!

For a nicer occasion or a holiday, I tend to serve it with an herb compound butter for extra oompf. One of the things I do also is to serve with Brazilian collard greens with bacon, as you see in the photos, and use this delicious side dish as a beautiful garnish in the same serving platter. And I compliment the meat with smashed or mashed potatoes, walnut rice or Brazilian Christmas rice.

But no matter the occasion, I always serve with farofa!!

As you can see, the pairing possibilities are endless!

How to store and reheat leftovers

If you’ve got leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Reheat in the oven or air fryer.

FOR MORE BRAZILIAN FOOD INSPO, BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON