Dose-response effect of encapsulated nitrate replacing soybean meal on growth performance, ingestive behavior, and blood metabolites of feedlot finishing bulls

•Dry matter intake reduced linearly with encapsulated nitrate product (ENP) replacing soybean meal.•There was a quadratic trend for improved feed efficiency expressed in carcass gain according to ENP inclusion.•Feed efficiency reached its calculated maximum value for the inclusion rate of 17.7 g ENP/kg DM.•ENP increased concentration of nitrate in meat, but in ranges already reported in the literature for cattle not supplemented with nitrate.