Sharing our traditional Christmas Eve dinner main dish: whole roasted beef tenderloin with french onions and horseradish sauce. An absolutely show-stopping holiday dinner! It’s easier than you may think, very impressive, and deliciously rich in flavor.
We make a roasted beef tenderloin just about every year, and it’s about time to bring the recipe to the blog! It’s such a festive, special main dish. And if there’s ever a time to make something a little extra special…it’s now!
I can’t believe Christmas is just days away, and I’ve still got a couple of recipes to share with you, plus my full Christmas menu. So let’s get right to it.
This roasted beef tenderloin is seasoned very simply with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and garlic. It’s roasted in a very hot oven for just about 30 minutes. It comes out golden and seared on the outside, and perfectly tender and juicy on the inside. A beef tenderloin is an expensive cut of meat, but it shows through its quality and tenderness. And for the holidays…it’s worth it.
While the beef is roasting, the onions are cooking down on the stovetop with herbs and sherry wine until sweet and caramelized. They make for a very tasty topping to serve with the beef. The last component? A simple horseradish sauce. It’s tangy, creamy, and bright in flavor to contrast the rich beef and onions. It can be made ahead of time and brought right when you’re ready to eat. Same with the onions, but I would reheat the onions on the stovetop before serving.
I’d serve this roasted beef tenderloin with my very festive pesto lasagna and a side of brussels sprouts (and maybe this salad as well) for the best ever Christmas dinner! Of course with plenty of cookies for dessert…enjoy!!
whole roasted beef tenderloin served with caramelized french onions and a tangy horseradish sauce
servings: 8
Author:Kayla Howey
Ingredients
Scale
French Onions
olive oil
3 tbsp butter
2 ½ lbs thinly sliced onions
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
2 large fresh thyme sprigs
2 large fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
¼ cup sherry wine
Horseradish Sauce
6 oz mayonnaise
6 oz sour cream
3 oz prepared horseradish
½ lemon, zested and juiced
Roasted Beef Tenderloin
3 lbs trimmed whole beef tenderloin
olive oil, as needed
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp granulated garlic
2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
fresh thyme leaves, to garnish
Instructions
French Onions
Heat a large, heavy-bottom pot over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the butter and let melt.
Stir in the onions. Season with a big pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Let the onions cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Let the onions slowly cook until tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes.
Stir in the sherry wine. Simmer for about 15 more minutes. Remove the herb sprigs and bay leaf. Season with salt to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Horseradish Sauce
Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl.
Whisk until combined. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Roasted Beef Tenderloin
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Prepare a sheet pan with a rack and lay the beef tenderloin on top. Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Coat the beef with a drizzle of olive oil and rub on all sides. Mix the salt, granulated garlic, and black pepper together in a small bowl. Evenly sprinkle the mixture onto the beef. Roast for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 135°F.
Remove the beef from the oven and cover with a piece of foil. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Slice the beef into ¼” slices. Serve with the French onions and horseradish sauce on the side. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
Should you sear beef tenderloin before cooking it? If roasting a tenderloin in the oven, you'll definitely want to sear it to get a golden brown crust. It doesn't take very long, and is so worth the effort.
The food web and a great many cookbooks (very many of them highly reputable) recommend blasting a tenderloin in a hot oven, 450–500°F (232–260°C), for a relatively short time to cook it, followed by a counter rest.
For roasts that are 2 to 3 pounds, roast at 425°F for 35 to 40 minutes for medium rare (135°F) and 45 to 50 minutes for medium (150°F) doneness. For roasts weighing 4 to 5 pounds, roast at 425°F for 50 to 60 minutes for medium rare (135°F) and 60 to 70 minutes for medium (150°F).
Bake uncovered 40 to 50 minutes or until thermometer reads at least 140°F. Cover beef with tent of aluminum foil and let stand about 15 minutes or until thermometer reads 145°F. (Temperature will continue to rise about 5°, and beef will be easier to carve.)
Low-heat roasting— 225°F to 300°F, or 200°F to 275°F in a convection oven—will produce a roast with rosy interior that's evenly cooked all the way through, but you won't get much in the way of a well-seared crust.
Tenderloins have a narrow end and a thick end. To ensure consistency, roasts & steaks are typically cut from the thick end. Roasts can be made from the thin end by cutting the smallest portion off and trussing it to a thicker portion using butcher's twine. The thin end can also be sliced for beef medallions.
Salting the roast and letting it rest uncovered overnight makes for deeper seasoning, plus a drier surface for more efficient browning. Slow-roasting in a low oven cooks the tenderloin evenly from edge to center.
Roasting in a low 120°C/250°F oven is the key here which actually doesn't take that long (just 40 minutes). This yields exceptional results with evenly cooked beef from edge to edge (no thick overcooked band you get from higher temps) makes this recipe shockingly straightforward and virtually risk-free.
Once thawed, remove your roast from the refrigerator at least one hour (but not more than two hours) before cooking to allow the roast to come to room temperature. Season your Beef Tenderloin Roast well.
The tenderloin itself, once trimmed and cooked, serves about 2-3 people per pound as part of a larger meal, so often anywhere from 12-16 people for a whole one.
Usually somewhere between 2 and 3 pounds, it's perfect for serving up to 8 people. And, because of its uniform shape, center-cut beef tenderloin cooks evenly and is easy to carve into beautiful slices—no special knife skills needed!
When roasting meat and poultry, set the oven temperature to 325°F (163°C) or higher. Explore the charts below to learn how to get great results every time you cook.
Here's how to determine doneness without a thermometer. Gingerly poke a lean surface of the roast with your index finger.If the flesh yields easily, the meat is rare; more resistance means the meat is medium rare, and firm meat is well done. The same technique applies to steaks.
It's not really necessary to sear your roast before cooking, but caramelizing the surface gives the cut an incredible depth of flavor, enhanced with the complex layers of nutty caramel and coffee-like bitterness that meat-lovers find delicious.
The meat will cook just fine without searing. (And any surface bacteria will die during cooking anyway.) But I really believe that the depth and complexity of flavor we gain in this searing step is well-worth the extra effort.
I love reverse sear as it results in very tender meat and a more consistent cook throughout (I cook to medium-rare). This technique can be used with steaks, or other thick cuts of meat (like roasted lamb) and the results are almost always perfect.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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