| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Prep: | 5 min |
| Inactive: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 whole filet of beef (4 to 5 pounds), trimmed and tied
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
- Place the beef on a baking sheet and pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Spread the butter on with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium-rare.
- Remove the beef from the oven, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the filet thickly.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 509 |
| Total Fat | 38 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Carbohydrates | 0 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 0 g |
| Protein | 39 g |
| Cholesterol | 174 mg |
| Sodium | 483 mg |
Reviews
it turned out just about perfect. The imperfection came from having an oven that cooks hot and I wasn’t aware of it. My family went over the top with compliments! THANK YOU INA!
1. Put the meat on a rack.
2. Salt the bottom of your sheet pan generously to avoid a smoky kitchen.
The detailed review is for people like me, who spend countless hours researching recipes before committing to THE ONE. I watched innumerable videos by professional chefs on YouTube and read and printed out dozens of recipes. I decided on Ina’s (she’s never failed me before), and here’s why.
1. It’s the easiest recipe I found. There is no browning or searing before popping it into the oven—one less step and one less pan to clean.
2. It’s the fastest. Thirty minutes for a perfect medium rare, no matter the size of your roast.
3. The mustard marinade/sauce you roast it in creates a nice “crust,” despite not searing beforehand, and flavors the meat just enough.
4. Ina Garten.
I used a 4.63 beef tenderloin from Costco. It fed, with leftovers, Six adults, two teenage boys, one 7th-grade girl, and a 1st-grade girl (light eater). Not a ton of leftovers, mind you, but more than I expected.
I created two filets by cutting about two inches below the head of the tenderloin. For the center and tail, I cut the tail where you would typically fold it onto the center and then tied it to the center roast. This kept the grain in the same direction and avoided air pockets leading to uneven cooking. It also gave me two filets of similar size. There is a professional chef on YT with a video on how to do this. It takes seconds. I roasted the tenderloin for 30 minutes on the dot and did the tightly foiled 10-minute resting period.
If you like to overthink, overanalyze, and over plan, this is it. This is the recipe.