The Turkish pantry

Beef chuck

Beef chuck is suited to the slow cooking used for kavurma. Cut evenly and allow time for the meat to soften before reducing the cooking juices.

Last updated: 17 October 2026

Raw beef chuck for stew, with edible lean and fat. It is not ground beef, a quick-cooking steak or a finished portion of kavurma.

Red raw beef chuck cubes with pale fat seams on a cream plate.

Types & forms

Chuck pieces

Even cubes suit the linked kavurma method and cook more consistently than mixed large and small pieces.

Whole chuck

Ask the butcher to trim and cut it for the recipe; a whole roast needs a different cooking plan.

What to look for when buying

Ask for chuck suitable for slow cooking, with the amount of visible fat your recipe requires. A lean steak is not the same cut.
Choose chilled meat in intact packaging and have it cut evenly if you do not want to prepare it yourself.

Prepare & cook

Trim tough surface tissue and cut as the recipe directs. Brown or cook in batches if needed so the pan is not overloaded.
Continue the recipe’s gentle cooking until the pieces yield easily; check the liquid before the pan becomes dry.
Keep raw meat and its utensils away from ready-to-eat food. Check whole cuts reach at least 145°F, followed by a 3-minute rest; these slow-cooked dishes need further cooking for tenderness, not merely the minimum temperature.

Store it well

Keep raw meat in a leak-proof container at 40°F or below, separate from ready-to-eat food. Use whole cuts within 3–5 days; use cubed stew meat within 1–2 days, or freeze. Follow an earlier package date.
Thaw in the refrigerator. Refrigerate cooked meat within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F; use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days and reheat to 165°F.

Substitutions depend on the dish

Another stewing cut

May work in an adapted recipe, but tenderness and timing depend on the cut.

Ground beef

Cannot reproduce whole pieces of kavurma and needs a different method and safety temperature.

Nutrition

Raw beef chuck for stew, lean and fat ^[1]

Per 100 g edible portion
Nutrient	Amount
Energy	128 kcal
Protein	21.8 g
Total fat	4.48 g
Saturated fat	1.86 g
Carbohydrate	0.16 g
Dietary fiber	0 g
Total sugars	0 g
Sodium	80 mg
Cholesterol	64 mg
Calcium	13 mg
Iron	2.12 mg
Potassium	367 mg
Vitamin D	0.1 µg

USDA reference per 100 g of edible raw beef chuck lean and fat, all grades. No bone or finished kavurma; trimming and cooking change composition. Values are rounded for readability; “not reported” does not mean zero. A “<” value is below the source’s measurement limit.

Nutrition values come from the reference source named above. They are published reference values, not our own measurements. Actual products and cooking methods may change the values.

At the Turkish table

Et Kavurma uses chuck pieces cooked until tender, then finishes the meat with its reduced juices. The goal is soft pieces with concentrated flavor, not a briefly seared steak.