Dominant-negative thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) show elevated expression relative to ligand-binding TRs during cardiac hypertrophy. We tested the hypothesis that overexpression of a dominant-negative TR alters cardiac metabolism and contractile efficiency (CE). We used mice expressing the cardioselective dominant-negative TRβ₁ mutation Δ337T. Isolated working Δ337T hearts and nontransgenic control (Con) hearts were perfused with ¹³C-labeled free fatty acids (FFA), acetoacetate (ACAC), lactate, and glucose at physiological concentrations for 30 min. ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and isotopomer analyses were used to determine substrate flux and fractional contributions (Fc) of acetyl-CoA to the citric acid cycle (CAC). Δ337T hearts exhibited rate depression but higher developed pressure and CE, defined as work per oxygen consumption (MV̇o₂). Unlabeled substrate Fc from endogenous sources was higher in Δ337T, but ACAC Fc was lower. Fluxes through CAC, lactate, ACAC, and FFA were reduced in Δ337T. CE and Fc differences were reversed by pacing Δ337T to Con rates, accompanied by an increase in FFA Fc. Δ337T hearts lacked the ability to increase MV̇o₂. Decreases in protein expression for glucose transporter-4 and hexokinase-2 and increases in pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-2 and -4 suggest that these hearts are unable to increase carbohydrate oxidation in response to stress. These data show that Δ337T alters the metabolic phenotype in murine heart by reducing substrate flux for multiple pathways. Some of these changes are heart rate dependent, indicating that the substrate shift may represent an accommodation to altered contractile protein kinetics, which can be disrupted by pacing stress.