Recent evidence suggests that alternative early nutritional management strategies may metabolically imprint beef steers for reductions in finishing residual feed intake (RFI). To further evaluate this effect, as well as that of an alternative finishing nutritional management strategy, a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted that included Angus (ANG) and Simmental (SIM) sired steers randomly assigned to one of 2 weaning treatments (early weaned [EW; weaned at 111 ± 23 d or age; n = 14] or conventionally weaned [CW; weaned at 233 ± 21 d of age; n = 14]) and one of 2 finishing treatments (high corn [HC; 68.7% of DM from steam-flaked corn; n = 14] or low corn [LC; 50% of DM from steam-flaked corn isoenergetically replaced with dried corn gluten feed; n = 14]). EW steers were fed a concentrate-based ration ad libitum for 122 d following weaning. All steers were then commingled and backgrounded on pasture for 190 d, finished in a feedlot for 154 ± 64 d, and harvested in groups upon reaching a common 12th-rib fat thickness of 1 cm. Feed intake was measured daily following a 42 d finishing ration adaptation period using a Calan-Broadbent system. Observed ADFI expressed in Mcal of NE_g was regressed against average BW^0.75, ADG and duration of the measurement period (R² = 0.73; P < 0.0001) via the Fit Model procedure of JMP Pro, and RFI was calculated as the difference between observed and predicted ADFI. Analysis of variance was conducted to determine the fixed main and interaction effects of sire breed, weaning treatment and finishing treatment on ADFI, ADG and RFI. Although no effects were observed for ADFI (P ≥ 0.45) or ADG (P ≥ 0.36), RFI of ANG HC steers was lower than ANG LC (−0.91 vs. 0.49 Mcal NE_g; SEM = 0.22; P < 0.001), SIM LC (−0.91 vs. 0.20 Mcal NE_g; SEM = 0.22; P < 0.01) and SIM HC (−0.91 vs. 0.10 Mcal NE_g; SEM = 0.22; P < 0.05), and was lower for EW than CW steers (−0.27 vs. 0.21 Mcal NE_g; SEM = 0.15; P < 0.05). These results provide additional evidence of metabolic imprinting of EW steers for reductions in RFI, and independent effects of finishing energy source on RFI of ANG steers.