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Skirt steak · Entraña · Fajita meat
Skirt Steak in Spanish Is Entraña
Skirt steak in Spanish is entraña. It is the diaphragm of the animal, a long, thin, coarse-grained strip, and Spanish butchers use the Argentine name for it. Ask for entraña and you will get the right cut, which is also the one to buy for fajitas. We sell it as a 1.5 kg piece from retinto yearling beef, vacuum-packed and delivered chilled.
Order entraña Looking for flank instead?
- Retinto yearling beef, mild and tender
- One 1.5 kg piece, vacuum-packed
- Order by Wednesday 17:00, delivered chilled on Thursday before 13:00 on the Spanish mainland
Entraña and the other thin grilling cuts
Our skirt is a 1.5 kg piece at €29.90 (September 2026), from retinto yearling, the 12 to 24 month age that Spanish shops loosely call ternera. Beside it are the cuts people tend to confuse it with or cook alongside it: flank (vacío) and the two kinds of short-rib strips, tira de asado and churrasco.
Skirt steak (entraña), retinto yearling beef, 1.5 kg
Entraña Añojo Retinto 1,5 KG29,90€ VAT incl.Add to basketShort ribs (churrasco), retinto yearling beef, 1 kg
Churrasco Añojo Retinto, 1 Kg21,12€ VAT incl.Add to basket
Skirt, hanger, flank, bavette: four names, three cuts
These cuts share a look (flat, dark, open-grained) and recipes swap them freely. At a Spanish counter they have separate names.
| English name | Ask for in Spain | Where it sits | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skirt (UK and US; outside skirt) | Entraña | The diaphragm, inside the ribcage | Hot and fast on the barbecue or in a pan; fajitas |
| Onglet (US: hanger steak) | Onglet or solomillo de pulmón. Names vary a lot and many counters do not separate it | Hanging from the diaphragm, below the loin | Pan-fried as a steak, kept rare |
| Flank (US: flank steak) | Vacío, which is part of the falda | The belly wall, behind the ribs | Whole over embers, or marinated and sliced thin |
| Bavette | Vacío again: British butchers use bavette for flank | As flank | As flank |
So skirt is not flank. If a recipe calls for flank, London broil or bavette, go to our flank steak page. The complete list of translations is in the beef cuts in Spanish guide.
Why there is never much of it
An animal has one diaphragm, so a whole carcass yields very little skirt compared with its rump or loin. That is a good reason to buy a whole piece when you see one and freeze part of it. As for the word: the cut is a fixture of the Argentine grill, and it is the Argentine name, entraña, that won in Spain.
Membrane: on or off
Skirt comes wrapped in a thin, pale membrane. Argentine cooks often leave it on for the barbecue, where it crisps and shields the thin meat from the embers. For a pan, for fajitas, or if you simply dislike the chew, take it off: lift a corner with the tip of a knife, grip it with kitchen paper and pull along the length of the piece. Trim any hard fat at the same time, but leave the soft fat; it melts.
Cooking skirt: hot, fast, and mind the knife
- Cut the 1.5 kg piece into lengths that fit your pan or barbecue (US: grill). Freeze the lengths you will not use this week.
- Pat the meat dry and salt it. Get the pan or the grate as hot as it will go.
- Give it two to three minutes per side. The strip is thin, so the outside has to colour before the middle overcooks.
- Aim for medium-rare, 54–57 °C (129–135 °F). Past medium, 60–63 °C (140–145 °F), skirt turns chewy.
- Rest it for a few minutes on a board.
- Slice across the grain. The fibres run across the width of the strip, so cut it into hand-length pieces first, turn each piece a quarter turn and slice it thinly.
Fajita meat in Spain
There is no tray labelled fajita meat at a Spanish butcher’s. Skirt is the traditional cut for fajitas, so ask for entraña. Marinate it for an hour or two in lime juice, garlic, cumin and oil, cook the strip whole as above, and slice it only after it has rested. Sliced first and fried in strips it stews in its own juice. For a mixed grill rather than tortillas, skirt sits well next to asado short ribs and picanha.
Skirt and entraña: common questions
What is skirt steak called in Spain?
Entraña. Spain took the name from Argentina, and it is the word to use at the butcher’s counter.
What is entraña in English?
Skirt steak, in both British and American usage. It is the diaphragm muscle: long, flat and strongly flavoured.
Is skirt the same as flank?
No. Flank is a wider, thicker piece from the belly wall and is called vacío in Spain. The two can stand in for each other in many recipes, but they are different cuts; see the flank steak page.
Is entraña the same as hanger steak or onglet?
No. Onglet hangs from the diaphragm but is a separate, thicker muscle. In Spain it may be offered as onglet or solomillo de pulmón, and many counters do not separate it at all.
Can I freeze entraña?
Yes. It arrives chilled and vacuum-packed. Cut the piece into meal-sized lengths and freeze on arrival whatever you will not cook before the use-by date on the label.