Tender, juicy beef tenderloin with a dark crust and rich gravy is the goal for your special meal, and you will achieve it perfectly with this recipe.
Beef tenderloin roast is a perfect choice for a special occasion. My recipe gives you tender beef with so much delicious flavor. We start with a dry brine, then roast it slowly before turning up the heat at the end to create a gorgeous brown crust. In my opinion, it’s not complete without a homemade gravy, so I’ll be sharing my favorite beef gravy with you too.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Is A Beef Tenderloin Roast?
A beef tenderloin roast is the larger cut of meat that we get filet mignon steaks from. If you buy a whole beef tenderloin, you can cut it into filet mignon steaks or make a delicious and impressive roast like I’m showing you today. Note, if you’re cutting it up, cook those filet mignon steaks like this! If you’re roasting it, you want the whole tenderloin which is usually 4-6 pounds, not the smaller center chateaubriand piece. That would be a separate recipe.
Tenderloin is a very lean cut of beef so it’s best when cooked to (at most) medium doneness. Also, because it’s so lean, you sometimes don’t always get great drippings for making gravy. But with my method, you get fantastic drippings and can make a delicious beef gravy from them.
Trimming Beef Tenderloin Roasts
A whole beef tenderloin will typically be covered in fat and a layer of silver skin (a tough, connective tissue) that should be trimmed before cooking your roast. You can ask for it to be trimmed at your butcher or grocer, but if you follow along, you’ll be able to trim the beef tenderloin yourself.
Trim Fat and Silver Skin
The easiest and safest way to trim the fat and silver skin from the tenderloin is to use a flexible boning knife or a paring knife.
Work the tip of the knife just under the silver skin or fat without cutting into the meat, gently pull with your other hand, and follow the knife along the path of the fat and silver skin. Parts of it can be removed by simply pulling, while other parts will need assistance from the knife.
If you find it hard to grip the silver skin because it’s slippery, use a paper towel pinched against where you’re gripping to stop the slipping.
Separate Main Tenderloin, Head, and Chain
A whole beef tenderloin has three parts: the main tenderloin, the head (sometimes called the wing), and the chain. All are tender and can be used in a variety of ways. It’s the main tenderloin that we’ll be roasting though.
The head and chain can be easily located by the line of fat and connective tissue that runs between them and the main tenderloin. Separate these two pieces from the main tenderloin by running your fingers along the fat and connective tissue. The chain can often be removed without a knife, however, the head will often need to be fully separated with a few shallow slices. The head is good to cut into smaller pieces and use in soups, stews like goulash, and beef stroganoff.
Continue gently pulling the chain away from the tenderloin, using a knife as needed to cut through any tough connective tissue. Although the meat on the chain is tender, it can contain a lot of connective tissue that is not. This part is best used in braised soups and beef stews.
With the head and chain removed, continue trimming the fat and silver skin from the tenderloin. When properly trimmed, the tenderloin should have very little fat and connective tissue remaining on the outside. Now you have a beautiful piece of meat for this roast beef tenderloin recipe that should look similar to the photo below.
Do I Need To Brine Beef Tenderloin?
Just like a good steak, you don’t want to soak this in a water brine, but a dry brine can be wonderful for a beef tenderloin roast.
To do this, combine kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder and pat it all over roast. Then tie it after so seasoning still gets inside in the places where it’s doubled over. Because there’s a thin end, tying it up helps it cook more evenly, so that the smaller end isn’t overdone.
Put it on an oven-safe rack on a roasting pan in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to dry brine the roast.
How To Cook Beef Tenderloin
For this recipe, we’re doing a reverse sear like my reverse sear roast beef and roast pork where you cook it low and slow first, and then raise the temperature to sear at the end.
For the first lower-temperature cook, preheat the oven to 275°F. Take roast from the fridge. If you like your roast medium-well or well-done, then you should bring it to room temperature as this will help it get to your desired temperature more evenly. If you like your roast medium or lower, don’t bring it to room temperature first.
Smear 1/4 cup unsalted butter all over roast on all sides. We’re doing this because beef tenderloin is so lean. This will not only add some nice flavor to the roast, and help it to brown later, but it will also drip down along the roast as it cooks and take rich beefy buttery flavor down into the drippings below the roast. We’ll then use those drippings to make the gravy. Usually when you do a beef tenderloin roast, you don’t get drippings because of the leanness. That means you don’t get nice gravy either. Using the butter gets you the gravy!
But I know that some people love beef tenderloin precisely because it is so lean. If that’s you, you can skip the butter and just do a light rub of olive oil instead.
Insert a probe thermometer into the thickness part of the roast, which is really important here to monitor doneness.
Add a half inch of unsalted beef stock to the roasting pan under the roast which is still on the oven-safe rack. The stock down there will stop any drippings from burning to the pan. We want those drippings. Then put the roast straight into the oven. No need to let it come to room temperature or sear first. You want this roast to cook low and slow as it gets to temperature and a cold roast will cook more slowly. As we know from my classic roast beef recipe (which is seared first, not after), keeping the internal temperature of the beef below 122F for as long as possible allows for the most tenderness.
