The 5 Best Meat Tenderizers for Every Home Cook, According to Our Tests (2024)

Sure, you might splurge on expensive cuts of meat occasionally, but when it comes to weeknight dinners, budget-friendly proteins typically take center stage. If you want to take tough, chewy meats to the next level, we recommend adding a meat tenderizer to your kitchen collection. These convenient tools break down tissues and fibers to improve texture and flavor.

To help you choose the right one, we tested nine meat tenderizers and considered each for its overall look and feel, durability, efficiency, ease of cleaning, and storage. We evaluated both mallet and blade models while flattening chicken breast and tenderizing inexpensive skirt steak. These are the best meat tenderizers we found.

Our Takeaway

Our top pick,the Williams Sonoma Reversible Meat Tenderizer, topped its competitors because of its durable construction, wide surface coverage, and compact size. This meat tenderizer requires a straight up-and-down motion that gives you more control than you'll find with hammer-like designs.

Types of Meat Tenderizers

Mallet Tenderizers

Most mallet (or hammer) meat tenderizers have a textured side that pierces the meat as you strike it as well as a flat side that flattens the meat so that it cooks evenly.

Not only does the hammering motion soften the meat, but the spikes create pockets that allow marinades and seasonings to penetrate further into the meat. For these reasons, mallet tenderizers are considered more versatile, as their dual surfaces let you flatten and puncture meat.

Blade Meat Tenderizers

Blade meat tenderizers and mallet meat tenderizers work to produce a similar result, just by different means. Blade-style tenderizers consist of dozens of needles that cut through the muscle fibers. Not only does this allow any added flavorings to better penetrate the meat, but it can also result in a shorter cooking time.

Keep in mind that needle or blade-style tenderizers aren't preferable for thinner cuts, as they may tear the meat apart entirely. For this reason, they're best reserved for thicker meats like steak. A disadvantage to blade-style meat tenderizers is the cleanup process can be tedious and a little dangerous if you're not careful.

About Our Tests

Allrecipes Product TesterJessica Harlanrounded up a collection of meat tenderizing tools from well-known brands such as OXO, KitchenAid, Rösle, and Farberware. Each was used to flatten a chicken breast for thisQuick Chicken Picattaand to tenderize a cheap cut of steak for thisArgentinian Skirt Steak.

We paid special attention to the following metrics:

• Look and Feel:Is it comfortable to handle? For mallet-style, what types of surfaces does it feature?
• Durability:What is it made of? Does it feel made to last?
• Efficiency:How quickly and easily does it both flatten and/or penetrate the meat? How deeply does it penetrate the meat?
• Cleanup and Storage:Is it dishwasher safe? If not, how easy is it to wash by hand?

The Leftovers: Other Meat Tenderizers We Tested

Although the flat side of the KitchenAid Gourmet Meat Tenderizer works quickly and efficiently, the squared edges can mangle the meat a little if you're not careful. Its metal handle has rubbery inserts to prevent it from slipping out of wet or greasy hands, but it's not particularly comfortable to hold. In contrast, the Farberware Professional Dual-Sided Meat Tenderizer has a smooth plastic handle that was nicely tapered and felt balanced, but we didn't feel confident in its long-term viability.

With a grippy, ergonomically shaped handle, the Norpro Grip-EZ Meat Tenderizer feels sturdy and comfortable in hand, but it requires a decent amount of effort to push down, and it's hard to tell how far the prongs penetrate into the meat. Similarly, the Rösle Spatula Meat Tenderizer's sizable surface efficiently flattens meat, but its significant weight easily tires the wrist. If you eat a lot of chicken piccata and have a strong arm, this meat tenderizer might be a good option for you; otherwise, stick with a lighter, more traditional design.

Common Questions

What does tenderizing meat do?

There are a few situations when tenderizing meat is ideal, the most obvious being when the meat is overly tough. However, maybe the recipe you're making calls for flat meat, such as chicken paillard or fajita steak. If you want to ensure quick and even cooking, pounding the meat flat so that it's the same thickness all around will help. Likewise, tenderizing meat is nice when you're adding it to a stew.

Tenderizing meat softens the protein, making it easier and more pleasant to chew, as well as easier to digest. Whether pounded with a mallet or punctured with blades, tenderizing breaks down tough muscle fibers within meat. Additionally, bladed tenderizers create uniform holes in the meat so marinates can soak in deep and infuse the protein with more flavor.

Naturally tender cuts of beef—such as sirloin, ribs, and the aptly named tenderloin—tend to be fairly pricey. If you're on a budget, tenderizing tougher cuts—including shank, chuck, and brisket—can be friendlier on the wallet.

How do you tenderize meat?

As mentioned above, there are two types of meat tenderizing tools: mallets or blades. Both are fairly straightforward—pound or puncture the cut repeatedly. If you want to cut down on mess while using a mallet, place some plastic wrap over the meat before hammering away. However, don't use plastic wrap if tenderizing with a bladed tool (nobody wants bits of plastic in their food).

Allrecipes has a handy trick for tenderizing meat using a very common pantry ingredient, though it is better used on thinner steaks and ground beef burgersrather than tough cuts of meat.

Why Take Our Word For It?

Allrecipes provides cooking tips, recipe inspiration, expert product knowledge to home cooks all over the world. Our Ecommerce Writer Melanie Fincher and Product Tester Jessica Harlan, who has written nine cookbooks, selected the best meat tenderizers on our list after evaluating a variety of models' overall look and feel, durability, efficiency, and ease of cleaning and storage.

This article was updated by writer Allison Wignall, a self-described carnivore who will never turn down a good, garlicky steak. Her work has been featured in Food & Wine, the Spruce Eats, Southern Living, and more.