The contribution of three candidate genes to the variation in meat tenderness was tested in muscle samples from 243 pure-bred, young, beef bulls of Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin and Simmental breeds, raised in Swedish commercial herds. The animals were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the calpain 1 (CAPN1), calpastatin (CAST) and leptin genes. The frequent calpain 1 CAPN1:c.947G>C G allele showed an unfavourable association with tenderness. The calpastatin CAST:c.155C>T T allele, which was the most common allele, showed a favourable association with WarnerBratzler shear force (WBSF) and compression tests. An association was observed between the leptin UASMS2C>T SNP and compression tests.