Getting ready to plan your dinner for the week? Or perhaps a home-cooked dinner date with your significant other? Maybe a nice, intimate family meal to jumpstart the week ahead? We’ve got you covered.

Today, we’ll talk about the best food and wine to pair with the ever delicious and healthy meat- beef. And if you don’t have it as a part of your weekly diet, well, now is the time to include it.

Don’t get us wrong- beef is delicious on its own. A simple rare steak has that power to into wonderful flavors in your mouth all on its own. But, there is absolutely no reason to take things up a notch and enter beefy heaven by pairing your beef with some interesting complementary side dishes and drinks.

Food Pairings

First, let’s talk about food. There is a way to bring out that amazing beefy flavor no matter what cut of beef you work with, or how you cook it. This is by complementing your beef with a few select side dishes that go perfectly well with the beef.

Here are a few:

Steaks

What better pairing with a grilled steak than more grilled dishes? Try out some grilled potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, corn, okra, asparagus, carrots, and zucchini, or spice it up with some grilled vegetable skewers. If you’re looking for something that screams fresh, how about a carrot slaw, herbed cucumbers, or pickled yellow squash?

There are also a few salad options to choose from, like a tomato chickpea salad, potato salad, miso salad, cucumber salad, snap pea salad, and so on. But, if you want something more savory, take your pick from baked eggplant, baked summer squash, lemon quinoa, stir fry beans, and tomato and squash gratin.

Stews

Ever had a good beef stew? Then you know it’s filled with that wonderful but subtle and delicate flavor. Getting the most of that flavor means getting creative in your sides, from baked delicacies, to veggies and salads.

For soft and airy breads, the best options are baguettes and dinner rolls. But, if rice is more your thing, you can’t go wrong with white rice, brown rice, and rice pilaf. Stews also go well with salads, like greens, brussel sprouts, caesar, wedge, and tomato. Or, you can try some mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. Of course, there are also other wonderful options, like roasted potatoes, polenta, and couscous.

Tenderloins

Another yummy cut of beef is the tenderloin, which can be cooked in many different ways, and beautifully paired with dozens of different sides, like the classic no fail rice and mashed potatoes, or the delicious yorkshire pudding.

If you want a bit more complexity, you can also get lovely flavors from cheesy broccoli gratin, bean and mushroom casserole, or some grilled and roasted veggies, such as roasted sweet potatoes and squash, baked potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes, roasted plums, and grilled carrots. For the freshest, tangiest flavors, try out some leeks in vinaigrette, turnips with parmesan and breadcrumbs, grain salad, tomato and feta salad, or some green beans and cucumber.

Wine Pairings

Beef is an amazing meat to pair with wine, not just for special occasions, but for an everyday meal. However, not all wines go with all beef types. Of course, the first rule is to pair red meat with red drinks- in this case, beef with red wine.

But, which red wine would work best greatly depends on the beef cut, how well it’s cooked, and the cooking method used.

When it comes to wine, full bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon go better with rare beef which has all that intense beefy flavors, while the more delicate reds Bordeaux are more compatible with thoroughly cooked beef.

Moreover, the type of sauce also affects how well the wine will blend with the beef’s flavors. For one thing, wine infused sauces are better paired with full-bodied wines, while classic gravies go perfectly with classic wines. And then there are fresh and creamy sauces that would go well with fruity wines like Malbec.

To a lesser extent, the side dishes and vegetables also influence the wine’s taste. The best practice is to focus on one element- meaning, elegant and complex side dishes with simple, classic wines, or just one or two side dishes with a special bottle.

If you consider yourself as a certified meat lover, you should be making the most of this mouthwatering journey- but, more often than not, the meat you can get from a supermarket just doesn’t cut it.

The best solution is for you to find a local butcher that you can trust and get your supply of high quality meat from, whether it’s for weekly visits to get fresh meat, or to stock up on freezer meat every season.

Not quite convinced? Well, here are the reasons and undeniable benefits of why you should buy your meat from your local butcher:

Local butchers always offer a wide selection of quality products.

The Benefits of Buying Your Meat From The Local Butcher

The most important thing that distinguishes your local butcher from the nearby supermarket is the freshness of their products. Live animals are slaughtered in their in house facility every couple of days, then cut and ground on the day of your purchase (a lot of local butchers even cut the meat right in front of you), so you know that what you are buying is as fresh as it can get.

Plus, you know exactly where your meat is coming from. Local butchers take great pride in sourcing only the best meat- all natural, humanely raised, free range, antibiotic and hormone free, and right from their trusted local farms and producers.

In terms of the selection itself, local butchers do not shy away from offering rare and lesser known cuts that you will have a hard time finding in your nearby supermarket (especially since they have a tendency to display only the popular ones in the name of profit), and even wild game meats so you can spice up your palate.

You are sure to get reliable and trusted personalized service.

Local butchers are the best when it comes to providing a friendly atmosphere supplemented by approachable and reliable staff whom you can get to know and trust. From their personalized recommendations and tailored information on everything meat related, you know you are taken care of.

One thing that you can get from local butchers and not from supermarkets is the option to request for custom cuts that are perfectly tailored to your needs and specifications. You don’t have to make do with the standard cuts, sizes, and packaging that the supermarkets offer.

And, you get first dibs on seasonal specials, new samples of their processed concoctions, the best artisanal meats, and many more.

It expands your culinary experience.

Purchasing meat from a local butcher is not a simple transactional process, like your weekly grocery trips to the supermarket. From selecting the right meats, to seeing them cut and prepared just the way you like it, to getting much appreciated help from the staff who are always ready to guide you on how to pick, prepare, cook, and serve your meat perfectly, your trip to the butcher is sure to be an enlightening culinary experience.

Moreover, with all that helpful guide and the wide selection of products, you can abandon your apprehensions, and rather, explore and experiment on different cuts and types of meat, whether it’s a wild game meat or a particularly rare cut that you’ve never cooked before.

It’s money well spent.

One misconception when buying from a local butcher as opposed to a supermarket is that it’s more expensive. This is not necessarily true. Sure, in some instances, the costs may seem a little higher, but you are paying for the personalized service and the freshness of the meat, plus, you are getting better quality meat cut in just the way that you’ll get as much out of it as possible.

Besides, you can easily find the right cuts and sizes that fit your budget range. Your local butcher will happily cut your meat however you desire, or offer you a lesser known meat cut that is just as delicious but less expensive, so you don’t have to spend big bucks just to be able to eat gourmet restaurant quality meat.

And, most importantly, when you buy from a local butcher, you are supporting the local industry- small local businesses, from the farmers and producers, to the butchers and meat processors- so you know your money is going to the right place.