Steak pizzaiola, also known as carne pizzaiola, is a delicious main dish made of a steak, simmered in a red sauce until tender and flavorful. The steak is seared in a hot pan to brown it and add flavor, braised until tender, and served with sauce, and it can be paired with pasta or veggies.

Steak pizzaiola originated from Italian cooks who wanted to transform less tender and cheaper cuts of meat, like beef chuck steak, top round steak, sirloin tip, eye of round, bottom round, and top blade, into a velvety soft dish coated in red sauce. Tougher cuts of meat have hard-working muscles with more tough connective tissue, which take longer to break down but provide a rich flavor.

When making this dish you will want to be sure you are using a well-marbled cut for additional flavor. If you use a tender cut like sirloin, you only need to simmer the meat in the sauce for a couple of minutes, but for tougher cuts, leave it simmering for a couple of hours until the steak is very tender.