If you're on a low-carb ketogenic diet like the Carnivore Diet or need high-quality animal fat for cooking, skincare, or improving your nutrition, you should try beef tallow. The best beef tallow brands ensure high quality by using grass-fed and pasture-raised beef. Here’s what you need to know to find the best beef tallow brands.
Highlights
Tallow is rendered fat from melting and simmering suet (raw fat), which separates the solid components from the liquid fat.
You must consider the source of the beef, its packaging, and its expiration date to get fresh, high-quality tallow.
The best tallow brands use grass-fed and pasture-raised beef with traditional rendering methods to produce high-quality tallow.
Fatworks, Epic Provisions, and U.S. Wellness Meats are among the best beef tallow producers.
What Is Beef Tallow?
Beef tallow is melted beef fat. It is similar to suet or lard but made using a special process. Tallow comes from the hard fat around a cow’s organs, especially the kidneys and loins.
Before it’s melted, this fat is called suet, which has a rougher texture and is ideal for baking pastries, dumplings, and pie crusts. When suet is slowly melted, the rough bits are strained out, leaving a smooth tallow behind.
Tallow is a versatile ingredient that can be used as a cooking oil. It stays solid at room temperature and can last about a year on the shelf. It can also last up to 18 months in the fridge and up to two years in the freezer.
Outside the kitchen, it’s useful for making candles, soaps, cleaning products, skin creams, healing balms, and even industrial lubricants.
However, not all beef tallows are suitable for cooking or skincare, and many factors must be considered before buying.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), beef tallow is the second most widely used cooking fat in the United States, accounting for around 12% of total cooking fat consumption.
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Factors to Consider When Buying Beef Tallow
When buying beef tallow, there are many factors to keep in mind to ensure you're making the best choice, including:
Source of the Beef: Look for tallow made from grass-fed and pasture-raised cows. This type of beef tallow is generally considered healthier and more nutritious because it contains higher omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients like CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and vitamins A, D, and E. These nutrients support heart health, boost the immune system, and promote healthy skin [1] [2].
Purity: Ensure the tallow is 100% pure, with no additives, preservatives, or fillers. Some products mix tallow with other fats or include artificial ingredients, which can reduce the quality.
Rendering Method: The method used to render the fat can impact the quality of the tallow. Slow rendering at low temperatures is generally preferred because it preserves nutrients and produces cleaner fat.
Packaging and Shelf Life: Always check the expiration date and how the tallow is packaged. It should be stored in airtight containers to prevent spoilage and extend its shelf life. Glass jars are often preferred over plastic containers because they don't leach chemicals and help preserve the tallow’s flavor and quality.
Reputation of the Brand: Research the brand you're buying from. Look for reviews, certifications, and their sourcing and rendering processes to ensure you purchase from a reputable brand.
Since it can be challenging to find reliable producers of beef tallow with all the brands in the market, we have collected 8 beef tallow brands with high-quality products.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that global beef tallow production was around 3.5 million metric tons in 2019, with the top producers being the United States, Brazil, and China.
The 8 Best Beef Tallow Brands
Here are the 8 best beef tallow brands, selected based on consumer reviews, product ingredients, and quality of their beef tallows:
Fatworks
Epic Provisions
U.S. Wellness Meats
Primal Pastures
Fat of the Land
Ancestral Supplements
White Oak Pastures
Aloha Tallow
Fatworks
Fatworks grass-fed beef tallow is a high-quality cooking fat made from 100% grass-fed cows, showing the brand's commitment to using natural ingredients.
The cows are raised on pasture and eat natural grasses, resulting in rich, flavorful tallow packed with beneficial nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and fat-soluble vitamins.
With its high smoke point, this tallow is perfect for high-heat cooking, such as frying, sautéing, or roasting. It’s also versatile outside the kitchen, suitable for skincare, candle making, and other DIY projects.
Fatworks ensures there are no additives, preservatives, or fillers—just pure beef fat carefully rendered. You can find it on Amazon, the Fatworks website, and health food stores.
Epic Provisions is a brand dedicated to creating high-quality and nutrient-dense products. It strongly believes that how animals are raised directly affects the quality and nutritional value of food.
Epic Provisions is committed to offering delicious products supporting sustainable and ethical farming practices. It is known for its innovative meat-based snacks and cooking fats, and its grass-fed beef tallow is one of its most popular products.
Their focus on grass-fed sourcing ensures that the animals are healthier, which results in products rich in essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and antioxidants.
Epic Provisions' beef tallow is carefully rendered using traditional methods to preserve its natural flavor and nutritional value, making it a good choice for those who prioritize taste and health in their cooking.
Epic Provisions products are widely available in major retailers like Whole Foods, health food stores, and online platforms like Amazon.
