Tag: Mercalaspalmas
The Meat Lover’s Guide to Gran Canaria: Best Butchers and Steaks
If you’ve been on a mission for juicy steaks, organic chicken, or ground beef without mystery additives, you’re not alone. Gran Canaria isn’t always the easiest place to find premium cuts, but with a bit of local know-how, your next barbecue or carnivore meal can go from meh to mouthwatering. Whether you’re after dry-aged ribeye, 8kg chunks of beef, or just a pack of additive-free mince, here’s where to go shopping like a meat pro in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
🥩 Pasto y Bellota (Guanarteme and Beyond)
Let’s start with one of the stars of the Slack chat: Pasto y Bellota. This gourmet butcher shop has several locations, with the Guanarteme one being the go-to for many. Their meat comes from farms in Ciudad Real and Toledo, including grass-fed, free-range beef. If you ask, they can also get you organic chicken. Expect top quality and some real Spanish countryside flavours on your plate.
📍 Calle Simancas 39, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
🐄 Mercado Central & Vegueta Market
The Mercado Central (near Mesa y López) is a meat lover’s playground. One standout? Grass-fed sirloin from Galicia for around €20/kg. You can also ask for meat to be minced fresh at the counter (and even request they add some fat back in, if you’re feeling old-school carnivore). It’s ideal for sausages, burgers or anyone dodging filler-laden pre-packaged mince.
In Vegueta market, head in through the Pío XII entrance, pass the fruit stalls, and find the beef section on your left. One member swears by their Uruguayan fillet/lomo, saying it’s some of the best they’ve had.
📍 Mercado Central: Calle Galicia, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
📍 Mercado de Vegueta: Calle Mendizábal, Vegueta
🧺 Tierra Mía (Telde)
A favourite among health-conscious carnivores, Tierra Mía in Telde offers organic and grass-fed meat, and they deliver to Las Palmas too. The quality’s top-notch, and if you’re lucky, you might catch the owner on a delivery run into town.
📍 Telde
🛒 Supermarkets That (Sometimes) Deliver
Carrefour and El Corte Inglés stock grass-fed beef and organic chicken, including 10-packs of organic eggs and some unsalted Kerrygold butter (if you’re going full keto). Carrefour even carries grass-fed ground beef — although always double-check the label for surprise ingredients. When in doubt, ask a butcher to grind it fresh.
Spar Natural and some SuperDino locations also occasionally stock organic or Canarian-sourced meat. One tip: avoid the Brazilian ribeye if you’re picky about flavour — it’s been called “sour” by more than one meat fan.
🧊 Bulk Buy Options: Makro & Mercalaspalmas
If you’re feeding a crowd (or just stocking your freezer like a legend), Makro sometimes sells big beef cuts (think 8kg+). Access can be tricky if you’re not in the hospitality industry, but worth a shot if you’ve got connections.
For the truly dedicated early riser, there’s Mercalaspalmas, the island’s biggest wholesale food market. It opens at 5:00am and supplies half the city’s restaurants. By 7:00am it’s already winding down, so bring coffee, cash, and determination.
🐓 Bonus: El Hierro Meat and Organic Poultry
Several small organic shops stock meat from El Hierro, where animals roam free and live their best island life. It’s a bit harder to track down, but ask around in eco shops or markets. There are also two small organic chicken farms on Gran Canaria that supply local stores — just don’t expect supermarket-level volume or pricing.
🍳 Final Sear
Finding top-tier meat in Gran Canaria might require a little extra effort (and a few WhatsApp messages), but once you’ve located your go-to butcher or market stall, you’ll never look at supermarket mince the same way again. Whether you’re grilling chuletón, simmering bone broth, or just hunting for additive-free ground beef, the island’s got options — you just need to know where to look.
And hey, if you’re planning a carnivore meetup to compare sirloins and swap cooking tips, let us know. We’ll bring the servilletas.