Pepper Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Pepper Crusted Beef Tenderloin makes a beautiful main dish for any dinner! It’s oven roasted to perfection and is so tender you can cut it with a fork. To really send this tenderloin over the top, I encrust it with peppercorn and fresh parmesan cheese to really infuse it with flavor.
Beef tenderloin is the most tender cut of beef and for that reason, it is the highest priced cut of beef as well. Tenderloin is a long, thin muscle that runs deep inside, along the back side. It’s located right under the spine.
This cut of meat is where we get those tender and tasty filet mignon steaks. Center part of the whole tenderloin is sliced into small pieces to create filet mignon. Tenderloin can also be a part of T-bone steak and a porterhouse, it’s the small round side next to the bone.
Since this cut is quite expensive, some people may be scared to cook it. Don’t be scared, I promise that it is actually quite easy to cook. There are a several tips below that will help you cook the best beef tenderloin.
You can serve is as is, or with some amazing steak sauces like red wine steak sauce, horseradish sauce and mushroom steak sauce.
If you choose to buy and cook a whole beef tenderloin, please read and follow my recipe and instructions for cooking the whole beef tenderloin. It’ll help you out a ton!
How To Make Pepper Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Step 1: Tie the tenderloin. Tie the tenderloin with a kitchen twine around in several spots, about every 1-1.5 inches. Don’t skip this step! Tying the tenderloin will ensure even cooking because it helps keep the shape of meat uniform.
Step 2: Season the tenderloin. Rub the entire tied tenderloin with a little bit of olive oil. Spread all of the seasonings on parchment paper with grated parmesan cheese.
Mix it all together evenly, then place the tenderloin on top of the seasonings. Roll the tenderloin around to coat it evenly in the mixture and gently press on the seasonings so it stays on well.
Step 3: Cook the tenderloin. Place the prepared tenderloin on baking sheet. Insert a leave-in thermometer through the side, towards the center of the roast.
Cook the beef tenderloin until it reaches 130°F-135°F for medium-rare or 140°F-145°F for medium.
Step 4: Let it rest, then serve. Take the cooked beef tenderloin out of the oven and place it on a cutting board. Loosely tent it with foil and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Slice the tenderloin into about 1/2 inch slices against the grain.
Cooking Temperatures Guide:
To check the temperature, insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the beef, towards the middle. You want to hit the reading on the thickest part and in the middle.
120°F-125°F – Rare (cool red center)
130°F-135°F – Medium-rare (warm red center)
140°F-145°F – Medium (warm pink center)
What Is the Best Doneness For Beef Tenderloin?
Medium-rare is the best temperature for filet mignon and beef tenderloin. If that’s a little too under-done for you, you can go as far as medium. You don’t want to cook this beautiful and expensive cut of meat to more than medium. For medium-rare, cook it to 130°F-135°F. For medium, cook to 135°F-140°F. And for rare, cook it to 120°F-125°F.
What is Chateaubriand?
Chateaubriand (pronounced shaa-tow-bree-aand) is often referred to as the cut of beef or a cooking technique. When it comes to the cut of meat, Chateaubriand is the beautiful center cut of a beef tenderloin with the tip, the top, and the chain taken off.
All that is left is the perfect uniform beef tenderloin. This is the section of the beef tenderloin from where filet mignon are cut. You can cut this piece into filet mignon pieces if desired or roast it whole. Chateaubriand will usually weigh right around 2 lbs. and is perfect for serving 2-4 people.
PRO TIP: To save a little money, you can purchase a whole tenderloin and learn how to clean and break down a whole beef tenderloin. I have a demo video and step-by-step guide in that link that will help you do it yourself.
Few More Beef Recipes To Try
If you’ve made my beef tenderloin recipe and found a lot of good information here, PLEASE leave a 🌟 star rating! Let me know how you liked it by leaving the 📝 comment below as well. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter!
Pepper Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef tenderloin center cut roast "Chateaubriand"
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp white granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup whole peppercorned coarsely crushed
- 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese* freshly grated not dry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° and line the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil.
