How To Cook Filet Mignon

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5 from 1 vote

Filet Mignon is the most tender, juicy, flavorful steak that is perfect to cook for any special occasion.

Prep Time10

Cook Time13

Rest time:35

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, French

Servings: (each steak will be 6-10 oz.)

Calories: 795kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

1 lb filet mignon steaks more or less depending on how many people
1-2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1-2 tbsp salted butter to top off the cooked steaks optional

Instructions

Rest before cooking:

Pull the steaks out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
Take them out of the package, and let them rest to get to room temperature on the cutting board.
Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 425°.

Pat the steaks dry:

Use a paper towel to pat each steak dry.

Tie the steaks:

Tie a string of cooking twine around each filet mignon steak. Tie it firm but not too tight where it starts to cut into meat. Trim off long sting ends.

Season the steaks:

TIP: Make sure to season the steaks right before placing them into the hot skillet. Salt draws out moisture from food so if you salt too early, exterior of the steak will be wet and it will hinder the beautiful sear.
Start preheating a cast iron skillet (or another oven-safe cooking pan) over medium-high heat and add some cooking oil.
Season steaks with salt and pepper on all the sides, don’t forget to season around the edge side as well.

Sear the steaks:

Place steaks into the hot skillet and let them sear for about a minute and a half on each side.

Finish cooking in the oven:

Transfer the skillet into the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes before checking the temperature. Exact time that it will take to cook the steaks will highly depend on the size of the steaks. (If you have a leave in meat thermometer, insert it through the side of the largest steak to monitor the temperature.)
To check the temperature, insert meat thermometer through the side of the steak, towards the center.
The best temperatures to cook filet mignon to is medium-rare or medium. For medium-rare, cook it to 130°-135°. For medium, cook to 135°-140° and for rare, cook it to 120°-125°.

Let it rest:

Take cooked steaks out of the skillet so they don’t keep cooking and place on a cutting board. Cut the strings off and let them rest for about 5 minutes before cutting.
Optional: top each hot steak with a thin slice of butter for additional butter flavor and let it melt over the steaks.

Video

Notes

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 a slight variation.

Nutrition