If the liquid below the roast gets low, add a little more. And you can even scrape down sides of pan when you do so that any brownings on the sides are washed into the liquid, adding delicious flavor.
Roast until it is 20 degrees below your desired doneness, so 110°F is when you’d take it out for medium rare, which you eventually want at 130°F. Remove from oven.
Doneness Chart for Beef Tenderloin
| Desired Doneness | Take Out at | Final Temperature |
| Rare | 100°F | 120°F |
| Medium Rare | 110°F | 130°F |
| Medium | 120°F | 140°F |
| Medium Well | 130°F | 150°F |
Transfer the beef to a platter to rest for 30 minutes. Note that the roast will not have a nice brown color at this point but will be a bit grey, as shown below. That’s how it should look. It slow-roasted and after resting it will get blasted with heat to get nice and brown.
Preheat oven to 475°F (or better, 500°F if your oven goes that high).
Pour the drippings from the pan into a measuring cup. Scrape out pan, deglaze with red wine, and pour that into your drippings. Then wipe out the pan. Make gravy while the roast rests.
Keep the roast on the rack, put it back onto the wiped out pan, and put it into the hot hot oven. Roast until a nice crust is formed and it is at your desired doneness (see chart above for final temperature), 10-12 minutes. If you want it darker, you can broil it.
Remove from oven and slice immediately. Serve with homemade horseradish sauce and the beef gravy.
What About The Gravy?
While it can be difficult to get enough drippings from this lean roast to make a great gravy, my tenderloin recipe usually provides plenty because of the butter and stock we used during roasting.
To make the gravy, add enough unsalted beef stock to the drippings from the roast and red wine deglaze to make up 3 cups of liquid. In a saucepan, melt butter and add the flour to make a roux. Slowly stir in your liquid until smooth. Bring to a simmer to thicken the gravy. Stir in the horseradish, taste, and add additional salt and pepper, if desired.
My beef gravy recipe just works so well with the luscious tender tenderloin meat. You’re going to love it!
More Delicious Beef Recipes
You can browse my full collection of roast dinner recipes or try one of the other great beef recipes below.
- Pan Roasted Tri-Tip Steak Recipe
- Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
- How to Cook London Broil
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef
- Instant Pot Chuck Roast
Podcast Episode: Making Beef Tenderloin With Gravy
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this roast, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Beef Tenderloin Roast with Gravy Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Dry Brine: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 2-3 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 10 servings
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDESCRIPTION
Tender, juicy beef tenderloin with a dark crust and rich gravy is the goal for your special meal, and you will achieve it perfectly with this recipe.
Ingredients
- 5–6 lbs. whole beef tenderloin, untrimmed (or 4-5 lbs. already trimmed)
- 3 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter*, divided
- Unsalted beef stock
- 1/2 cup red wine**
- 4 Tbsp. flour
- 1/4 tsp. prepared horseradish
Instructions
- If needed, start by trimming the tenderloin by removing the silverskin and trimming the fat. (More details and photos in post above.)
- Combine kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Pat all over roast, then tie it with twine so that the thinnest part is doubled over, yielding a tied tenderloin that is of even thickness all the way along.
- Put an oven-safe rack on a roasting pan in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 275°F. Take roast from the fridge***. Insert probe thermometer into the thickest part of the roast.
- Smear 1/4 cup of the butter all over roast on all sides.
- Add a half inch of unsalted beef stock to the roasting pan under the rack and roast and then put it straight into the oven. If the liquid below roast gets low, add more. And you can even scrape down sides of pan when you do so that any brownings on the sides are washed into the liquid, adding flavor.
- Roast until it is 20°F below your desired doneness (for example, take out at 110°F for medium rare or 120°F for medium). Remove from oven.
- Transfer to platter to rest for 30 minutes. Save the drippings in a measuring cup to make gravy.
- Preheat oven to 475°F (or 500°F if your oven goes that high).
- Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up any bits or brownings on the bottom and sides. Scrape wine into the measuring cup with your drippings. Wipe out the pan. Set aside.
- To make the gravy, add enough unsalted beef stock to your drippings and red wine deglaze to make up 3 cups of liquid. In a saucepan, melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and add whisk in the flour to make a roux. Slowly stir in your liquid until smooth. Bring to a simmer to thicken the gravy. Stir in the horseradish, taste, and add additional salt and pepper, if desired.
- Put roast back onto rack on pan and put roast back in oven (don’t add more stock below it this time). Roast until a nice brown crust has formed and it is at your desired final temperature (see chart above), about 10-12 minutes. If you want it darker, you can broil it but keep an eye on it.
- Remove from oven and slice immediately. Serve sliced tenderloin with the horseradish-infused gravy.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*Some people like the tenderloin precisely because it is so lean, if that’s you, you can skip the butter. Just do a light rub of olive oil instead.
**You can substitute 1/2 cup of beef stock with a tablespoons of balsamic vinegar if you prefer not to use wine.
***If you like your roast medium-well or well-done, then you should bring it to room temperature as this will help it get to your desired temperature more evenly. Otherwise, don’t. Fridge-cold is best for cooking the meat low and slow even if a rare temperature is desired.
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