How to Select & Cook Lean Meats

Meats: Keep it Lean! Lean meats are encouraged as part of building a healthy plate. Watch H-E-B Registered Dietitian Stacy give tips on how to select lean beef, build a healthy plate and serve proper portion sizes.

Quick tips to start your lean meat diet:

• The leanest beef cuts include round steaks and roasts (round eye, top round, bottom round, round tip), top loin, top sirloin, and chuck shoulder and arm roasts.

• The leanest pork choices include pork loin, tenderloin, center loin and ham.

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts and turkey cutlets are the leanest poultry choices.

• Choose extra lean ground beef. The label should say at least "90% lean." You may be able to find ground beef that is 93% or 95% lean.

• Buy skinless chicken parts or take off the skin before cooking.

• Trim away all of the visible fat from meats and poultry before cooking. This can lower total fat per serving by 50%!

• Choose lean turkey, roast beef, ham, or low-fat lunch meats for sandwiches instead of luncheon meats with more fat, such as regular bologna or salami.

• Broil, grill, roast, poach or boil meat, poultry, or fish instead of frying.

• Drain off any fat that appears during cooking.

• Skip or limit the breading on meat, poultry, or fish. Breading adds fat and calories. It will also cause the food to soak up more fat during frying.

• The correct portion of protein is about the size of your palm or about 3 ounces

• Divide your plate: about half should be vegetables, one fourth protein and one fourth whole grains

• Learn more about lean meats and view our list of the 7 low-fat cuts.