T-Bone Vs Porterhouse Steak: Which Is Usually Cheaper?

As we head into summer and you're ready to fire up the grill, you may be wondering which cuts of meat to pick up at the supermarket that'll be a real crowd-pleaser at your cookouts. Two top contenders: The T-bone and porterhouse steaks. They're both excellent cuts for grilling and often have people pitting them against each other because they have many similarities. They come from the cow's short loin, are sold bone-in, and contain tenderloin and strip steak separated by the bone.

But as food prices rise, you might be looking for a beef bargain. So let's cut to the chase: Despite having things in common, T-bone steaks are generally cheaper. (Fair warning: They're both generally expensive steaks when compared to options like chuck or flank steaks.) That's because they're often sold for similar prices per pound, but T-bones are smaller than porterhouses. And size is in fact one attribute that separates the two cuts. Now let's break down how buying each will affect your wallet.

The T-bone steak is named, of course, after the T-shaped bone that separates the substantial strip steak from the tender filet mignon. It's the smaller steak of the two, weighing around 16 to 24 ounces, or 1 to 1.5 pounds. Both parts of the T-bone are tender, since these muscles aren't essential to the cow's standing or walking. That also means they're generally well-marbled.

Wondering where to pick one up? Stater Bros., one of the best supermarkets to buy meat at in the country, carries them for around $14 a pound in California. On the East Coast, Food Bazaar, noted for its expansive meat departments, sells them at around $16 a pound in the New York City area. When ordering online from Wild Fork Foods, it's about $12 a pound (plus shipping). That means you can expect to pay about $12 to $24 for a single T-bone steak, depending on a variety of factors, including the grade and the vendor.

Now for the porterhouse: The tenderloin part is larger on this cut, meaning it'll have more filet mignon. (To get technical, it could be as wide as two inches on a porterhouse, compared to as little as half an inch on a T-bone.) This cut, too, will be tender and well-marbled, and weighs between 24 to 48 ounces, or 1.5 and 3 pounds.

Checking at the same retailers for porterhouse steak shows that, actually, both Stater Bros. and Food Bazaar sell porterhouses for the same price per pound as T-bones, $14 and $16, respectively. But again, they will end up costing more simply because they weigh more. However, Wild Fork Foods, like other retailers, charges more per pound for a porterhouse. Theirs is $14 a pound, plus shipping. Using these prices, porterhouse steaks fall in the range of $21 to $48 per steak, depending on a variety of factors.