My local Costco started selling Sirloin Steak Marinated in Chimichurri Sauce from the Calle Sabor brand and I decided to give it a try. The steak is graded USDA Choice and the package contains up to 12% chimichurri sauce.
My overall impressions were that the steak is okay but nothing special and there are other steak options at Costco which I prefer more.
Nutrition and Calories
A single serving of this steak is 4 ounces. The servings per package vary but the 2.27 pound package I bought has about 9 servings.
A single serving has the following calories and nutritional information:
- Calories: 240
- Fat: 16g (25% DV)
- Cholesterol: 70mg (23% DV)
- Sodium: 370mg (15% DV)
- Carbohydrates: 2g (1% DV)
- Protein: 22g
It is nice to see that they didn’t use the marinade as an excuse to pump the meat full of sodium.
How to Cook the Sirloin
The packaging gives two sets of cooking instructions, one for the oven/stove and another for grilling.
Both sets of instructions suggest cooking the steak to an internal temperature of 135F for Medium Rare.
Oven/Stove Cooking Instructions
The cooking instructions for the Stove/Oven are:
- Preheat a cast iron skillet on the stove with High Heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Coat the pan with olive oil.
- Sear the steak for two minutes per side.
- Transfer steak to a sheet tray.
- Place the sheet tray in a 375F oven and cook for five minutes or an internal temperature of 135F.
Grilling Instructions
The grilling instructions are:
- Preheat grill on Medium High for 5-7 minutes.
- Lightly oil the grill grates.
- Place the steak on the grill.
- Grill for 3.5 minutes per side or an internal temperature of 135F.
You can cook the steak to well done (160F if desired).
How I Grilled the Steak
I cooked the sirloin on my Weber Traveler gas grill.
The grill was preheated for 10 minutes to give the heavy cast iron grates time to get hot.
While the grill was heating I removed the steak from the package and was surprised to see that instead of a single large steak that it contained seven thin slices of steak.
I arranged the slices as evenly as possible on the grill and cooked for 3.5 minutes per side. I was shooting for an internal temperature of 135F (Medium Rare) but that is really hard to do with such a thin piece of meat.
In the end I ended up overcooking the steak and pulled it when it had reached 148F.
Taste
The steak is decent but not great.
There was plenty of chimichurri flavor from the marinade which contained:
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Onion
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Red wine vinegar
- Lime juice
And while the chimichurri was flavorful it did not overwhelm the beefiness of the sirloin.
As expected, since this was sirloin which is naturally on the tougher side and had been overcooked it was tougher to chew than I preferred. The toughness was exaggerated by the fact that we had recently had Costco’s ultra tender marinated skirt steak and it was fresh in our minds.
At $11 a pound this steak is not a value compared to the Prime Grade Tri Tip you can get at Costco at a lower price.
We ended up enjoying this steak but it is not a product I will be buying again. I get much better results grabbing flank steaks at Costco and doctoring them up just the way I like them.
Very tough. Would not buy again. Flavor was OK, but so much connective tissue and had to chew it like beef jerky.