U.S. Wellness Meats
U.S. Wellness Meats sources all its products from family farms focusing on healthy and regenerative farming techniques. These farms raise animals on pasture without using hormones, antibiotics, or GMO feeds and ensure the final product is as natural and nutritious as possible.
Their beef tallow is made from the fat of grass-fed and pasture-raised cows, which is key to its quality. This approach results in a flavorful tallow rich in beneficial nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, CLA, and vitamins A, D, and E, which support heart and brain health and offer anti-inflammatory benefits [3] [4].
U.S. Wellness Meats uses a traditional rendering process that involves slowly cooking the beef fat at low temperatures to extract the purest tallow possible. This method preserves the fat's quality and creates a smooth and versatile product that can also be used for skin care.
U.S. Wellness Meats Beef Tallow can be purchased directly from its website, which offers a range of packaging options to meet different needs.
Primal Pastures
Primal Pastures is a family-owned farm dedicated to ethical and sustainable animal raising to provide high-quality food products for consumers. Its philosophy is that animals should be raised in their natural environment.
This approach ensures that the animals live healthy lives, which results in meat and fat products that are richer in flavor and more nutrient-dense. Their beef tallow, made from the fat of grass-fed and pasture-raised cows, proves the benefits of this farming method.
Primal Pastures carefully renders its beef tallow using traditional methods. Beyond just producing high-quality food, it’s committed to educating consumers about the benefits of regenerative agriculture and the importance of knowing where their food comes from.
They offer farm tours, workshops, and other educational resources to help people appreciate the value of supporting local and sustainable farms.
Primal Pastures products, including their beef tallow, can be purchased directly from their website. They also participate in local farmers' markets and offer home delivery within certain areas.
Fat of the Land
Fat of the Land is a premium, hand-rendered beef tallow brand emphasizing ethical sourcing and traditional preparation methods. This company produces beef fat from grass-fed and finished cattle, ensuring the tallow is flavorful and nutrient-rich.
A key feature of Fat of the Land's tallow is its versatility, which makes it suitable for a wide range of culinary applications, from frying and roasting to baking and sautéing.
Fat of the Land tallow contains only one ingredient: 100% pure beef tallow, with no additives or preservatives. This simplicity makes it a good choice for those following specific diets, such as Paleo or Ketogenic.
This tallow can be purchased directly from the producer’s website, local farmers' markets, and health food stores.
Ancestral Supplements
Ancestral Supplements is a health supplement brand with the slogan, "Put back in what the modern world left out," reflecting its commitment to promoting a holistic approach to health and wellness.
It is known for its grass-fed beef organ supplements, which freeze-dry and encapsulate organs to preserve their nutritional integrity. This method allows consumers to access the rich vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds in organ meats.
Ancestral Supplements offers a range of products, including supplements made from beef liver, heart, kidney, and other organs and beef tallow.
All products are sourced from high-quality, grass-fed, and grass-finished cattle from New Zealand and Australia. You can find detailed information about their products on their website and Amazon.
White Oak Pastures
White Oak Pastures is a 3,200-acre organic farm in Bluffton, Georgia. Captain James Edward Harris founded it and has operated since the Civil War. Will Harris, the fourth generation of the Harris family, has managed the company since 1995.
Since 2015, White Oak Pastures has been recognized as Georgia's largest and most diverse organic farm. It is known for its diverse range of livestock, including goats, hogs, chickens, sheep, and ducks.
The farm is notable for its commitment to progressive, no-waste, and regenerative agriculture practices. White Oak Pastures has invested significantly in infrastructure to support these sustainable practices.
In 2008, the farm opened the first federally approved, on-site slaughterhouse, allowing it to process cattle into beef on-site. You can purchase White Oak Pastures products directly from their website or Amazon.
Aloha Tallow
Aloha Tallow offers beef tallow, which is known for its rich nutrient profile, including essential fatty acids and vitamins beneficial for both body and skin.
Due to its high smoke point and distinctive flavor, this tallow is a popular alternative to traditional cooking oils.
In addition to its culinary uses, Aloha Tallow is known for its skincare benefits, which provide effective moisturization and nourishment. This brand is committed to a high-quality production process that slowly renders fat to maintain its natural qualities.
You can purchase Aloha Tallow directly from their website, where you’ll also find information on how to use it in recipes and skincare.
You can use beef tallow as a cooking oil for high-heat methods and as a skincare product for its moisturizing and nourishing benefits.
The best beef tallow brands on the Carnivore Diet use grass-fed and pasture-raised cattle to ensure a higher nutrient profile and better quality.
To find high-quality products, always look for brands that use traditional rendering methods and provide clear information about sourcing and packaging.