- To crack whole peppercorns, you can use a coarse setting on the pepper mill, pulse it a few times in a spice grinder, or use a heavy cast iron skillet to crack it by hand on the cutting board.
Prepare Beef Tenderloin:
- Use cooking twine to tie the tenderloin all along the whole length in 1-inch intervals. Make sure not to tie too tight where it starts cutting into meat.
- Rub tenderloin with a little bit of olive oil all over.
- Spread all the seasoning on the parchment paper, add grated Parmesan cheese, mix it evenly, and place the tenderloin on top of the seasoning. Roll the tenderloin around to coat it evenly in seasoning and press on the seasoning to stick it on better.
Cooking Beef Tenderloin:
- Once beef tenderloin is tied and coated with seasoning, place it onto the rack inside the roasting pan.
- Insert a leave-in thermometer though the side towards the center of the meat. (If you don’t have a leave-in thermometer, you will need to take the meat out of the oven to take the temperature. Close the oven so the oven temperature doesn’t lower. Remember to take the temperature of the center, at the thickest part.)
- Cook beef tenderloin until it reaches 130°-135° for medium-rare or 140°-145° for medium.
Rest:
- Take the tenderloin out of the oven and transfer onto the cutting board. Cut off the twine and gently take it off, trying not to take off the seasoning. Loosely tent with a sheet of aluminum foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting.
- Slice tenderloin into about 1/2 inch slices, against the grain.
Notes
- When buying the roast, ask the butcher to cut you a 2 pound beef tenderloin roast, center cut (or a 2-pound chateaubriand roast). Specify that you need a center cut, not the tail end. You can also ask them to tie it for you if you don’t feel conformable doing it yourself.
- Medium-rare or medium is the best temperature for beef tenderloin. You don’t want to cook this beautiful and expensive cut of meat to more than medium. For medium-rare, cook it to 130°F-135°F. For medium, cook to 135°F-140°F. And for rare, cook it to 120°F-125°F.
- Remember to REST the steak for 5-10 minutes after cooking and slice your steaks against the grain.
- Storing: Make sure to store your leftover beef tenderloin slices in an airtight container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, leftover beef tenderloin should be good for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Preheat your oven to 350°F and wrap each individual slice of beef tenderloin in foil. Try not to wrap it too tight! Place the wrapped tenderloin pieces directly onto the oven rack and reheat for 10-15 minutes. The exact time depends on the thickness of cuts. Reheat it just until warm in the middle so it doesn’t overcook.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in April 2019.
Categories:
Beef Recipes, Christmas Dinner Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Easter Recipes, Father's Day Recipe Ideas, Gluten Free Recipes, Mother's Day Recipe Ideas,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Why don’t you make a video for this? So many like me would love to see you do it.
I am a private chef who has made this recipe twice, It is the best filet mignon recipe I’ve ever made. My clients go crazy over it. Thank you! I will continue to prepare my filets this way and no other!
Wow! What a nice compliment! Thank you for stopping by to let me know, I am so glad everyone likes it! 🙂
I have access to beef tenderloin tails. I remove the thick pieces of fat that sometimes that run part way down the length of each one.. Then I place two of them on top of each other the thick end on top of the smaller end then tie them together to make one evenly thick roast. I then use your directions to roast them in the oven. I have done this on several occasions and they turn out beautifully. I have pictures of before and after roasting. I wish there was a way to send pictures.
That sounds really good! I am so glad you like the recipe. Unfortunately, my website doesn’t have the capability for picture sharing but you can drop it to my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/willcookforsmiles
Made it for NYE dinner- the family loved it, and it was so easy.
I am so glad you liked it!
Hi. If I use the ‘trim method’, is the cooking process still the same? And do I still need to tie it?
Hi! It looks so nice… I didn’t understand what to do with the parmesan cheese ..
Regards
Hi, Beatriz! Your right I talked about it in the post but forgot to add into the recipe directions. I have updated the recipe to include it and it’s now in step 10. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
This recipe is amazing. Many times I’ve experimented new recipes with beef and they turn out to be amazing. This one is unique as there are so fewer protocols. Good read!
Thanks, Samantha! I am so glad you liked it!